The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-05-10
VOTE FOR me-
SAYS ROOSEVELT
Il Am the Only Man Living Who Can
Defeat the Bosses, and Pm
Good
Man."
LETTER TO MINNESOTA
Ex-Prcsldent Says Bosses Were
Against TAFT But Have All
Turned Toward Him
Now.

UNITED Press Leased Wire Service ] I
NEW YORK, May 1o.-The Roose-
velt committee today gave out copy
OF letter sent to r. A. Caswell, I
chairman of the Minnesota Roosevelt
committee, in which Roosevelt de- |
clares there lis just one candidate
whom 1t is possible to nominate /
against the bosses, and that is himself. |
The letter follows:
7 wish It had been possible for
me to go again to Minnesota. Unfor-
tunately it is physically impossible.
Nine states have now held primaries,
or their equivalent North Dakota,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Me-
braska, Oregon, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts and Maryland These
states, the only ones in which there
has been free chance for the express
sion OF the popular will, are to be rep
resented by 256 delegates in the Chi
cago convention. Forty of these dele
gates are instructed for President
Taft, and 216 are against him. He has
carried but two of the nine states
| New Hampshire and Massachusetts
while in Massachusetts the Roosevelt
| delegates at large were elected by
over twice the majority which Taft
obtained on preferential vote In
MARYLAND the majority against Taft
was about the same, proportionately,
as the majorities for him In Mass
4 achusetts and New Hampshire In
the other seven states the majorities
against him range from two to one to
twenty to one. In all the states to-
gether, about three out of every four
OF the republicans who voted at the
/ primaries were against Mr. Taft. II
primaries could be held in all the
states there would undoubtedly be no
substantial variation from these fig
ures, and Mr.. Taft could by no pos
] sibility have two hundred votes in the
Chicago convention Mr.. Taft's chances
of denomination lie solely in securing
at Chicago delegates who will mis-
represent the will of the people. He
can get these delegates, not in the
primary states, but in the convention
states, where delegates are chosen
under the old system, and even in
these states he can only get them
where the state Is ruled by boss
After prolonged experience of me as
president, practically all of the bic
bosses in the republican party dislike
me SO heartily that they opposed Mr.
: Taft's nomination because | favored
it, They were afraid that Mr.. Taft
would give the same kind of treatmen,
that had given them. After three
years and a half experience of Mr.
Taft since he has been elected, the
same men have turned around, an6
i, heartily favor his denomination. They
were opposed to Mr.. Taft four year:
ago when they had not tried him al
president, and they heartily suppor-
him now These men include, for in
1 stance, Mr.. Gallinger in New Hamp
I shire: Mr.. Aldrich in Rhode Island
3 Mr.. Penrose In Pennsylvania; Mr.
Healing in Indiana; Mr.. Lorimer II
g ILLINOIS,, NeSSI6. HuSSenucli1 dilt
l. Evans in Colorado; Mr.. Calhoun ant
t the Southern Pacific Railway crowd II
n California and the Amalgamatet
Copper crowd in Montana; and In you
;. own state they include Mr.. Smith ant
1 Mr.. Tawney. The fight Is nation
!. wide fight of the plain people agains
q the bosses. There is just one candI
!. date whom 1t is possible to nominat
q against the bosses, and that is myself
i. Every vote for every other cand
Il date from now on is in. reality a vot
for Mr.. Taft The fight is agains
the bosses In Minnesota, as 1t is every
where else vote for Mr. Taft is
y vote for the bosses; 1t is vote TO
Lorimer. for Penrose. for Gugger
: helm, for Gallinger, and for all the res
of them and it is vote for these me
whether it Is cast in Minnesota, or i
Massa chusetts, or in Ohio or Ne'
r Jersey or California. became car
L didate only when ! became convince
: that no other progressive candidat
* could by any possibility be nominate
q against Mr.. Taft The contest ha
st gone so far as to make it now evider
Of that certainly can be nominate
IN against Mr.. Taft, and that either
shall be nominated or else reaction
NJ ary will be nominated. 1t is also ev
,s dent that not only every progressiv
Il republican. but every man who 'b'
Df lieves in decency and honesty in pol
~