JUNE 21 1912
The Commoner.
V
The Big Fight at Chicago
The Taft steam roller proved itself to bo ono
of the best equipped political machines in his
tory. Tho national committee continued to
render decisions in favor of tho Taft forces.
After tho Indiana contest had been decided in
favor of tho president Mr. Roosevelt issued a
statement in which ho said:
"The question at Chicago becomes clearer
with every voto of the national committee. It
is simply whether the people have the right to
nominate whomever they wish for tho highest
ofilco in their gift, or whether, by deliberate
theft and fraud, certain machine leaders, acting
in the interest of special privilege, are to be
permitted to deprive the people of this right.
"By an overwhelming majority, where they
have had the opportunity to express their wishes
at the primaries, the plain. people, the rank and
file of the republican party, have repudiated Mr.
Taft. Now we are face to face with the question
whether the people rule the republican party
or whether the party .is to be ruled by the dis
credited bosses whom the people have them
selves repudiated."
Francis J. Heney attacked several members
of the national committee after they had de
cided in favor of Taft on California contests.
He read a letter from Governor Johnson of
California1 declining to appear before the com
mittee for the reason that he did not think it
proper to "submit to trial to the title of property
by the thief who steals it." Mr. Heney said in
reply to Senator Murray Crane of Massachusetts
that Crane had "no respectability to lose."
Judge Ben B. Lindsey of Denver gave out the
statement that Mr. Roosevelt was in favor of
woman suffrage and would include it in his
platform. Later Mr. Roosevelt confirmed Lind
sey's statement in a newspaper interview. The
decision in the California cases was resented
in California. The following is an Associated
Press dispatch:
Los Angeles, Cal., June 12. When the Cali
fornia delegation to the republican national con
vention at Chicago arrived here today aboard a
special train and learned that two of the dele
gates had been deposed by the republican na
tional committee in favor of the Taft contes
tants, resolutions were adopted condemning the
national committee and talk of the creation of
a third party was freely indulged in.
Newspapers supporting the "progressive"
wing of the republican party greeted the dele
gation with editorials urging them to support a
third party movement if Roosevelt should not
be nominated and the resolutions adopted
pledged the delegates "to go the limit" against
those who are putting through the anti-Roosevelt
program at Chicago.
A mass meeting to protest against the "out
rageous tactics" of the national committee was
held at the depot here. The delegates partici
pated in adopting the resolutions which read:
"We condemn as betrayal of trust a violation
of precept of decency and honor and as an in
tentional assault upon the integrity of the re
publican party the outrageous conduct of tho
discredited republican bosses now dictating and
controlling that committee, whereby delegates
chosen by the people of their respective states,
in the interest of Theodore Roosevelt, are being
denied seats in said convention while their
places are given to the 'hand picked' puppets,
chosen by the bosses in the interest of William
H. Taft.
"We denounce the acquiescence of President
Taft in the program of political larcency now
being carried out.
"We call on members of the California dele
gation to go the limit of all honorable endeavor
to rebuke the tactics of which we hero com
plain and urge them to fight first,
last and all tho time for Theodore Roosevelt, a
' progressive ticlcet and the progressive cause."
Meyer Lissner,. chairman of tho republican
state central committee, when asked what ho
thought about the possibility of a new party
answered :
"All I will' say is this: We are going to Chi
cago as progressives and we won't take any
thing but a progressive platform and a progres
sive candidate."
On June 12th, Mr. Roosevelt gave out a state
ment in which he said: "In Arizona, Mr. Taft's
national committeemen acted with great frank
ness on their view that the introduction of the
point of politics is an unwarranted impertinence
calling for rebuke by the national committee.
Tho case turned on the single county of Mari
copa. The county committee of that county
has the option of selecting delogates to tho state
convention or of calling a primary to glvo tho
people the right to vote. At a meeting of tho
county committee all the Roosevelt men, joined
by two of the Taft men, ordered a primary to be
hold throughout the county. A minority of tho
county committee hold a rump meeting and
selected Taft delegates to the state convention.
At the primaries the Roosevelt delegates wore
elected by a vote of 950 as against less than
twenty-five for Taft. Tho national committee,
acting on Mr. Taft's theory that this ought not
to bo a government by tho people, treated tho
fact that the voters had themselves been given
tho right to say who their delegates should be,
as a result refusing to seat tho delegates elected
by the voters.
"In Kentucky, the Taft-Bradloy forces were
guilty of grosser frauds than anywhere else in
tho country. There was no form of rascality
which it was not clearly proved before the na
tional committee that the Taft men had rcsortod
to in order to get Taft delogates. Hundreds of
affidavits were filed with tho national committee
showing where men had been over tho state
with Taft badges and paid $2 apiece for votes
for Taft, and showing that in certain counties
Roosevelt majorities w6re counted out by tho
county committee, who wore postmasters or
federal officeholders. Where, in spite of the
methods, the Roosevelt men still had a majority,
tho Taft men bolted, and tho national committee
promptly recognized the rump convention.
"In the Eleventh district the theft of tho
delegates was perhaps more flagrant than else
where. The Taft men of tho national committee
first voted down seating tho Roosevelt dele
gates by thirty-three to nineteen. Immediately
afterwards, on themotion of Mr. Vorys, it seated
ono Taft and one Roosevelt man. This decision
was on its face preposterous. It was a frank
admission that the Taft members of tho national
committee, not being quite willing to steal two
men, were willing to and actually stole one.
. In California, the action of the national com
mittee was perhaps not morally worse than it
has hitherto been, but it was just a little moro
flagrant. Here, I can contribute out of my
personal knowledge to the history of what was
done. The progressives of California had con
trol of the legislature and party machinery.
Under the primary law, then existing in Cali
fornia, which had been passed by tho old re
publican machine before Governor Johnson camo
into power, the progressives ;could have obtained
all tho delegates without 'resorting to a pri
mary. This was, of course what they would
have done if they had been willing to act like
the Taft-Barnes machine of New York, tho
Taft-Amalgamated copper machine In Montana,
the Taft-Keallng machine in Indiana, and tho
Taft-Guggenheim machine In Colorado. Tho
temptation waB very strong to take the dele
gates without raising a primary.
"I have before mo the list of thirty-seven Taft
national committeemen who havo thus pre
sented Mr. Taft with two delegates stolen from
the people of California by tho national com
mitteemen at the request of the henchmen of
Mr. Patrick Calhoun. Tho list offers interest
ing reading and it is curious to sc Mr. Brooker
of Connecticut and Mr. Crane of Massachusetts,
Mr. Nagel, Mr. Taft's personal friend from Mis
souri, behind Mr. Penrose, Mr. Franklin Murphy,
Mr. Powell Clayton, Mr. Mulvano of Kansas and
A. M. Stevenson of Colorado.
"These thirty-seven national committeemen
have robbed the Immense. majority of re
publicans of California of their rights. Then
there comes fourteen who represent the republi
can states, every one of which has repudiated
Mr. Taft at tho primaries this spring, with tho
exception of Massachusetts, which, however,
repudiated Mr. Crane, tho man through whom
the voto of Massachusetts has been registered
in favor of tho theft of the two delegates in
question from the people of California. There
remain but seven men from tho republican
states, and of the. seven states in six no pri
maries were held this spring and tho republican
voters had no chance to express their wishes.
"Those men who are endeavoring to wreck
the republican party by trying to pack tho na
tional convention with jnen not elected to it as
delegates are men just repudiated by the re
publicans of their own states, whoso official
position in the republican party comes to an end
within ono week.
"I don't for one moment believe that tho
convention will ratify this action by the national
committee, for to do no would bo to betray tho
cause of the people, to bo false to tho fundamen
tal principles of good citizenship and of Ameri
can democracy and to wreck tho republican
party."
Tho Roosevolt forces put up such a strong
fight in the Missouri contest that tho national
committee did not carry out its purposo to givo
all thoso places to Taft. A bitter fight was mado
in tho committeo and tho Roosevelt men woro
groatly encou'raged by tho victory.
An effort was mado to bar from tho committeo
room Francis J. Heney, tho famous prosecutor,
who was thero on a proxy on tho ground that
Heney was a democrat. Ho denied tho accusa
tion and tho motion to exclude him was voted
down.
On tho evening of June 14th Colonel Roose
velt announced to tho newspaper men that ho
would leavo immediately for Chicago accom
panied by membors of his family and other
friends . He departed for tho sceno of tho con
vention. Near Albany, N. Y., a big boulder was
rolled on tho track and his train was brought to
a halt, although the engine was injured by run
ning over the rock. Thfleo boys wore- arrested
charged with having rolled tho st'ono on tho
track.
At Chicago tho Taft men awaited the coming
of Mr. Roosevelt and they said that the unpre
cedented action would only help Mr. Taft.
Three Oklahoma delegates, ono a United
States marshal, and of course, a Taft man,
had a. fight just outside the republican national
committee room. They were separated beforo
any serious damage was done. -
Ono section of tho Associated Press report
follows: Tarrant and Brown, tho Taft dele
gates .from the Ninth Tennessee district, wero
seated by the committee without a roll call, tho
RooBevelt men voting "no." A roll call was re
fused on a substitute motion to seat the Roose
velt delegates.
"This is a case of plain stealing," shouted
Heney again.
Members of tho committeo shouted, "Sit
down," "order."
"Plain stealing; plain, stealing," shouted,
Heney again. . ' . ,,'--.
"Wo can't bo scared by the hooting of an
owl," shouted one member.
"Tell us about Abo Ruef," called another.
Heney continued to shout "plain stealing,"
and was answered with catfalls and derisivo
laughter.
Mr. Henoy's remarks wero made when ho
said he wanted to "explain his voto against
seating tho Taft delegates in .he Ninth Ten
nessee case.
"Abo Reuf would bo ashamed to do what you
are doing here," Mr. Heney said, replying to a
remark by Committeeman Chubb of Florida."
"Give us some more," called ,one member.
"I'll give you another whenever I have tho
chance," declared Heney.
A letter written by Charles Banks, ono of
the "negro Taft delegates-at-large from Mis
sissippi, to Director McKInloy, of the Taft head
quarters, announcing that he would support
Roosevelt and was returning "the money
placed in my hands at your suggestion to de
fray the traveling expenses of some of the dele
gates from Mississippi," was given out by Sena
tor Dixon, manager of the Roosevelt campaign,
and created a sensation in political circles.
The letter was unaccompanied by explanation
from the Roosevelt managers, further than that
"Senator Dixon received at Roosevelt head
quarters tho following copy of a letter sent to
Hon. W. B. McKInloy." Mr. Banks and his as
sociates on the Taft delegation-at-largo wero
seated by tho national committee against tho
protest of the Roosevelt contestants from tho
state.
The letter alleged to have been written to
Mr. McKinley by Banks in part:
"In keeping with my suggestion of yester
day, I am returning to you herewith tho money
placed in my hands at your suggestion, to do
fray traveling expenses of some of the dele
gates from Mississippi. It is '"parent that
someone connected with your camp'afgn has been
continually trying to discredit nib before tho
country and with my people for some time.
"When I was in Washington a few weeks ago,
looking after the new federal court bill, from
Mississippi and called at your headquarters,
your assistant, without any -suggestion from mo
whatever, brought up the matter of expenses
for delegates from that state. I told him then
and there, in your presence, that so far as I
was concerned I would not accept any expense
money for me whatever.
"You then proposed that I take enough for
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