Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 125, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 November 1904 — WISE SILENCE VS WEAK SPEECH. [ARTICLE]

WISE SILENCE VS WEAK SPEECH.

The iodepeLdeut aud fr-e trade lac News, which mu ah disposed to support Parke soon after he was nominated hathad it. a ope since Park*-’ has bad bis mou h opened, sec baa the following editorial, nodethe above beading, in i s Tceeda.' ev»n«t»sr edition: Two faoto-s in this presidents oampaigu not counted on st tilt beginning have had d sMnnt in fluenoe in shaping public opioi o> Oae is the dignified sil-noe o PrecideDt Hnd the nthe he erratic speeches of .l-ttdg Parker. Both have mrde i j fav of the Republicans. Not every oand.date foi P.t*' dont can safely be trusted to mak< p-eohes The O/indiditle stauU •n ouch a pdcrstal audit such > ierce light that even a slight s!ij of the tongue elicits au answering Sre that may prove most damaging. Ia former years candidate were mot allowed to open their m nit us after toe nomination. That was a safe practice. Ham so i and McKinley departed from it in their first campaigns w.tl good results, bit they were both exceptionally oa.eful speakers They stunped the county by tel - graph, but it was a risky undertaking The old practice was safer Mr. Roosevelt had already she wi himself a ready, strong and effective speaker, and the pnblio knew he possessed the quality of think ing and talking well on his feet Therefore, there was no need cf his speaking, and the dignity oi bis office was sufficient reason for his not doing so. Whether he has remained silent of his own motion or by the advioeof friends, it wh<4 wise thing to do, and be ba gained by it. His acta and ad. ministration speak for themselves and be oan afford to “stand pat’ on his record. Mr. Roosevelt ba? gained steadily since the day of his nomination, and bis dignified silence is one cause of his growing strength.

On the other hand, Judge Parker ha. lost ground very perceptibly daring the last few weeks, and espeoiallysinoe he began to speak “Oh. that mine adversary bed written a book!” said Job. If Mr Roosevelt had prayed that bis opponent might take the stamp in his own behalf, the prayer oould not have been answered more effectively. - Judge Parker’s friends have cause to rae the day that he began to speak. As long as be did not speak the people were at liberty to invest him with a sort of halo of greatness and wisdom, and regard him as a man whose knowledge of affairs would constitute a valuable equipment for tbe presidential offioe. As long as they knew very little about him they oould attribute imaginary qualities to him. Gut when he began to make speeches the illusion was dispelled, Job only wished that his adversary had written one book; Judge Parker has made several speeches and suoh one has reooiled upon him with new foroe. The best that could be saidx>f them is that they have shown a willingness on ,his part to attaok impregnable positions with inadequate weapons and without realizing the enemy’s strength or his own weakness. Bat that kind of willingness does not compensate for the recklessness it implies nor lessen the harm it does. Judge Parker’s speeohes and the answers they have elicited have been largely influential in starting a tidal movement of publio opinicn whiohjforeshadows his certain defeat Thus, between the dignified silence of Mr. Roosevelt and the illadvised and erratic speeohes of Judge Parker, the peopls find new ground for preferring a man who does things to one who merely tslks about them, and that in a very ill-imformed and misleading way.