Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-06-19
FORCES GATHER
 FOR BIG BATTLE Fifteenth Republican Ma tional Convention Opened
 Yesterday. THE PRELIMINARIE Roosevelt Supporters Tried to Elimi- nate Taft Delegates on Temp0-
 rary Roll But Failed.
THE PRELIMINARY

Chicago, June 1S-With battle lines drawn taut with contending leaders and lieutenans straining for posses sion of strategic positions, warning Taf: and Roosevelt forces met in con- fl ct in the fifteenth Republican na- tional convention this forenoon for a struggle that promises to make red pages in American political history.
 Hours before the signal gun crash ed cut it's summons to battle, the Coliseum, .he battlefield on which will be decided the Republican presi- lantial rom nee, was crowded with humanity, all scramblng. jostling, electrified by extieement over the impendingA contest. The stress of .eeling between principals in the struggle was reflected in the great throngs on the convention floor and among the thousands who crowded nearby hotels and streets, all eager and grasping for sensations that were expected to develop in S Coliseum.
 President Taft's managers had con- cluGed their plans for the fight on the floor of the convention on the assumption that the temporary roll as prepared by the national commit tee would show Taft majority by a small margin. Also they assumed that the temporary roll of the committee would become the temporary roll of the convention. Colonel Roosevelt and his advisers, evidently familiar with the Taft figures, evolved an eleventh-hcur scheme fer reducing this small Taft majority by means of an arrangement to eliminate from the poll on temporary organization those which are challenged by Colonel Roos eyelt.
 This scheme, fathered by the Illi- rIois delegation and ratified at a meet ing of the Roosevelt delegates this moraing, was embodied in the follow ing resolution, which was addressed 70 the Hoody of the convention:
 Resolved, That no election of tenn ipcrary or other officers in this con- vention or resolution or other pro- ceedings shall be taken as the act of this convention or have any ef- feet unless it shall receive on roll call the affirmative votes of $40 delegates whose seats are uncontest- ed, and this resolution shall govern and be in force during the temper ary organization of this convention and until the permanent organization thereof shall have been effected"
 Every possible effort was made by the Roosevelt managers to have the Taft leaders agree to accept and abide by this proposal. Illinois friends of Congressman William B. McKin- nley, President Taft's campaign manager, sought to have him agree to the plan. Governor Deneen, Law renee Y. Sherman, State Senator Lo- gam Hay of Springfield, and Thomas Healy of Chicago were among those who threw their influence into the balance in attempts to have Mr. Me- Kinley accept the arrangement.
 Taft leaders pointed out the plan was in direct opposition to rules gov erning the national committee and to long established procedure in the temporary organization of the Re- publican national conventions. The proposed innovation met with little encouragement at the hands of a majority of the members of the na- tional committee. The mere moder- ate members of the Roosevelt or ganization counseled against the reso- lu.ion. They declared that attempts to cscure it's adoption would precipi- tate decisive fight at once. They