The Position of Mr. Hanna

     POPULAR sympathy goes out to Mr. Marcus A. Hanna. He has lost not only a friend, but a man to whom he looked up as one almost superior to mortality. Politically Mr. Hanna cared for nothing but the greater honor and glory of his friend, the President. He has been proud to take upon himself the blame for things that his opponents thought wrong in the Administration. He loved the late President as only old-time chums can love one another. He was devoted to his service, body, mind, heart, soul, fortune. The death of the President was a grievous blow to the Ohio Senator, and, whatever we may think of the latter’s policies, we cannot view unmoved the spectacle of the final severance of a friendship lasting through many years, and as loyal in defeat as in victory. Mr. Hanna was influential with his friend. There is no denying that. He was powerful in bringing others around to coincide with the late President’s policy, and the late President trusted him because he knew the Ohio Senator loved him. Mr. Hanna will not be a power with President Roosevelt, but those who look to see him snubbed and humiliated will most certainly be disappointed. Mr. Roosevelt is a gentleman. He is also a man of acute intelligence. He will appreciate Mr. Hanna at his true value, as a man of personal force. Mr. Hanna will not be [3][4] President Roosevelt’s Premier. President Roosevelt will be his own Premier. Mr. Hanna will be treated with tact and courtesy, as befits a man who has done things, and big things, and as becomes the man in the Presidency who will deal with him. President Roosevelt will be his own man in every respect, but he is not the man to create a repetition of the feud between Stalwarts and Mugwumps. President Roosevelt will serve his country, but he will do nothing to disrupt his party, and, as a man of kindly feeling, he will not humiliate the closest personal friend of his predecessor in office. Unless all signs fail, the MIRROR feels safe in predicting, President Roosevelt, the so-called “erratic,” will prove as “safe” as any President we ever had, and unless Mr. Hanna has suddenly lost all the eminently practical common sense that has distinguished him throughout his career, he will be found, in no short time, working in harmony with the new Administration. The Republican party will think more of Hanna than ever because of his intimate identification with that party’s third martyr President, for it is a party of more sentiment and sympathy than is ordinarily believed. President Roosevelt is a politician, and will appreciate the value of this fact. President Roosevelt will, naturally, have his own friends, but he is a frank, true, brave man, and he will put no slight upon his predecessor’s companion and friend. Unless something unforeseen should occur, we may look for a serenely solid administration under Theodore Roosevelt.