The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-09
Says Taft Men Are De- liberately Striving to
 Wreck Party
ALABAMA DECISION
 AROUSES IRE OF T. R.
Delegates Seated From Ninth District Have No More Right to Vote in Republican Than in the Dem
 ocratic Convention,
 He Says

the country were called upon tonight by Colonel Roosevelt to protest against tho action of the republican national commit tee in ruling upon the contest for seats in the national convention from the Ninth Alabama district He declared that every man who wishes to see the party con tlnuo to exist should protest at once against those who are deliberately try lng to wreck it."
 "The leaders" said the colonel, speak as if they were the regular republicans. do not coneede that theft is a test of reg ularity"
 Colonel Roosevelt was in constant touch
 over his private wires during the day with hIs lleutenants In Chicago and a number of his supporters who assisted him. Roosevelt on Vote Colonel Roosevelt's statement follows:
 Tn view of the action taken by the na-
 ton committee yesterday In unseating the
 two duly elected delegates in the Ninth
 Alabama district and replacing them by
 men who have no more title to sit in the republican convention than they have to | sit in the democratic convention, would | like to make as serious appeal as Is in my power to every good citizen who regards | the republican party as an instrument for | good government which 1t is wickedly | likely to destroy.
 Alabama Is entitled to 24 delegates in l the convention As regards several of | the districts where there have been con-
 tests, it is my sincere belief that the right was much on our side as on the side i. of our opponents. But in these districts
 there was room for honest doubt and talk ing the matter over with Senator Dixon we both agreed to advise the Roosevelt members of the national committee to support no contest in any district where there was room for reasonable doubt aa
 to the right of the Roosevelt delegates
 to be seated. Accordingly In all the Ala
 bama districts in question the Roosevelt men in the national committee voted with the majority and this in spite of the fact that, as 1 have already sald. we regard
 the claims of the Roosevelt men in cer- tain of these districts as being as good us those of their opponents.
 | But In the Ninth Alabama district two
 Roosevelt delegates hsd been unqnestion- ably elected
 Hia Facts
 sThe facts are as follows:
 | "rha republican committee of this dis- | trict. composed of 30 members, met to call | the convention. Eighteen members were favorable to my candidacy, 12 to Mir. Tafts The Taft men conceded that thi7 was the regular district committee and
 began by participating in the meeting. but soon as 1t developed that the Roosevelt men were in the majority the 12 Taft men left the meeting and called a convention of their own, leaving iS
 members clear majority of the regular committee, to call the regular convention in which the Roosevelt delegates were named.
 No serious evidence was presented before the national committee to con 1 trayene these facts. The contest against l these two regularly elected Roosevelt
 delegates had literally no foundation
 whatever. even of the most flimsy de- scription. There wus no more ground
 for unseating these delegates than
 there would be. for example in un-
 seating the Taft delegates from Rhode Island or in any district in any state where there Is no contest whatever. Yet the national committeeman who are supporting Mt. Taft voted to unseat the two men properly elected and to seat | in the national convention two men | who, as 1 have said. literally have no more right to appear delegates In | that convention than they have to ap- l pear in the democratic national con- vention. They represent nothing what | ever in the republican party except the | determination of certain members Of | the national committee who have them selves been repudiated by the repub- lican party, that the majority Of the party shall not be permitted to decide 1 whom they wish to be the nominee for | President.
 Appeals to Citizens Now, I wish to call the attention not only of all good republicans but tof all good citizens 10 just what this type of action means. As yet there is
 no law to govern national nominating
 conventions as there is 10 govern na-
 tional elections. although in certain
 states the nomination of candidates is
 carried on under the law of those pre-
 cisely as are the elections Because of this lack of federal law, acts which. If done to influence cleo
 tons. would be criminal. can be per- petuated with impunity far na- tional nominations are concerned But this is a difference in legality and not
 in morality. Again and again We have sent to the penitentiary election offi-
 cials for deeds morally not one whit worse than what was done by the mem
 bers of the national committee who un- seated the two properly elected dele- gates in this Ninth district of Ala bama and substituted for them men who have no more right 10 vote fin the na- tionai convention than repeater has
 to vote at an election. The majority of the committeeman thus voted to sit in the republican convention men who have no shadow of right to represent any portion of the republican party anywhere and who have no more right
 to sit fin that convention than any other two outsiders. Nine of these commit teemen came from the republican states of Illinois, Kansas. Missouri, New Jer- sey, North Dakota, ohio. Oregon, Penn sylvania and West Virginia. Every one of these nine national com mitteemen has been repudiated by his | home voters. Not one of them will sue ceed himself on the national committee. From Roosevelt State Each of them represents state which
 at the recent primaries has declared over
 whelmingly against MT. Taft The nine states in the aggregate have S02 delegates in the convention. of which 25s are for Roosevelt and only 34 for Taft. The nine
 committeeman are for Mir. Taft the dele
 gates from their states are eight to one against him
 l Tt is in view of these facts and of what these facts foreshadow that I wish to
 make my appeal to the sober Judgment
 Of all men who believe that the usefulness
 of the republican party has not ended. | Every man who wishes to see the repub- lican party continue to exist should at once protest against those who are delib- erately proceeding to wreck if. The lead-