The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1912-04-02
SYSTEM
USED FOR TAFT
Machine Hard at Work To- Over.
ride viii of Republican
Voters.
DEBAUcHERY IS THE RULE
DisgracefuI Tactics Observed I'm In
diana. Kansas and Other States
to Prevent Real Popular
Expression.

D
Expression.
Washington.-Outrages more flag
rant than any that ever disgraced Re-
publican politics have characterized
the fight in behalf OF the renomina-
ton of William ard TAFT to date.
The brutal force of organization.
backed by the tremendous influence OF
the spells system and the debauching
and intimfdatfng effects of corporation
activities In politics, have produced.
In number of recent instances, re
suits which cannot fail to arouse the
general Indignation of the voters ev-
erywhere.
BY the sheer force OF organization
Il methods, the Taft men are seeking to
override the viii of the people, OBJ
viously believing that the people will
submit supfnely and fail to resent an
open denial of their rights in their
own system of government Some OF
these instances make plain why the
Taft supporters have so persistent1y
and so stubborn1y resisted the election
of delegates by a direct vote of the
people.
Kansas as Example.
This Is what happened recently I'm
Kansas. Twenty-seyen members OF
the state committee, which is COM
posed of one hundred and five mem
bers in all, met and refused to permit
a presidential preference primary in
that Notwithstanding almost un-
animous Republican sentiment for the
primary-and declared in favor of the
denomination of Taft This action
was effected in this way: Fifty one
members of the state committee, less
than a quorum, met and without any
right to transact business Of any kind,
held this meeting The state commit
tee Is made up of the chairmen of the
different counties who are regularly
elected in primaries. Under the law,
no member can give his proxy to an.
other member He must represent his
county in person In the meeting of
the committee held, twenty-four of
the members present were Roosevelt
men They raised the point of no
quorum, and to meet this the Taft
men presented several federal Office
! holders, not members of the commit
tee, who presented what they claimed
were proxies from absent committee
members.
Playing the Game"
These proxies we're without value.
: Notwithstanding this. the proxy hold
/ ers we're seated by the Taft organiza-
ton men, until a bare numerical quor-
7 UNI but not legal quorum was estab-
] lished Then they proceeded to take
: the action set forth. There was not
+ semblance of legality in the proceed
| ings, yet under the circumstances the
public was powerless to prevent the
outrage. It's effect is to deprive the
| voters of Kansas of the right to
: choose their national delegates. and
: leaves the selection to the discredited
! bosses of machine which was sup
) posed to have been wrecked long ago
i, Debauching Oklahoma.
!. Another illustration is furnished by
! the third district of Oklahoma In
4 this district when the convention as
) sembled the Roosevelt delegates mum
bered GAG and the Taft delegates ITO
! The Taft men controlled the chairman
J and other officers of the district com
/ rs..ttpa. When the latter found they
4 were outnumbered they withdrew with
e the other ITO Taft delegates and held
q convention of their own. The Roose
d welt men. outnum bering the Taft sup
u porters nearly four to one. proceeded
s to elect delegates pledged to support
/ Theodore Roosevelt The boiling min
9 ority elected two delegates pledged u
Taft. Under no principle of right o.
9 justice could the Taft delegates estah
u fish the slightest claim to seats il
. the convention. But under the organi
cation system merely because the dis
2 trfct committee was controlled through
, federal office holders by the Taft ad
ministration, the Taft delegates ar
heralded to the country as the regu
= larry elected delegates and the mel
chosen by the overwhelming majorit
y of regularly chosen district delegate
: and directed to support Theodor
q Roosevelt must appear before the M
= tsonal committee az Chicago as cor
$ tesrants.
Il If the national committee pursue
: organization methods they viii be ri
i fused admittance to the convention
i Tactics I'm indiana.
lie In the first Indiana district, wher
re former Senator Hemenway directe
II the Taft forces, the Roosevelt me
n had fifty-two out OF ninety-seven men
n bers of the convention. But her
ID again the organization controlled tn
district chairman and the distric
committee proceeded to organize th