SHELVING ROOSEVELT?

There is a suspicious resemblance between the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt for the Governorship of New York state, in 1924, and the nomination and consequent election of his more famous father to the vice-presidency in 1900.

Theodore Roosevelt senior was feared by the Republican party machine. His forceful personality had won him too much popularity. He was strongly opinionated. In a pinch, his orthodoxy could not be depended upon. So he was placed, in spite of himself, on the vice-presidential shelf, there to end his political career. Had it not been for the unfortunate death of President McKinley, Roosevelt would have been in 1904, politically dead.

The son has not as yet demonstrated his father's forceful characteristics. Nevertheless, from the point of view of the party machine, he is dangerous; his name alone is a strong weapon.

Governor Smith is the most prominent figure in New York state politics today. His reelection is almost axiomatic. By nominating Mr. Roosevelt, then, in the face of impending defeat, it almost seems as if the Republican party machine intended to deal with him as it hoped to deal with his father in 1900.