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Show A CONTRADICTORY PAPER. The Deserct News has had a political spasm. On Washington's Birthday that paper devoted much of its first page to an editorial intended to prove that Roosevelt could not accept a renomination without doing outrage to his conscience and disregarding the precedents prece-dents established by Washington when the "Father of His Country" Coun-try" refused a third term. Monday, after Roosevelt had openly declared his candidacy, the News said: "With due respect for both Mr. Roosevelt and others interested in the "third term" discussion, it seems to us thatMr. Roosevelt has really had not more than one term as president. He was acting president for almost four years before ho was elected president. The constitution doc's not say that the vice-president becomes president, but that the duties of the president, in case of his inability to perform them, shall devolve on the vice-president If" this view is correct, the 'third-term' discussion has no basis." Will some one answer, what is the positou of the News? Evidently that paper is attempting to play a clever game of straddle, now that Roosevelt is once more within reach of the presidency. With a marked copy of the News of Feb. 22 sent to Taft and another marked copy of the same paper of Monday mailed to Roosevelt, the News might make a most favorable impression im-pression on both candidates, but if some busy-body were to go to the trouble of sending those gentlemen the papers on dates reversed, re-versed, what startling disclosure would follow! The news either should drop politics or be guided by a higher purpose than is disclosed in its utterances of the last few days. |