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The Commoner
VOL. 16, no; 5
Roger Urged as Running Mate
From the Chicago Tribune, May 0.
Roger G. Sullivan as President
WilBon'e running mato this fall was
tho bomb that exploded with a loud
crack in democratic circles yesterday.
Mr. Sullivan admitted to a report
er for Tho Trlbuno that ho had had
some corrcspondonco on tho sub
ject. Ho said, however, that ho was
not taking tho proposition soriously
yet. , ,
Notwithstanding tho biscuit man s
jocular attitude toward tho sugges
tion, it was ascertained that his close
irionus are in uuuu cuniuni. ..w
have told Mr. Sullivan that he can
got tho nomination for vice-president
if ho goes aftor It, and that, In their
opinion, it would bo good politics for
tho democratic loaders to mako such
a choice.
Meets Requirements, They Say
Tho argument that has been put
up to tho "man who nominated Wil
son at Baltimoro" is that ho meets
all tho requirements of a vice presi
dential candidate on tho domocratio
tlckot at this particular time.
They have Insisted to him that ho
has, first of all, tho provorblal barrel
with which a vlco presidential can
didate Is supposed to bo possessed as
tho prime requirement.
Thoy also have told him that ho Is
tho "logical" man for this place,
coming from Illinois, tho "pivotal"
state, having a largo following among
tho Irish voters and in a position to
corral a largo number of Gorman
American votors, who othorwlso
would not support tho democratic
tlckot.
President Wilson, thoy contend,
will bo able to get along fairly well
with tho purely American native and
the Protestant vote, whllo Sullivan
could bring to tho ticket a largo ele
ment of tho hyphenated electorate.
Quotes "Uncle Joe"
Whllo Mr. Sullivan waB being in
terviewed on the proposition, ono of
his closest political associates (not
John P. HopkliiB) remarked:
"In the language of Uncle Joo
Cannon tho democratic convention
could go a d sight farther and
do a h of a sight worse."
Sullivan, also, his boosters said,
has demonstrated to President Wil
son that ho and his friends control
tho democratic organization of Ill
inois. Mr. Sullivan haB been named
chairman of the Illinois delegation to
"the St. Louis convention. Tho man
he wants will be namod the Illinois
member of tho resolutions commit
tee. Some Illinois delegate might be
mado chairman of tho platform com
mittee at St. Louis.
Stuck to President
Mr. Sullivan, thoy go on and say,
has remained loyal to President Wil
son during tho four years in which
tho Sullivan people have been given
nn mrnirnltlnn at Washington in a
patronage way. He has kept his
forces in lino for Wilson when they
were gnawing the bark off tho shade
trees because of no patronage. On
top of this ho mado it plain at tho
outset of tho Illinois presidential pri
mary that tho Illinois delegation to
St. Louis, if controlled by him, would
bo a unit for tho renomination of
President Wilson.
Sullivan and Secretary Tumulty
are tho closest kind of personal
friends. Sullivan's card gets an Im
mediate response from Mr. Tumulty
at the White House or the executive
offices.
Within tho last few weeks the bis
cuit man has been a caller at the ex
ecutive office at the foot of Pennsyl
vania avenue, and his reception has
been very cordial.
It oven has been whispered among
the Insiders that It was Mr. Sullivan's
request at Washington that resulted
In James Hamilton Lewis being
shelved for temporary chairman of
tho St. Louis convention and former
Governor Glynn of New York being
selected for the keynote solo.
BRITAIN BLOCKS RED CROSS
WORIC
A Washington, D. C, dispatch
dated May 11, says: From former
President Tatt, chairman of the
American Red Cross, the state depart
ment today received a letter which
promises to precipitate another con
troversy with Great Britain, this time
over tho admission of Red Cross sup
plies to Germany.
This possibility is strengthened by
a statement from attaches at the
White House that the administration
will take up the Red Cross complaint
and press it vigorously with the BrlL
ish government.
One Shipment in Seven Months
The present situation Mr. Taft out
linos as follows:
"Since the beginning of the war
tho American Red Cross has invited
contributions of money and supplies
with which to aid the wounded and
suffering of all tho belligerents. We
have found no difficulty in sending
supplies to tho entente allies. We
have had to obtain permits from
Great Britain for the shipment to the
Red Cross of the central powers.
"Until September, 1915, there was
substantially no delay in the grant
ing of these permits by Great Britain.
A permit was granted for only one
rahipmont since that time in Janu
ary of this year.
Limits Further Shipments
"Wo aro now in receipt of a com
munication from t:.e British govern
ment announcing that it does not in
tend to permit any further shipment
unless it is a shipment to our own
hospital units in a territory of the
central powers. We are able to
maintain no hospital units in any of
the belligerent countries.
"The authorities of the American
Red Cross believe that under the
Geneva convention, to which the
United States and all belligerent pow
ers are signatories, the United States
has the treaty right to insist that ar
ticles serving exclusively to aid the
sick and wounded in the form of
hospital supplies, shipped by the
American Red Cross to the Red Cross
of the central powers, shall not oe
declared contraband, but shall be al
lowed safe conduct to their destina
tion. "We respectfully urge upon the
state department the propriety and
wisdom of bringing the matter again
to the attention of the government,
with the hope that It may change the
attitude taken by It in the most re
cent dispatches of March 22 and
March 30."
Strings to Polish Relief
London, May 11. The British gov.
ernment has just announced its ac
ceptance of the plan submitted by
Walter Hlnes Page, the American
ambassador, last February, for feed
ing the civilian population of Poland
by an American commission.
The acceptance carries, however,
certain rather difficult stipulations
for the central powers, namely, that
the relief must be applied to that
portion of Poland in Austrian occu
pation and not confined, as Germany
desires, to that part occupied by
Germany. It is stipulated that the
food is to be shipped from the United
States in German ships under a neu
tral flag, and (that Germany and Aus-:
tria agree as part of the scheme to
care properly for t!ie populations of
Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro.
The foreign office expressed the
hope that the central powers will
promptly accept the conditions, so as
to hasten the beginning of the work.
Herbert C. Hoover, chairman for re
lief in Belgium, will go to Brussels
tomorrow and may be able to facili
tate the negotiations.
and by the sharp contests over local
offices? This question can't be an
swered fully until the regular elec
tion returns are in.
"On tho face of the primary re
turns the republican party is pretty
fairly well united agajta, and is easily
the majority party in Nebraska, in
the primary 102,761 republican votes
were cast, against 86,887 for the
democrats and about four hundred
for the progressives. The republican
gain over 1914 is 28,268 and tho
democratic gain is 19,588. The pro
gressives dropped off about two
thousand, most of them naturally
enough going back to the republican
organization. Everybody knows, of
course, that party ties aro now so
loose that the preponderance of re
publican votes in the primary doesn't
necessarily mean that all of them will
be cast for that ticket in the election.
One of the most striking of all the
developments since the primary was
started is the growth of independ
ence in voting. All .of the figures
are encouraging to the republicans,
however. If thoy show anything it
is that they are likely to carry the
state."
BARGAIN OFFER
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A GROWING INTEREST
PRIMARIES
IN THE
Discussing the recent Nebraska
primaries, the Lincoln State Journal
notes the increasing interest in pri
mary elections from year to year. It
says:
"Several interesting things are
found in the total of the primary
vote, which, has at last been made
up more than two full weeks after
the polls closed. One is that the in
terest in the primary is steadily
growing. The following table shows
the steady increase in interest in
popular nominations since the sys
tem was adopted for the state in
1907':
AGAINST PREPAREDNESS
The Kansas division pf the Farm
ers' Educational and Co-operative
Union was in session in Topeka when
the President spoke there in Febru
ary. They attended in a body, and
the next day adopted the following
resolutions:
"That we are unalterably opposed
to a large standing army; and to any
change in our military system tend
ing to compulsory military service.
"That we, the mothers and fathers
of the boys attending" tr 8 state agri
cultural college, absolutely refuse
our consent that our boys be forced
to enlist in any military organization.
"We are opposed to militarism and
to preparedness and excessive expend
iture of national and state revenues
in times of peace and we favor the
manufacture of munition and naval
supplies that we need by our gov
ernment. We recommend the stand
of our senators and representatives
who are opposing the present plan
of preparedness and we instruct
President McAuliffe to immediately
telegraph the above resolutions to
our senators and represenatives in
congress.
"(Signed) Myron Rice, Chairman,
D. D. Smith, secretary; J. B. Shields,
C. E. Brasted, Roy Schmitt."
1907
1910
1911
1912
1914
1916 .
"One
Primary
. 79,008
. ...... 98,218
93,394
108,081
128,623
133,813
Gen.
Election
203,934
271,491
207,575
243,390
225,380
259,124
246,941
arguments
Addrew Orden to THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nebr.
146,958
192,027
of the stock
against the primary in the eariv rin
was that the people didn't want it
and wouldn't use it. Maybe they
don't want it, but there is no doubt
about their willingness to use it
One-third of the growth in the last
two years is chargeable to Douglas
and Lancaster counties. Does this
mean that the cities are growing in
population faster than the countr?
?n the' lnlrlVte !B Unduly incrS
in the large centers by advertising
BRYAN IN IOWA
"It isn't particularly against Mr.
Bryan is it that he should be de
feated as a delegate to the national
convention of his party by liquor
votes? Seems like the party and not
Mr. Bryan got the worst of it in that
deal." Marshalltown Times-Republican.
While Mr. Bryan is in Iowa it is
a good time to consider this.
The liquor interests of Omaha seem
to have triumphed over him and if
he goes to the national convention he
will go as a visitor. But who believes
that the liquor interests of Omaha
have really triumphed?
Mr. Bryan three times received
more votes for tho presidency than
President Wilson received. But Mr.
Bryan in all that time was not in the
way of the enduring regard of the
American people that he is today.
Mr. Bryan is making a great fight
and a brave fight for fundamental
righteousness in American politics,
and the fact that the Iowa democracy
stands today for what it stands for
is in the main his work, as before
him it was the work of General
Weaver. Des Moines (la.) Tribune,
May 12. ''" n"
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