The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-07-25
slDELIGHTs ON THE CONVENTION


New York Independent.
{, in the limited time without night SEES
sions. / believe it was wise to accord
4 full publicity to the contest hearings,
although the effort was to turn atten-
ton and remarks from the evidence
and arguments to the reporters at the
ipress tables, ever on the alert for
smart sayings and sensational out
4 bursts.
Another point which should have a
bearing on the public attitude is the
manner in which the Roosevelt people
i treated their own memberships on the
j committee. OF the fifty-three COM
lmitteemen. two were supposed to ia
vor the candidacy OF LaFollette and
i twelve or thirteen the candidacy of
q Mr.. Roosevelt. At various stages of
the proceedings the Roosevelt spoKes-
men made loud objection to partisians
sitting In Judgment in these Cases,
! although In no instance did any one
vote on any case in which he was
members, however. seemed to regard
their own seats on the committee as
mere voting rights to be transferred
at will, and from the outset scand-
alously overdid the privilege OF being
represented by proxy. At the opening
session one Of their proxies was given
4 over to the political correspondent of
!. a friendly Chicago newspaper, and lat
er those proxies were passed around
J among Mr. Roosevelt's campaign
managers and advisers, and even con
4 test attorneys. to be voted in favor OF
seating Roosevelt delegates irrespec-
i tive OF the evidence or merits of the
case. When the California contest
!; was presented Francis J. Heney sat at
| the attorneys table, and at its con
t clusion moved over into proxy's
5 seat to vote on other contests. The
: same performance was repeated by an
attorney who represented the Roose
J welt side in the Michigan contest Gov
! ernor Hadley, Governor Stubs. Judge
Deuel. and Lucius Littauer as mem
t bers OF the Roosevelt strategy board
r sat from day to day on proxies. voting
: them for the Roosevelt contests when
r ever a division was had. Later the
+ Roosevelt people in minority report.
s to the convention protested agains
t participation In the credentials com
g mittee of members Of the national com
e mittee who had already heard tn,
t cases protest unprecedented ant
e unheard of-but carefully refraine,
y from making objection to Mr.. Heney'
g membership in the credentials com
r mittee, although Mr.. Heney had prox
l. led himself through the whole contes
d proceedings before the national con-
: mittee, and his name was incongru
IF ously signed to the protest.
r The admitted manufacture or lnret
81 fourth of their contests. the farmin
a. out of proxies to be voted irrespectiv
d of the evidence, the fragrant resort t
epithets, personal abuse and CALLER
plays, were naturally not calculated t
o. help win contests which at best Nigh
Of turn upon the benefit of doubt. The
is methods of presentation also coul
lie not but react, for while the code go
~ erning hearings prescribed as hav
Of said, certain rules to be observed, tn
e, Roosevelt people persistently recoi
Is nized no rules, and set about delibe
I'll ately to evade them. By courtesy {
ty general consent, members of the cor
is mittee were permitted to ask que
s. tons to elicit further informatio
Of without charging up the time tn,
e. consumed Selling upon this loopho
Of certain Roosevelt representatives 6
er the committee would post themselvt
d. in advance as to points at Issue, ar
h then, under pretense of asking que
Id lions, would argue the case over aga
n after the time for presentation he
III expired, often forg getting or neglectir
of to put the question mark at the end
B. their remarks. In this fashion Il
TX interrogators, ostensibly serving ;
ell Judge or juror behaved more as ba
ee terry OF prosecuting attorneys NJ
,e content with this, on several occasion
lis they undertook to reargue again aft
ad the contestants had withdrawn, al
is withdrawn, and could no longer a
ed swer back, under the guise of offerir
n explanations of their votes.
us
ty Looking backward at the whole pr
e. ceedings, and comparing the hearini
he of this year with those of four yea
of ago, am convinced that as rule Il
OF contests instituted by the Rooseve
la people we're not set up with cny i'd.
he of expectation of having their del
* gates seated, but for the purpose, firs
I'd of making a showing in the publisht
pit claims Of pledged delegates, and Sc
SIS ond, of laying a foundation for the CT
* of fraud in the event they failed
ng control the convention. Fortunatel
oll no one is called on to inquire VIII
d. might have happened had the Roos