The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-06-19

! II made my fight square and fair
Li In the open and ] won,' he said. Il
b*donts intend that my opponents shall
q cheat me out of it, The colonel gave
|. mittee. "Trhe national committee"
n he exclaim ed, ''who are they? About
7 SO persons with the ratio Of honesty
I ranging from about IA to 20 and the
remaining 80 sure thing men,"
j Colonel Roosevelt began to call the
\. roll of some of his most prominent
opponents. At the first name he mem
ftioned a groan came from the crowd.
with the next name the groan became
la roar. To preserve the peace the
colonel gave up his roll call. He said
This chief opponents on the national
!commftee were men who had been
srepudiated in their own states.
When Colonel Roosevelt said that
any action of the convention, if
brought. about by the votes of dele
gates Extraordinarily seated, would not
be binding upon the party, there came
4 the widest outburst of applause of
( the evening. The crowd leaped up
I with a. shout and refused to ba quieted
despite the coloneFs attemptsto con-
! tinue eff they ask for theGsword,'
said The, when at last he could make
himself heard, ''they shall have it."
S!Thiss was construed by the delegates
fas meaning, as one Of them put it, "A
bolt at the go off" yas
The meeting. adopted the text Of q
long telegram to Taft, appealing to
4 him. to disavow the action OF the ma
tional committee in its defeat Of the
Roosevelt ). contests; The delegates
were frankly told, 1t was said, by the
! leaders that they did not have enough
3yotes5 to control the convention as
CONSTITUTED by the national committee
Midnight conferences completely
changed the situation from earlier In
the evening. Roosevelt's speech. urg-
tng his followers to fight from the
jump and the uproarous approval
given to his fighting words. out
weighed the counsel of the more mod.
erately inclined. 4 ASt
Roosevelt spoke at length as fol
lows: ~....-f.4 &El
My Friends and Fellow Citizens Il \.
l address you as my fellow .repalb-
1icans, but / also and primarily adj
dress you as fellow Americans, f4l-
low citizens, for this has now become
much more than an ordinary party
fiett. The issue is both simpler And
larger than that involved In the per
sonality of any man, or than thatsin.
volved in any fractional or in any or.
binary party contest. We are sta nd
ing for the great fundamental rights
upon which all successful free gov.
eminent muse be based We are
StdDuluS lOT el6lH6ItdIy ueC6nCyf III
politics. We are fighting for honest,
against naked robbery and where
robbery is concerned the all impor.
tant question is not the identity d
the man robbed, but the crime itself
Battle for Great Principle
AS far as Mr.. Taft and. L are per
sonally concerned. it little matters
what the fate of either may be. Ba
with Mr.. -Taft's acquiescence or b,
his direction, and in his interest, hi.
followers have raised an issue which
is all-important to this country. I
is not a partisan issue it is more
than political issue; it is a grea
moral issue. If we condone poitica
theft, if we do not resent the kind
of wrong and injustice that inju
riously affect the whole nation, mo-
merely our democratic form of gov
eminent, but our civilization itsei
can endure. If the methods adopted
by the national committee. are ap
proved by, the convention which III
about to assemble, a great, crime vii
have been committed. The triumph
of such proceedings at the. momen
would mean the wreck of the repub
lican party and If such proceeding
became habitual it would mean th'
wreck of popular government. TIL,
actions of the Taft leaders in til,
national committee with active aid o
Mr.. Taft's private secretary and on
of Mr.. Taft's cabinet officers ar,
monstrous and should be indignant,
condemned by the moral sentimen
of the whole country. Tonight WI
come together to protest against |
T crime which strikes straight at TIN
|, heart of every principle of politica
: decency and honesty, crime which
represents the treason TO the peopi
and the usurpation of the sovereisnt,
! of the people by irresponsible poiiti
cal bosses inspired by the sinister in
| fiuencs of moneyed privilege. w
here in this hall are engaged not onl.
In a fight for the rights of every
y aecent republican, but of every de
~snt American, whatsoever his part