The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-12-19
WHAT IS WRONG?
Apparently Square Deal Move
ment Is Lacking.
Headquarters Anything But a
Busy Place.
DOING NOTHING NOW.
Unable to Get Together on
Candidate for Governor.
Tide Is Setting in Toward Mr..
Jackson.
DOING NOTHING NOW.

What's the matter with the square
deal movement otherwise christened
the Direct Primary Lacquer
This organization, supposed to be the
Great Organized Protest against the
machine in politics. has it's sign on a
building on West Eighth street, and is
said to have issued some circulars, but
when 1t comes down to making an eff
fective political organization with
which to win political battles, the
square DEAL has failed to make much
OF a stir.
If the square deal movement is mere
ly sleeping, one would think that it is
time for 1t to be waking up and get
ting ready for business, with the cam
paign for the gubernatorial nomination
only a week distant.
H. G. Larimer, the Topeka secretary
of the Direct Primary league, was ask
ed today what the league was doing.
why, nothing special" he said. ''Ev-
erybody is for direct primary law
now, anyway"
Mr.. Larimer said there were no def1n-
lite plans being made for organizing the
square deal movement, any further
than it is already organized.
There would be no trouble about
passing a direct primary law at spec
ial session., said Mr.. Larimer. THE
senate would stand in the way no long
er. AT the end of the last session, the
senate was all ready to capitulate, and
If half a dozen of those members of the
house had kept their nerve and re
1ected that senate compromise by
decisive vote, the senate would have
taken another vote and would have
passed a decent primary law
One we'll known Republican, who has
affiliated with the square deal crowd
said today: THE square dealers, as a
matter of fact, have no organization
The headquarters maintained in To-
peka are an empty shell. In case of
an election, the square dealers could
not make an effective fight for a sin
gle county where the square deal SEN
timent is not naturally in the aScen-
ment for cleaning out a political ma
chine, because such a movement takes
money, or it takes the promise of jobs,
and usually reform movement is
short on money and can't consistently
promise away jobs. They talk about
sas. AS a matter of fact, there isn't
any square deal organization"
One of the old time politicians, to
whom the seeming lack of interest and
general disorganization of the square
deal forces was mentioned. said:
wv. R. Stubs, who is the heart and
soul of the square deal crowd, is not
an organizer, and never will be. He
isn't built for a political organizer,
and his enemies in the machine camp
don't especially fear him for that rea-
son. They realize that he may now
and then win a popular victory, but
these popular victories don't last. 1t
is the political organizer who wins in
the long run. If Stubs was an or
ganizer, he would dominate the poll
tics of the state. But 1t simply isn't in
him to organize"
Perhaps Mr. Stubs will consider
this statement of the old timer as the
highest compliment that could be paid
him, Mr.. Stubs claims to be differ
ant from other men in the political