Life — February 4, 1904 — page 10: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“© While there is Life there’s Hope.” VoL. XLUML. FEB. 4, 1903 No. 1110. 19 West Tarety- Finer St. w YORE. plished every Tanrsday $300 a year tn ad- vance, Postaxe to 01 tries in the Postal Union, $14 a year single % lcents.. Bi date of No contribution accompanied by envelope. The illustrations in Lave: are copyrighted, and are not to be reproduced. Prompt notification should be sent by sub- scribers of any change of addre. xtra apiieat will be returned unless stamped and addressed SAY: Are you for Roosevelt? You don't know, eh? ‘* Want to wait and see what else is offered So? Then you must be cousidering the possibility of voting for a Democrat. Without doubt there are many voters in your position, who like some things about Roosevelt and dislike others ; who feel that the country might do better than reelect him, and also might do much worse; who resent being called ‘timid’’ so often; who would prefer a President with some- what less imagination ; who are justa little tired of strenuosity, and yearn a little fora President with a gift for holding down furniture. Perhaps you feel that you would rather have a President who knows less, than one who knows so much that isn’t in the Constitution. Perhaps you are mad about the coal strike, or the Northern Securities, or General Wood's promo- tion; or have misgivings of conscience about that Panama matter. Maybe you would like more bromide and less gingerina President. We guess youare just plain timid. We ourselves have pru- dent inclinations, and though, in a just cause, when driven into a corner, we can master valor enough tocall for the police, we are not without sympathy for your feelings. The preferable place for the sword is the scabbard, don’t you think? A man who carries his sword between his teeth and talks through it— but maybe that is exagge tion. Do you think he would call fora service pension for Civil-War ninety- day veterans if we reelected him weg oe I E isa good, honest man. A God- fearing man? No doubt; but God is an ideal, and, of course, it is an interesting question whether the kind of fear he has of the kind of God he has in mind acts as a spur or a drag on him. His moral sense seems sound and strong. It’s all a question of how his mind works. Do you like the working of Hanna’s mind better? Mr. Hanna is a very genial and astute person, He hasa great deal of political influence, and will be a power in the Republican Nominating Convention. But he is a tariff-made millionaire. There is no sound reason why he should not oppose Colonel Roosevelt's renomination, or even be a candidate himself, if he chooses ; but there are plenty of reasons why he would be a hard man to elect. We don’t think he wants to run, but he may want to choose the Republican candidate. Would Root suit you? Would Taft suit you? They are pretty good men. Both of them have minds that work in better harmony with the popular mind—your mind and ours—than the President's mind does. Particularly Taft. But neither of them is likely to let his name go before the Republican Convention, unless it turns out to be impossible to nominate Roosevelt. The general opinion is that that won't happen, and that the President will be renominated. of AND who will ran against him, and on what sort of a platform? Only a good man on a good platform could crowd him at all hard. Mr. Bryan and Mr. Hearst seem to be They are both full Mr. Bris- working together. of possibilities of mischief. bane, as Mr. Hearst’s right-hand man, has lately explained what a safe and deserving person Mr. Hearst is. But none of the facts that Mr. Brisbane adduces in support of this theory that Mr. Hearst is safe carries any convic- tion. It would be a very remarkable fact adduced by Mr. Brisbane in ex- tenuation of Mr. Hearst that would carry conviction. All other considera- tions being overlooked, no man who permits the use in his newspapers of the kinds of type that Mr. Hearst has permitted Mr. Brisbane and others to use in his various journals can ever command the contidence of the sane part of our population, But Mr. Hearst and Mr. Bryan between them may be able to raise hob in the Democratic Con- vention, and to secure the nomination of candidates, and the adoption of planks, that will make all the hosts of the timid voters turn sadly away from the fence and vote the Republican ticket. It isn't Colonel Roosevelt's fault, but Bryan and Hearst are at present the most useful allies he has. If they can divert the Democrats from sane action, there will be no choice for Wall Street except to vote for Roose- velt, or move down to Governor's Island and throw up earthworks, C N the other hand, if the Democratic Convention should nominate Mr. Cleveland, or some one who stands for what he stands for, he might be elected, in spite of the Bryanites and the Hearst contingent. In that case, Mr. Roosevelt would get a good rest and would be available for further use as President any time in the next twenty-five years. He is about the best-known man in the country and will never have to be reintroduced to the American people. Moreover, he is not politically dis- credited, like Bryan. Some people are very tired of some things that he stands for — expansion, strenuosity, San Juan Hill,and all that. Bat with an interval of repose, they might get vested and feel that the times were dull, and the country’s spine was get- ting too soft, and that more of the Roosevelt tonic was needed.