The Glenwood post., 1912-07-20
LAF0LLETTE'S HOT
SHOT FOR TEDDY
Excoriates Former President
for Fake Contests and
Use Of Trust Money
SAYS T.R. NOT SINCERE

Washington, July 12.-Under the cap
tion "The Case of Mr.. Roosevelt, -
Senator La Toilette has written the fol
lowing editorial in the current number
of La Follette's Weekly:
''Bryan at Baltimore foregoing all
chance of his own nomination, mar
shalling all his forces, Drawing Tam
many and the trusts, to rescue his party
from their domination, carrying the
convention for the adoption of the most
progressive democratic platform yet
offered, and the nomination of the
most progressive democratic candidate
available, was a towering figure of
moral power and patriotic devotion to
civic righteousness.
Roosevelt at Chicago, backed Ly
money derived by stock watering oper-
ations of the steel trust and the ha,-
vester trust, organizing what are now
confessed to have been fake contests as
to nearly 200 delegates in order to con
troll the republican convention and So
cure his own nomination, refusing t,
aid in making progressive platform,
bound to have the nomination or de-
stroy the republican party, was most
striking example of misdirected power
and unworthy ambition.
Roosevelt had as great an oppor-
tunity to serve the progressive cause
at Chicago as Bryan had at Baltimore.
But Roosevelt was serving the man.
not the cause. He wanted one thing
he wanted the nomination. And yet
he did not have enough votes to nomi-
nate himself upon any honest basis. He
did have enough delegates in that con-
vention ultimately to have nominated
n real progressive and adopted a strong
progressive platform. He could even
have nominated Hadley on such a plat
form, and progressive republicans
could have supported Hadley in much
the same spirit as hundreds of thous-
ands of them will now support Wilson
Neither Hadley nor Wilson are veter-
ans in the progressive ranks. Neither
of them has been tried by the severest
tests. Both appear to be men of high
ideals, whose records, though short,
give promises.
'But Roosevelt would not consider
Hadley. He would have no one but
himself. At the first suggestion of
Hadley he ordered the third party ma
neuvers, lest he lose his followers.
eff he had the evidence to prove
that Taft could not be honestly and
fairly nominated, why did he not d.
rect his lieutenants to present that ev::-
dence to the national committee, and
then to the convention and the country
so clearly that the convention would
not have dared to nominate Taft, and
that Taft could not, in honor, have ac-
cepted the nomination if made.
MT ItdSoH is DDNlOuS. An ANALYSIS
of the testimony will, I am convinced,
show that neither Taft nor Roosevelt
had majority of honestly or regularly y
elected delegates. This, the managers
on both sides well understood. Each
candidate was trying to seat a sufri-
cient number of fraudulently creden-
tailed delegates, chosen to support him.
to secure control of the convention and
to 'steam-roll' the nomination. 1t was
proceeding with which each was ac-
quanted and which each had sanction
ed in prior conventions.
'But Mr.. Roosevelt was not gov
erned by suggestion of that spirit of
high patriotic and unselfish purpose
of which Bryan furnished such mag
nficent example one week later in the
democratic convention at Baltimore.
Instead, he filled the public ear with
sound and fury. He ruthlessly sacri-
feed everything to the one idea of his
being the one candidate. He gagged
his followers in the convention without
putting on record any facts upon which
the public could base definite intelli-
gent judgment regarding the validity
of Taft's nomination. He submitted
no suggestion as to platform of pro-
gressive principles. He clamored loud
ly for purging the convention roll of
tainted delegates, without purging his
own candidacy Of his tainted contests
and his tainted trust support. he offer