, y.fi'
x I
'J
i
ofllcoa. Wliilo a goodly sum in tho hand is
worth two oJHces in tho hush, both Inducements
must bo taken into calculation In a contest like
that now being waged for supremacy in tho
party.
Tho fight over tho temporary chairmanship
scorns llkoly to give tho first reliablo indication
of the line-up and it may bo loft to tho follow
ers of La Follotto and CumminB to decido tho
question, if they are willing to tako tho responsi
bility, but thoy may prefer to withhold their
votes rather than bo counted with either side.
Neutrality is thoir strong card and they would
Unci it difficult to support tho candidate of
cither side without subjecting themselves to mis
representation. Tho Iloosovolt mooting tonight will glvo op
portunity for an outburst of enthusiasm, as tho
cx-presldcnt is going to speak. It is safo to pre
dict that ho will studiously refrain from praising
tho republican national committee. In fact, ho
may brush up on tho criminal law and make
some additions to tho adjectives which ho has
already employed in describing tho various
forms of larceny which ho has charged against
his opponent. Tho wai.'goes merrily on, and I
feel even more than a journalistic interest in
watching it.
JUST 11I3FORH THE BATTLE
Chicago, 111., Juno 17. It is "just before the
battlo, mother," and tho writer is able to sur
vey the scene more calmly than those who "may
bo numbered with tho slain."
Tho feeling, as one meets with it in the cor
ridors of the hotels, is not as bitter as some of
tho expressions of some of tho delegates would
indicate. Tho lines are closely drawn and each
sldo is putting forth its best efforts, but there
is a good deal of cheerfulness, and I am trying
to cultivate it wherever I can. I am urging
both sides not to tako tho matter too seriously,
assuring them that wo can correct at Baltimore
any mistakes they may be unfortunate enough
to make.
I find that not ono of them is disposed to
question a democratic victory four years ahead,
an'd many of them are willing to admit confi
dentially that tho republican party is in such a
muddle that the democrats have the chance of
a lifetime.
Tho fight opens tomorrow with the election
of a temporary chairman, and an expectant
audionco will fill tho Coliseum before noon to
morrow, the opening hour. Senator Root is
tho choico of the Taft forces, while Senator
Borah will receive tho Roosevelt vote. If any
one attempts to give In advance of tho roll call
the actual number of votes to bo cast for each
he will bo walking "by faith rather than by
sight."
It is likely that the La Follette and Cummins
delogatos will withhold their votes rather than
cast them for either candidate. As both Cum
mins and La Follette must receive votes from
both sides in order to win the presidential prize,
their friends are disposed to avoid an alliance
actual or even seeming with either group. As
Taft and Roosevelt have noarly equal strength
and together control more than nine-tenths of
the convention tho other candidates can afford
to let them light out their differences and await
tho result.
As soon as the temporary organization is
completed tho committee on credentials will be
announced and tho struggle which was com
menced before the national committee will bo
renewed. The Roosevelt forces will have a
larger representation on the credentials com
m ttee than they have on the national com
mittee and about eighty contests will be sub
mitted to this committee. The remaining con
tests will bo abandoned and tho Taft delegates
will bo permitted to occupy seats without
further controversy. This is regarded by the
president's followers as a vindication of the
fairness of the committee. But the ex-presidents
friends reply that these delegates were
seated by a unanimous vote in the committee
and that acquiescence on the part of the Roose
velt member- of the national committee is proof
to see justic done. The eighty contests, how
ever, are sufficient in number to decido the
presidential nomination, so that the interest in
the result of the committeo deliberations is
acute. The California contest, while '.t involves
but two delegates, has aroused more heat than
some of tho others of greater number or im
portance. I have taken pains to consult the leaders on
both sides in order to present the issue accu
rately. The Taft side relies upon the wording
of the call of the national committee? which i!
In conformance with the rules which have go v-
The Commoner.
erned republican national conventions for thirty
years. According to tho call tho several states
arc permitted to introduce variations in the
rules to conform to state law, but this permis
sion concludes with the words: "But provided
for that in no state shall an election be .so held
as to prevent the delegates from any congres
sional district and their alternates being
selected by the republican electors of that
district."
This provision, taken in connection with the
custom that has prevailed and tho practice of
other states would give the Taft side a prima
facia case and they would also have the moral
support of those who oppose the unit rule as un
fair. It was the injustice possible under the
unit rule that led the republican party to adopt,
in 1880, the system of arranging all the dele
gates by districts, except the four from the state
at largo. As this same question is likely to
come before the Baltimore convention an illus
tration as what is to bo under the unit rule
may not be out of place.
Let us use the present contest as an illustra
tion. There are something over a thousand
delegates in the republican convention. Let us,
for convenience, fix the number at a thousand.
Suppose further, that Mr. Taft carried a ma
jority of the districts in states electing five hun
dred delegates, and that Mr. Roosevelt carried
a majority of the districts electing a remainder
of the 500 delegates. If Mr. Taft had a ma
jority, his friends invoked tho unite rule and
gave him the entire five hundred votes, while if
Mr. Roosevelt's friends did not resort to the
rule Mr. Taft would have five hundred votes,
plus nearly 250, while Mr. Roosevelt would
have only a few more than 250. In the case
supposed the use of the unit rule would give the
one who employed it an unfair advantage over
the one who did not employ it. The unit rule,
to be fair, ought to be used in all the states,
and oven then injustice is possible under it.
In the California case, however, the Roosevelt
men are not compelled to rely entirely on the
general arguments advanced in behalf of a unit
rule. They insist, first, that the primary law
of California substitutes a system of election by
tho state at large for the district system, when
certain formalities are complied with, and they
contend that the formalities were complied with
in this case. The law supersedes the language
employed in the committee's call.-
In tho second place, they declare that the
Taft delegates, who now claim election in the
districts, were candidates before the state at
largo, and became so with the indorsement of
President Taft, thus being stopped from ques
tioning the validity, of the election of their
opponents. In addition to these contentions
the Roosevelt men argue that there is no pos
sible way of determining the exact vote in the
Fourth district, the district in controversy, be
cause fourteen precincts are partly in that dis
trict, and partly in the Fifth district. The
vote between Roosevelt and Taft in the Fourth
district was so close that the votes of these
fourteen precincts would change the result, but
no one is able to say how many of those living
on the Fourth district side of the line running
through the fourteen precincts 'voted for Taft
and how many for Roosevelt. In view of the
fact that Roosevelt carried the state by 77,
000, and the Fourth and Ffth districts, taken
together, by three thousand, it can easily be
understood .why the claim of the Taft dele
gates have aroused a spirited resistance.
Yesterday there was a great deal of discussion
as to the effect of Mr. Woodruff's announcement
for Roosevelt but the interest has largelyub
sided since the New York delegation has been
Slle2 ald, the extent of the defection learned
The Brooklyn delegates seem to be firm in their
adherence to the president, and out of the New
York delegates only twelve are conceded to
Roosevelt, and three of these are said to pre
fer Justice Hughes to the ex-president.
The day closed with tho Roosevelt meetine at
the auditorium, Senator Borah presiding Both
the chairman and the ex-president were greeted
with great enthusiasm, the applause lasting
some minutes when Mr. RooTevelt appeared
upon the p atform. The Arabs are said tS have
seven hundred words which mean camel My
Roosevelt has nearly, as many synonyms for
theft and he used them all tonight T His de
nunciation of the national committee was scath
ing and he included the president and Senator
Root in his denunciation. The most spontane
ous approval of the evening greeted hia Btote-
l ??' , he action o the convention would
not be binding upon any republican in theon
yention or outside of it, if it depended upon
the votes of the seventy-six delegates whose
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 24
seats are to be contested before the credentials
committee. He demands that the contested
dlegates shall stand aside and leave the one
thousand uncontested delegates to decide the
contest. This will evidently be the lino of
battle in the convention.
The latter part of the speech was an elo
quent indorsement of progressive ideas and
sounded so much like Senator La Follette's
speeches during the last eight years and demo
cratic speeches during the last sixteen years
that one could hardly "believe that it was being
applauded by a republican audience. Only one
thing was lacking to complete it namely, a
question from the ninth verse of the twentieth
chapter of Matthew.
OPPOSING VIOLENCE
The following plank in the socialist platform
shouTd receive universal commendation:
"Any member of the party who opposes politi
cal action or advocates crime, sabotage or other
methods of violence as a weapon of the working
class to aid in its emancipation shall be expelled
from membership in the party."
The American people believe in law and
order: they favor the correction of every evil,
but they want the remedy to come through
peaceful agitation and by constitutional methods.
"When the supreme court declared the inconio
tax unconstitutional the people proceeded to
amend the constitution; when the voters found
that predatory interests were using the present
method of electing senators they began a fight
for popular elections and they have about won;
when they saw that bosses were holding power
through the convention system they demanded
primaries. In time, all abuses will be remedied.
The man who resorts to violence may some
times mean welj but he is at all times an enemy
of the cause he seeks to advancei
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION AT BALTIMORE
Governor Harmon's name will be presented
to the convention by Micheal A. Dougherty, of
Lancaster, Ohio. Champ Clark's name will be
presented by Senator Reed of Missouri. Gover
nor Wilson's name will be presented by Judge
Westcott of New Jersey. . . ,
Following is an Associated- Er.ess dispatch:
Baltimore, Md., June 11. Plans are being
formulated by members of the democratic na
tional committee, it was learned here tonight,
to create a new office to be known as chairman
of the. campaign committee. This new officer,
who will work with the national chairman, may
or may not be a member of the national com
mittee and his selection will be made by the
presidential candidate after a conference with
the new national committee members. The na
tional chairman will continue in general charge
of tho campaign.
THE LINCOLN OLEOGRAPH
Mr. George S. Benson, 220 Melon street,
Phoebus, Va., has prepared a very interesting
chart for school rooms. It contains an excellent
picture of Abraham Lincoln, and on one side a
picture of the house in which he was born, and
on the other a picture of the White house, where
he spent the later years of his life. Below are
the Gettysburg speech, the greatest for its
length in literature, and the Bixby letter, one
of the sweetest expressions of sympathy that
has ever found its way into print. The combi
nation .which he presents is calculated to excite
the ambition of the student, and to offer sug
gestions eminently helpful to the young.
JUDGE HANEORD IN ERROR
Judge Hanford's action in cancelling Oleson's
naturalization papers may not justify impeach
ment but it deserves a reprimand. In fact, con
gress should make it unlawful for any judge to
render such a decision hereafter. Citizenship
SESI ?,0t dePend uPon a person's political
III ,?QQ government is founded upon free
K , can not exist without it. If tho
?hTnatIC a.nd JePublican parties can not meet
the arguments of socialists they must go down
?nww Can meet these arguments and should
jointly oppose suppression.
A PRAYER
(By Rose Trumbull ) . -
on make me strong like some great tree,
Root-grappled through the sod
My strength in that humility
Which clasps the feet of God.
From the Independent.
tMSJi
te
