The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-06-09
EetsEvELr AND PI.A9r.


fork most readily suggested by Gov
to'Aor Hughes ransference to the
Saneme Court was the nomination
lW MI. Roosevelt for the Vice-Presi-
"e"cS ten years ago. He also was
IN the thick OF a reform movement,
iRnd ne expected a second term as
HoVelWor, with. a prospect of being
Nominated for the Presidency in
tSV4' Ihe work OF Senator Plat,
SENATOR Quay, anu other politicians
Tof New YORK and PENNSYLVANIA in
IRVING to force the convention to put
Roosevelt on the ticket with Nc
Ehmley was for the: frankly avowed
purpose of getting him. out OF New
YORK politics., Corporation interests
demanded his "shelvings" The Vice
PRESIDENCY was an office which had
previously been regarded as ter
mihatlng an incumbHnt's active
t@reer; An unforeseen tragedy made
ant. Roosevelt President, and the
1nlaChlnatlcnS of his enemies were
! turned against them. In the current
'number McClure>s there is an article
porportng to be posthumous auto
geography by the late Mr.. Platt. IT
tells with much 'franl1ness,
with an incompieteness that might
tempt those who know all the facts
TO round the story OUTFLOW Mr..
I,rlatt in his own opinion made and
uhmade Roosevelt as Governor, and
now he made him Vice-President. !
MI. Plat could never understand
that great trend of public opinion
which MI Roosevelt ALWAYS knew
now to reckon with, and which, also, /
some OF those whom Mr.. Plat was
wont to designate as Roosevelt's |
+ Sef-consututed friends" were in a
position to understand and to meas
ure with some accuracy.
Mr.. Roosevelt was never a puppet
IN Mr.. Platt's hands. Plat had very
reluctantly accepted him for Cover
nor, because the State was about \
to go Dem ocratic, the public was de-
.mandlng Roosevelt, and the indepen-
dents had already obtained from him
what they regarded as a qualified N
consent to rum at the head of their II
separate ticket. While it is true that II
tile traction panies.-becausel II
Governor Roosevelt had signed the1
Ford franchise-tax biH,-had orderedt
the political bosses to take Roose4 II
Welt out OF State politics, he could Il
nevertheless have won his renomin- n
alton and reelection as Governor, in Il
spite of Mr.. Plat. Nothing would I
nave been so easy as an exposure CT /;
the origin Of the conspiracy against II
Roosevelt at that time, and mere H
setting forth Of undisputed facts II
nave resulted in Mr.. Roosevelts re- Il
nomination and reelection as Gov II
elnor. Thus the attempt on Mr.. III
Platt's part to make it appear that II
Roosevelt was soft clay in the hands II
OF great boss is not only mistaken ID
but ridiculous. Furthermore, al II
though Platt and Qua Nssearted the u
Roosevelt boom at the Philadelphia
convention, their motives were per-
fectly understood and were not inf|
the least the factor that turned the II
in the end II
Mr.. Roosevelt, four months in ad- II
vance, had given to the press form-
al statement to the effect that under
no circumstances would he accept q
nomination for the Vice-Presidenc%.
In the great campaign Of 1896 many II
OF the Western States had been car h
rled by the Popuiists. The Western H
Republicans, wishing to make sure i
OF their local situations, demanded II
Roosevelt for the strengthening OF Il
the ticket in 1900. They declared /
that q o1.fI u |
have him on the ticket and in the Il
campaign; and they freely pledged Il
themselves that under anv circurn- L
stances they would make him Presi- i
dent in 1901 IT was not Mf-Platt's s. |.
lntr1gues and his alleged award Of |;
the GovefnOrShip to 0del4 that led
Roosevelt to sacrifice his own wishes |,
at Philadelphia. 1t was rather his !;
feeling that he must respond to tina!
larger call from the whole country, i
which had become irresistible thro Il
the lack Of any other Well-presentrd Il
candidacy for the second place on The |,
ticket. Mr.. Roosevelt has long boon /
IN the game OF party politics: but he
was never in the game III that craven i
aDJect fashion set ,orth in these P12Ut |
"reminiscences. Seldom Il Is any Thing I
ever. been printed in the ficl OF pol;- /
tics which SO illustrates the biindless |
of certain type Cr sv.cnllc1 leader.
At Albany this winter we have been
reaDing the aftermath Of the sort of
political and Legislative life that was
built up under tire Doss-ship Of Mr.. |
Ptatt, the gradual disintegration Of
which dates from the Governorship
Of Mr.. Roosevelt. Public opinion
sometimes arouses itself tardily, but
in the end it prevails over the intri-