We dislike and distrust prophetic politics, and consequently regret that
Mr. Roosevelt in his short letter thanking the people for the honour they have done him should have pledged. himself not again to offer himself for re-election. He has only been elected President once, and is not barred, therefore, by the hitherto unbroken American etiquette. His object, of course, is to disprove the charges of personal ambition, and especially militarist ambition, so constantly levelled at him ; but he does not know, and cannot know, what the situation may be in 1908. He may be needed by his country on the eve of a great war—suppose the German Emperor were elected Sovereign of Southern Brazil—or to resist a flood of Socialist sentiment stirred up by some gigantic development of the Trust system. Already Bryanism is lifting its head again, and Bryanism may easily develop into a war against private property. There was no necessity for such a pledge, and though it leaves Mr. Roosevelt free of many kinds of injurious pressure, we wish that it had not been given.
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