Mr. Roosevelt.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14274, 13 August 1910, Page 4 (Supplement)

Mr. Roosevelt.

AS MISCHIEF-MAKER. (By J. M. Robertson, M.i J ., in . "Reynolds.") "When the authorities invited Mr. Roosevelt to receive the Freedom of tho Citv, and to make it speech, the.y did it in the knowledge of .his habits. They know that he has already made offensive and tactless speeches elsewhere, and that he was likely to do it, here. And they are quite entitled to plead that they had practically no choice but to do honour to Mr. Roosevelt as City authorities usually do to eminent representative', of great friendly States. So no blame accrues to them. What needs doing is to examine Mr. Roosevelt's speech on its strict merits, all questions of taste apart, and this with a, special eye for the numerous members "of the tribe of sycophants who applauded Mr. Roosevelt when he was alternately patronising and insulting their own nation. There is no one like your British Imperialist for applauding "foreign mud-throwers at his own country when the mud is ostensibly aimed at the opinions of his political opponents. During the last Imperial-Colon-ial Conference, tlio 'London Imperial Press was daily engaged in licking the boots of every colonial "Premier," albeit he might he statistically the analogue of a mayor of an English provincial town, and all the while assiduously vilifying and aspersing; tho Premier of the Tinted Kingdom. That is the wav of Imevirialists. And it is quite in their way to applaud Mr Rocsevolb when he a-serfs with entire untruth, that the assassination of Bourns Pasha lias been a result of •''the effort to do too much and not too little in the interests of the Egyptians themselves," and goes on to tell us that if we are not.careful some other power will have to interfere in Egypt. A blatant utterance of that kind suffices the Imperials as a handful of mud to throw nt the British school of politics which gave self-government to South Africa, and which proposes, in Egypt, in keep the promises made continuouslv InBritish statesmen during the" past twenty-five years, to the effect that British ride shall be directed Inwards the ultimate lilting of Egyptians for self-government A CO.VTkIMPTIBI.E ARGTMEVT Mr Roosevelt's mental and moral calibre may be gauged from Ihe use be makes ~f the assassinati ,j' |:„„ir„,. It is ointo unnccessarv to point out to any thoughtful American the indecency of his device. If a Briton were to etc the fact that no fewer than three Presidents of the United States —Lincoln, Garfield, and Mclviulc.v—have boon assassinacd within half a .century, and to argue, in Air Roosevelt's words, that ' such deeds prove tlint the American people "in certain vital points, have erred" in their svs>em of government; that they Inive clearly made too manv concessions of his fiscal policy, and his Cuban policv—if any Briton were to argue thus, almost any American would turn awav either m anger or in contempt. Even if he detested Mckinley's p (; |ic V . he would re-cognise-tho imbecility of the argument But when Mr. Roosevelt ar-pes in something like that fashion nbmit the murder of Boutros Pasha and adds an insolent hint about the risk of our being superseded, our British Imperialists applaud the insult, and the "Times '' with a sickly smile, exhorts the rest of tis to pocket it. It may be left to sensible Americans—thev have done «s much before—to applv the proper epitnet to Mr. Roosevelt's procedure. The assassination of Boutros Pasha by a Moslem fanatic is, no more a. proof that English rule in Egypt has soindit to do "too much" for Egvotians than the assassinations of Lord M'avo and Sir Cttrzon Wyllie were proofs that we had "done too much" for Hindus: or that the assassinations of the three American Presidents proved that the American Governments had done either too much or too little for anvbody. A more senseless doctrine was never promulgated by a public man. At that rate, any _ madman can at nnv moment convict any governmental svstom of vital error by committing a crime- and the grossest despotism and the'most liberal .Democratism can be discredited ones for all in the same fashion and bv tho same insane hand. The alternate murders of a. Russian Tsar and an American President, on Mr. Roose-velt-s principles, Wove that autocraev and Democracy alike stand for vita! errors of policy. And if a British -Monarch in turn were assassinated, , constitutional Monarchy would bo in the same case.

11JS SOURCE OF INRT'TIUTTON .Mr. Loosovelt, it will be observed, does not make the slightest- pretence of proving h, s assertion thai, the anamination in Egypt came of an ' English eflort to do too much" for Egyptians, lie simp y makes his blatant fulminat.on, and leaves ,t t«. the tribe of English Imnermhsts to echo it, as lie coufd eouut on their doing. He has 1, It nip ol the English malcontents there whose inspiration is ignorance envv'' egoism, and whisky and . suan . 4 ,n t l whose sole. principle for the gover, „, «f Fgypt is to take away even- ~Vss lie public post from an Egvntia., , V ° it to an Englishman ' n ''' R,v ? speech that we had latterly beer, i,„ Rowing franchises and freedor prfe eges and powers of self-government n end entirely H,icatio„oftwelve\^,i^°rSc e y Sl,, ;° + tllc "- ""del- pressure of t£& protests 1? Parliament and elsewhere creased ; other reforms have her n ,„.,,!n m the educational machinery " 71 in

particular, Sir Eldnn Gor.si has in lapmeasure acted ,„, ||,,. ni'iioialiv profc. o-d pnn-iplo tljal native; ..hall gel. nati v• • p-!•■■!■■-. ".. herei ■;•■• ih-.'-y ai*>_-. ';nnp"+pnl i;> vs.nr)rinu--li- ahiiJTl bv ;he gnpv cf 1-ii-inrh .-,thro.-c01,,-.r::. Hi-, havr. pot thesWhU-;, .mole flh , Wri;,, - the, British onnt--nl "ii.ti. hatred and" i-.oii--11 •! n 111 "" by their own language, uliilo ready to shriek at i li<- utterance of a. word of criticism l>v e. native. That is, in brief, the whole ,'stnrv of British

'•efforts to d» too' much" for the Egvptinns'in Egypt; and .Mr Roosevelt's account of the matter is peri't'cily on a. par. with his literary method in general —notably seen in the case of his laudatory lily .of Convenient- Morris, which he peun.ed without once attempting to consult the official archives which proved Morris to have been a traitor to his country, lie tells us that in regard to Egypt he wishes to "say a. few -uords because they are true, without regifrd to whether or not they are pleasant." So be it. T propose to do the same tiling with regard to Mr. Roosevelt. And T am only doing what many competent Americans have done before me when- I pronounce him a fountain of clap-trap, evil sentimcntalism, and international mischief. Tt is characteristic, of him to assertthat at ilie time of the occupation of the Soudan many people in "England called for the application there of Ihe "principle* of 'indcix'iulonee and selfgovernment," with " "complete religious toleration and the abolition of the slavetrade." hie so nuts this as to suggest that Liberals who said these tilings believed that the Mahdi would develop such a policy if he were left alone. In the same way Mr "Roosevelt disposes of all people who suggest that wild animals might he left alone by calling them nature-fakers. He is one' of those. whose whole mental life is passed in a steam of «.-ntimontalism ; who ui-v-er

faced, and never will I'iico, :m.v social problem in a spirit of science; who c:iii speak and think in terms only of rant. passion, prejudice, and vain-glory. And being thus si. typical "rowdy"' - ' sen: i-monfali.-t ho applies the name id' sentimentalist, to everybody who tries to -co social and political ' problems, in the light of social and political seienoo. He calls himself a "Radical and a Democrat. Ho has hardly a sit.in of true Radicalism or Democracy"nt him; he has only their semblances—arrogance, and the spirit of self-assertion, winch are rather mere natural t-o aristocrats. And. like too mnnv modem Americans, he comes to .England to applaud and reinforce, precisely the most ant i-T)ei:iocrai :c in-timi- c'f the Kimlish people—the in 1: j.. ■t -: of racial dominance, ■of contempt for She and.aggrandizement. A true Democrat in his place would have, poinicd oui. on the one hand. that the cause of a nation's asphat ions is noi di-e,,sed of hy ihe crime of one or the i'oilv of many of its Nationalists- else iheWiu-o of the revolting American' Colonic-- in the eighteenth '■einurv had lieeti promptly damned nasi 'ho;a—and on the other hand, thai neither crime nor folly in a discontented population over was. or ever will he. put an end to !iv a policy of mere autocratic repression, of coercion, of dragoonintr. There : s only one way—the Way of orderly and unvarying law. Tu 100(1 the British control in Egypt deli-hied the Roosevelt type of mi,,,! l,y the wholesale executions at Donshawai. professedly t-o "avenge." an unlucky officer who' had died of sunstroke afi'cv haviim j IOO -„ Jeton the head with a stick in .••'"souffle of which he had been one of the tbomdit-l-.'s-s provokers. Incidentally an old naYivo who was (|(j uietly seeking to -oa-ceiir i ho fallen othcer on the roadway had brains lieareu our by soldi" 1 -■; "m error." These deeds did „ ; -,,-e t :1 arouse disaffection and ill-will in Fs--.t than any amount of Nationalist i.mra-!-ism coulil ever have done. If i] h ~. Roosevelt theory were trim, the T)e->-shavai. cxemitions should have made lbassassination of Boutros Pa dm nnpo---xible. Those o.v-eciitioim are eo».memorated year, and—the ■;■,=.„•_ sinatinn takes place. If "wp" are feels enough io lv> ',.,] by a mischief-maker like ?dr. l!r,,seveli one tiling is prettv certain—some otho-'-I mrer will have to intervene, in Egypt Any turning back from the sane "ar ' steady course of gradual amelioration will simply mean our clashing with the whole forward movement of modern civilization, as seen in Turkey and Persia no less than in Europe. "tfr .Roosevelt gives his valuable endorse«"i+l„ t' d - ? ro " ,?, '> «'» 0 without misgiving the Tmperialisin of ancient Home, which ended in the entire downfall of the civilisation in winch it arose. There are nlenty of Impnalists to-dav eager to m'ar-h' tin same way. and Mr Roosevelt tells them that tins is simply "keeping order " Tn ns own country, the while', the lawless lynching of negroes goes on year Vyear a scandal to civilization ' V s i resident. 3h. Roosevelt, could' never enforce order: he could not to-morrow if he were, reinstated. Tt mav be well to test his precept by his practice -mj Jus. pretensions by his record. Tho'ku.d oi disorder winch consists in the --v-i.--matio plundering,,!" the State by or-m----izH sell-seekers goes on in S\ r . relts country to-day as it did under lum and belore him. Over all Unit he seems quite comnlaceni. I shall not r fa,'"'' ',' f , '" |,V "'K I"''" to the extent of telling lmu that if he and Ids party cannot govern better in the Sfat«s'thcv will have to be superseded by men who ran. But I take leave to suggest that the general miscarriage of civilization m the States is as grave as that, represented by the assassination of Bom rePasha in Egypt. And it is not from •Mr. Roosevelt that the cure is likely to come. " -