THE TREMENDOUS ROOSEVELT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 114, 10 November 1910, Page 6

THE TREMENDOUS ROOSEVELT.

The cable has brought us word from time to time of Mr. Roosevelt's marvellous activity since he abandoned the quest of big game in East Africa for tho trail of the Boss and the Trust in his own country. But one needs to look at some American newspaper in order to get somothing more like an adequate idea of tho pace at which the exPresident is moving, and at which he moves the people. A weekly newspaper naturally gives the best bird's-eye view of his triumphal progress, and it is equally natural, that the weekly of which he is the "Contributing Editor"— thtj Nevr York Outlook — should do it best of all. A page of the last number of this paper, which has come to hand, is devoted to a porfectly amazing summary of "Tho last week of Mr. Eoosevelt's journey." One of the events of this week was Mr. Roosevelt's refusal to accept the invita tion of the Hamilton Club, of Chicago, to dinner, unless their invitation to an Illinois Senator who was accused of corruption was cancelled. The cable informed us of the fact, but failed to do justice to the brutal simplicity with which the business was- arranged. The committee of the club simply telegraphed to Senator Lorimer: "Colonel Roosevelt declines to sit at dinner with you. Your invitation to dinner is therefore with drawn." That settled Senator Lorimer, and in his absence the Hamilton Club listened to ja stirring address from Mr. Roosevelt on political corruption as "a most infamous treason against American institutions." On the same day Mr. Roosevelt also addressed a picnic of ton thousand labour men at Freeport — but that was a trifle. A few days before, at the Fair Grounds in St. Paul, there are' said to have Keen a hundred thousand people in attendance, and Mr. Roosevelt, in order to give them all a chance, had to address different parts of the audience by turns, moving from corner to corner of the platform. At Milwaukee the missionary's programme is roported to have been one of the lightest and easiest of the whole trip, yet it included an address on the ethics of journalism at the Press Club, a speech to an audience of several thousands at the Hippodrome on the. fundamental issues of politics, visits to the trade, schools, which gave an opportunity for close enquiry into their work, and a visit to the Deutsche Club, where Mr. Roosevelt thoroughly enjoyed, and had the temerity to indulge in, a few joke 3 in German about his visit to the Kaiser. At Omaha what the- newspapers, caned "a day of rest" included, tve are told, "a morning of personal interviews, a iunbheon with two or threo hundred men, a formal banquet, an evening at a meeting of a fraternal organisation, and four set speeches, one before an audience of some fifteen thousand people." It. is gratifying to learn that in contrast with this the 1 following day was "really strenuous " As tho day aftef that was a Sunday, a genuine day of rest was designed, and inviUtions to. stop and make speeches at various points of the journey by special train across the Dakota^ were declined. Nevertheless, after tho journey had hogun it seemed rude to rush past the ciowds assembled . at every station for the purpose of getting a sight of the Great Man, and histructioria wero accordingly given to the engineer "to slow down, come tr>a <step for an instant, and then jmmediat'ily start again." The result was, according to the Outlook's correspondent, that all the morning and afternoon, until six o'clock in the evening, the brakes had to* be applied "every few moments." It is indeed a marvellous story, andfor a private citizen travelling at a time of no great crisis or special excitement it is surely unique. The application of the moral law to politics may be said to be the gist ot Mr. Roosevelt's gospel j and when one finds his speeches called, in the language of the Outlook, "with about equal pertinence both platitudinous and revolutionary," 'the reason is plain. In themselves " the moral platitudes are as otale as those of the copy-book or the decalogue ; it is their application in a practical sense and by a practical politician to American politics that supplies the revolutionary element. "All moral truth,*' as the Outlook just/y says, "when it is not applied but lejnains abstract, is platitudinous; it becomes revolutionary when it is applied to conduct and made concrete." When Dr. Parkhurst, in his great campaign agaiiibt Tammany, shook New York, it was because he gave the >vickedness of Ahab a spell tor a change, and treated Croker as a horrible example of more concern to his fellow-citizens. If Dr. Parkhurst was accused of taking politics into the pulpit, Mr. Roosevelt performs the converse operation of delivering sermons from the political platform ; and what 16 so very awkward for the bosses and the corruption through which they work is that tjie people throng to hear him. And after all the superhuman effort of many weeks amid the seeming acclaim of a whole people, wo are told just now over the cable that victory does not sit on the helm of Roosevelt. The Democrats lead, and the signs are for the triumph of the party so long strangers to place and power. Here again it will be asked : "What will Roosevelt do?"

' Duplication of a, section of the Kilbirnie tramway from Boyd's corner to Nulson-street was commenced yesterday at Hie former place. When the, work is completed, there will be a continuous stretch of double line lroni the tunnel to Nelson-street, which, it is iioped, will facilitate the heavy traffic on the suburban line. Tho replacement of the centre poles along Oriental Bay with double poles, one on each .side, is making good progress. The duplication oi part ot the Thorndon-quay route by Davis-btreet U aow finished.