Chariton Courier

MRS. MARY BLACKBURN HAD MADE AN IDEAL OF ROOSEVELT
Man She Had Deemed a Glorious Hero
She Now With Deep Disappointment
Confesses is a Menace to Every
Home in the Land.

Some years ago Mr. Theodore Roosevelt seemed to me one of those young men to whom mothers could point and say to their growing sons: There is a man, a man for you to take as your model. I confess I did so. He seemed to me to be the incarnation of a chivalrous knightly gentleman, with an ambition to serve his country and by his example and his influence to promote in his fellow countrymen a love for all that is great and noble. Many of his acts as Police Commissioner which were quixotic I ascribed not so much to his lack of judgment as to his zealousness. When he resigned his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to enter active service my own nature was thrilled with love for my country and I applauded his act. It seemed to me then that the 'call to arms had acted upon him as it had upon me, that he wanted to give the country the best he had, his life, if need be: I, the best I had—my son. I felt that I understood him. I believed that the almost clerkly routine of his work as Assistant Secretary of the Navy had become maddening when the drum and the bugle fired the patriotic soul. But I was not allowed to dream long that my Roosevelt was of the stuff from which heroes are made.

It soon appeared that a new role on a stage set with war had been seized upon by my ideal. The character of a dashing cavalry officer in the Buffalo Bill trappings of Western prairies had appealed to him as the best method of emerging from the comparative obscurity of a Washington department into the full glare of national publicity. Again he had become a character, a combination of Phil. Sheridan, Buffalo Bill and Don Quixote. His adventures on foot as described by himself or chronicled by eye witnesses or criticised by military experts certainly will not pass into song and story.

Watching him these many years and experiencing in myself a transition of emotions from perfect admiration for his seeming nobleness of character to calm contemplation of his masterfulness as a spectacular politician, I now venture to say, that in my opinion President Roosevelt is the most dangerous personage who ever held the office of President.

Theodore Roosevelt has one passion—ambition. Since he became President he has one thought—election. Senators and political leaders for three years have been made to feel their master was in the White House. He held patronage over them as a whip. When Senator Hanna passed away all that there was to the Republicanism of McKinley and Hanna passed with them. Roosevelt has managed the party as his fears and his hopes of nomination stirred him. If elected he will want the pages of history to record his administration with an event. God help the mothers, the wives and sisters when Roosevelt sets out with 'a mailed fist' to make history.

President Roosevelt has been called 'strenuous,' and then our law abiding, peaceful, home loving husbands and sons, who are called 'cravens,' 'weaklings,' 'cowards.' There is a frenzy about this that alarms. Like Napoleon he applauded large families. Is it because they will yield soldiers to his republic-empire?

President Roosevelt is dangerous because if elected he will be more than ever the master of Senate and House; more than ever the director of the foreign policy of the nation; more than ever the commander-in-chief of army and navy. His feet will trample the Constitution. He is strenuous enough to be the law, having proven his ability to step outside constitutional limitations.

If we who saw our fever-stricken sons come back pale and wasted, some prematurely aged and others incapacitated from bread winning, could cast our votes; if we who are told that gentle woman's chief function in life is to be 'strenuous' in maternity, could cast our votes; if we who believe that the peaceful, restful home, the love of husbands and sons and the companionship of kindly neighbors is man's happiest lot on earth, could cast our votes, how many would be for Roosevelt? He is a menace to the home. He casts the red glow of war on the hearth; the sombre shadow of the grave on the cradle. He is a man of fire, of blood, of dangerous ambition.

MRS. MARY BLACKBURN