A ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL.

The other day Senator Lodge received a timely letter from the Lieutenant-Governor of the state suggesting that a resolution be introduced in Congress to change the name of the Panama Canal to the Roosevelt Canal in commemoration of the late Theodore Roosevelt. The idea of such a memorial is excellent; as the Governor expresses it is "to link together for all time the name of this great American leader with the great American contribution to the world."

Panama was "taken" for the sake of the world's commerce, if incidentally for the specific military and commercial advantage of the taker. Much criticism was heaped upon Mr. Roosevelt for his procedure, but he had to decide whether we would take possession of the ends of the railroad on the Isthmus and keep the traffic clear, or whether we would stand back and let those Southern gentlemen cut each others' throats for an indefinite time and destroy whatever, remnant of our property and our interests we had there. Roosevelt had to do exactly as he did, or the only alternative would have been an indefinite duration of bloodshed and devastation through the whole extent of the Isthmus. It was a time to act and not to theorize. As the late President said so cogently himself--"I had to act quickly and I did--and we are now building the canal." Yes, and today that greatest of engineering feats is a fait accompli. This almost insuperable accomplishment is one of the great monuments of President Roosevelt's Administration and one of the least things we can do in his memory is to give the great waterway his great name.