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The Commoner.
VOLUME 12. NUMBER 3J
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Roosevelt Unfit to Blaze the Way
Following is an Associated Press
dispatch: Washington, Aug. 1G. In
a picturesque, spontaneous outburst
during debate of the president's wool
tariff veto in tho sonate, Senator La
Folletto today attacked tho now pro
gressive party and swore new allegi
ance to progressive republicanism.
Tho "original Insurgent," quivering
with emotion, with clenched hands
and strained face, poured out a flood
of impassioned oratory that kept the
floor and galleries of the senate rapt
and silent. Standing in the well of
tho chamber, Senator La Follctte
assured his associates that he in
tended to "keep up the fight in the
republican party to mako that party
really progressive," and to "keep on
until tho last bell rings and the cur
tain falls."
After reviewing briefly tho trust
record of Colonel Roosevelt, Senator
La Follette declared that the former
president was not the man to find
tho way out now.
Ho asserted that "no obstacle
dragged across the path of the
progressive movement in the repub
lican party can now stop its ad
vance." Ho declared that when the
republican party, through its pro
gressive associates, had reached a
point where it would "respond to the
purposes for which it is born, an at
tempt is made at Chicago to divert
it."
Senator Stone asked Senator La
Folletto whether he meant the nomi-
Sp
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II II
&i!!!!!
nation of President Taft or the nomi
nation of ex-President Roosevelt.
"I am awfully surprised," began
Senator La Follette, "that I left the
senator from Missouri in doubt. I
hope I did not leave doubt in the
mind of anyone else."
Then, moving down the center
aisle, until his outstretched, shaking
hands almost touched the stenog
raphers' tables, he continued:
"On the day that Theodore Roose
velt was made president of the
United States there were 149 trusts
and combinations in the United
States. When ho turned the govern
ment over to William H. Taft there
were 10,020 plants in combination.
When he became president the trusts
had an aggregate capitalization of
$3,000,000,000 and when he left the
presidency they had an aggregate
capitalization of $10,000,000,000,
and more than 70 per cent of it was
water.
"Their power has gone on growing
and spreading. There has been no
diminution in the present adminis
tration. Tho present administra
tion has sought to apply the Sherman
anti-trust law more vigorously than
its predecessor, but the time to have
applied the Sherman anti-trust law
effectively was in the infancy of
these trusts, when there were only
149.
"I don't believe that the man who
was president for seven years, while
the greatest trust growth occurred,
at the very time of all times in the
history of the Sherman anti-trust
law it could have been made poten
tial in deterring trust organization.
I do not think that the man who was
president then is the man to find the
way out now."
Then, turning to Senator Stone,
Senator La Follette bowed and in
quired :
"Doe that answer the senator
from Missouri?"
"That does fairly well," responded
Senator Stone, drily, amid the laugh
ter of the senate.
Senator Pomerene inquired if
Senator La Follette would tell how
many of the 10,020 trusts were
"good" ones and how many "bad."
"I have no way to differentiate,"
returned Senator La Follette, "be
cause none of the trusts are my
friends. If any of them were sup
porting my propaganda with large
contributions I suppose I would be
Tiuman enough to call them 'good
trusts. They know about the Wiscon
sin system and they know it is real
dope for their business.
"So I have no George W. Perkins
and no Munsey supporting me. It is
a lone, practically single-handed
light I have waged for twenty-five
years, and, Mr. President, I am go
ing to keep on until the bell rings
and the curtain falls."
Senator La Follette's outburst
came without warning to tho senate.
He arose to make an analysis on the
president's veto on the wool bill but
had spoken scarcely a dozen words
when the break came. As his eyes
roved around the chamber he saw
that many republican senators had
left their seats as he began to speak,
and with a bitter smile he turned to
the president of the senate:
"I note the fact," he said, "that
on the republican side there are just
fourteen republican senators present.
I am constrained to speculate a bit
about this. I am impelled to ques
tion whether that condition may not
ue a sort or prophesy of what is to
come."
Senator La Follette then remarked
that he remembered the first time he
addressed the senate, and practically
every seat on the republican side was
vacated as 'a rebuke to him "for pre
suming to know anything about
legislation."
'I prophesied than that -wim -h
people came to understand the sort
of service they were getting those
seats would be permanently vacated.
Since then there have been some
thirty of those seats vacated. I don't
believe that the public of this coun
try is going to find any measure of
relief from that condition by wander
ing off into unexplored fields under
the guidance of a pilot who exercised
a very supreme control while we
were getting Into exactly the same
condition the country is in now.
"I believe the redemption of rep
resentative government in this coun
try will be accomplished by the re
publican party."
As Senator La Follette continued
he grew more earnest. Several times
he realized that he had forgotten the
original purpose of his speech and
'interrupted himself.
"Go on, go on," urged Senator
William Alden Smith, who Bat near
him.
"I did not intend to make this sort
of a speech. I vow I did not," Sena
tor La Follette said. "But I would
like to go on. I am just seething
with it. I intend to go on in two or
three weeks, night and day. I am
never going to stop until the republi
cans in the house of representatives
and in the senate and each of the
legislatures are truly progressive. I
am going to keep the fight in the re
publican party. I think that is the
best instrument through which to
progress.
"Now, when it is the purpose to
make the republican party respond
to the purposes f6r which it was
born, an attempt is made at Chicago
to divert it. It won't succeed. It
will only disturb the surface of
things a little. The republican party
was born to make all men equal and
that is all that lies back of the move
ment of the true progressives."
THE CASE OP MR. ROOSEVELT
Robert M. La Follette in La Fol
lette's Magazine: Bryan at Balti-'
more, foregoing all chance of his own
nomination, marshalling all his
forces, braving Tammany and tho
trusts to rescue his party from their
domination, carrying the convention
for the adoption of the most progres
sive democratic platform yet offered,
and the nomination of the most pro
gressive democratic candidate avail
able, was a towering figure of moral
power and patriotic devotion to civic
righteousness.
Roosevelt at Chicago, backed by
money derived from the stock water
ing operations of the steel trust and
the harvester trust, organizing what
are now confessed to have been
"fake" contests as to nearly two hun
dred delegates in order to control the
republican convention and secure his
own nomination, refusing to aid in
making a progressive platform,
bound to have the nomination or de
stroy the republican party, was a
most striking example of misdirected
power and unworthy ambition.
Roosevelt had as great an oppor
tunity to serve the progressive cause
at Chicago, as Bryan liad at Balti
more. But Roosevelt was serving
the man, not the cause. He wanted
one thing he wanted the nomina
tion. And yet ho did not have
enough votes to nominate himself
upon any honest basis. He did
havo delegates in that convention
ultimately to have nominated a real
progressive and adopted a strong
progressive platform. He could even
have nominated Hadley on such a
platform, and 'progressive republi
cans could have "supported Hadley
in much the same spirit as hundreds
of thousands of them will now sup
port Wilson. Neither Hadley nor
Wilson are veterans In the progres
sive ranks. Neither of them has
been tried by the severest tests.
Both appear to be men of high ideals
whose records, though short, give
promise.
'Hadley. He would have no one bu
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