Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1912-07-20

district not the state, the
unit of representation in the repuDli-
can national convention. The unit
rule has never been In favor among
When the Johnson
Roosevelt crowd, in control of the
state machine out in California, en-
acted a presidential primary law last
winter, however, they thought they
could rob the president of any chance
of a minority representation in the
California delegation by having all the
California delegates elected by the
state at large. Governor Johnson
was warned at the time by Roosevelt
men In Washington that such law
would be directly at variance with the
call of the republican national com
mittee and that its enactment would
open the way for the unseating Of t. e
entire California delegation. This
warning was dsregarded, however,
and the law passed as the Johnson
people wanted 1t.
In the primary the president polled
a majority of the votes in the Fourth
California district. The Taft dele
gates accordingly entered a contest
at Chicago and their claim was al
lowed. Technically the national com
mittee could have thrown out the en-,
tire California delegation-but this
violation of the true principle of
Course, would have been a real
popular rule. The national committee
did not violate, but upheld, this prin-
ciple in deciding for the Taft dele
gates in the fourth California dis
trict AS one of the speakers In the
Coliseum very APPLY put it.:
1T has never been part of the
policy of the Republican party that
the voters Of Los Angeles should de-
eide who Is to represent the voters
Of San Francisco at national con.
yention."
1t was apparent some time before
it came time for Washington to sci
ect her delegates to the Chicago con.
vention that the Taft people would
control that state under the old con
Ventlon system. Thereupon the
Roosevelt people started another gam,
under their own rules. Washington
has no primary law The Roosevelt
people. however decided to hold &
primary of the purest soap-bol
variety. This primary was conduct
I'd by the Roosevelt people and parti
cipated in almost solely by Roosevelt
supporters. In such a primary /
was invitable that Roosevelt shoult
get a majority of the votes cast. o
| the 100000 or more voters in thu
state of Washington, however, onl,
about 5000 voted for Roosevelt at thi
primary. The Roosevelt people
claimed that this 6 per cent repre-
sented the voice of the people," bu'
the national committee didn't see /
that way. The Taft delegates hat
been regularly elected and they were
given their seats.
The testimony in the Texas contes
brought out condition of affairs il
the Lone Star state that would bt
humorous II it were not pathetic. Ii
the Texas state convention Ceci
Lyon had offset the votes of populou
counties in the eastern part of thu
state, which cast fair republican
vote and which had declared for Tai
>, by the votes of the western countie.
which have no republican voters, ant
whose chef inhabitants are prairi
dogs and gophers. In some case,
adherents of Lyon voted In the con
vention without representing an
body. Republican prospects in Tex
as have sunk to a low ebb since Lyol
took charge Of the party in that stat
more than decade ago. There wer
10000 republican voters in Texas II
1900; only $1,000 republican vote
We're cast there in 1910. IL thor
had been no fight between Taft an,
Roosevelt, the national COMMITTEE
would in all probability have takol
the same action 1t did take on tin
Texas contests, II they had been pre-
scented, in the hope of cleaning II
the state.
Roosevelt's claim that he wa
cheated out Of the republican nomir
alton is not based on fact. The cor
vention was as honest as any cor
vention in the history of the party
1t was run through in accord wit
party law and the contests wer
; heard on their merits.
The most important thing now |
: for the people to look into the acts c