The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-09-11

Mclean delivered an address of near
 ly an hour and half in duration to the Republican state convention as-
 sembled at Hartford last night.5 It
 was brilliant argunentatfve dis
 course and a piece of special pleading
 in behalf of the regular Republica n
 party and it's candidates for President
 William Howard Taft. Senator Mo
 Leans address was frequently pune
 tuated with applause He spoke in
 MT Chairman and Gentlemen Of the Conventions. =. :. T am greatly pleased at this cor
 dial greeting beca use 1t indicates a degree of harmony in the Republi can party in Conn necticur which does not always exist. When aHzthg represen.
 tatives of the party in Connecticut in convention assem b1sd give me ! q hearty welcome it is 8 pretty strong indica tion that the men who have re- ranks will be welcome upon their re- turn. e+ !
 But. first of all, your enthusia snn' indicates that you have not lost your which, I think has. done. more to promote the material, moral and men tai advancement of mankind than any other political organization in hfs- tory.''
 Here Senator Mclean indulged in an eloquent panegyric of the Republican lengthy length defense A. Of the ea regular Re- publican convention at Chicago. He showed how. one of the chief Rcose-' yelt managers in that sZ, 9lght. 2rnas7 er1Eed Roosevelt's candidacy for goverrpr of New York, Stimson, in 1910 for Dix on the grounds that Roosevelt was seeking a third term in the White House and was one of the most dang erous men in America Senator Mo Lean then reviewed the matter Of Convention. He said in part
 Suffice it to say that Senator Dix on and MT McHarg filed 23S contests before the national eornmfttee and, MT. tests The national committee was in sessi on fifteen days. These hearings were public hearings. Friends, re- porters and representa- tives of all par ties were present. After the national committee had made ups the tempor- ary roll. the contests were again sub r1itted to the committee on creden- tials., We are now astonis71ed to find but 92 contests presented by My. Rooseve1t's managers. The first ques- ton that a candid man must ask him. self is, What became Of the Is men duly elected and qualified to vote for MT. Roosevelt about which we heard so much during the weeks preceding the convention ?''E
 Senator Mclean here quoted at length a. statement from Mir Judson c. Welliver. the manager of the Roose-
 
 Roosevelt contests. in the south were merely. made as 8 practical political move and for their psychological eff feet upon the public mind.
 Continuing, Senator Mclean said:' When the committee on credentials started in to review the work of the national cornmfttee, IS contests from Virginia and two from the District of Cofum bia, were abandoned as ridfcu- Ious. This leaves but 72. Forty-s1x .cf these coEtests soon fell away of .i1rI1+ s-f- %1<1 was made upon eight delegates from Washington. eight from Texas, six from Arizona two from California and two from Indiana; 26 in all"
 Concerning the charges made by Mir. Roosevelt that President Taft stood fer croOkedn ess. misrepresentation; and bareeaced fraud in Indiana" Senator Mclean said:
 Now what turned cut to be the truth about Indiana and Ttall these primaries.'' where MT. Roosevelt's Mir. Taft for "crookedness.' g On June 9th. the national committee, inelud- ing the votes of Senator yBorah of Idaho. Messrs. Kellogg of Minnesota, Knight of California, and the greatest Roosevelt rootens of them all, Cecil Lyon of Texas, Barnard of New York whom were bitter political enemies of MT. Taft, unanimously declared that the Taft delegates from Indiana. must be seated and that Mir. Roosevelt s charges were without foundation-,'
 Continuing, Senator Mclean said:
 There were 1.07S delegates in the convention. It took $40 votes to nom mate. When the votes were taken for President on Saturday June 9, Mir Taft received 561; Roosevelt 1o7; not voting s44; LaF.ollette Al; Cumnins r: Hughes and absent G. Let us give the six a.bsentees to Mir. Roose- welt and the seven Idaho votes which might have gone to Roosevelt on a straight lineup. Col Roosevelt would have received 466 votes, just 76 short of a, majority. And so it turns out to be true that had Mr. Roosevelt agers had the assumption to claim be- fore the committee on credentials, he would not have had a majority and would not have been nominated on the first ballot" e-
 Immediately upon my return to Washington after the convention in Chicago which nominated Mir. Taft. I made 1t my business to ascertain the 1 8 accuracy of the current ruInor tha MT. Rocsevelt's friends had appealed l to him to agree to a compromise. can- | I wiIl now tell you what his friends | said and refer to men prominent at Chicago as ardent Roosevelt support l CTS prior to the bolt These mon told l me freely and frankly that Col. Roose- 1 welt was waited upon by friends very 1 prominent as his supporters inmedi- l etely atter the demonetra1ion in favor | of Governor Hadley. He was told l that they had assurances from many | of Mir. Taft's delegates that theyI would support Governor Hadley or any other candidate but himself | whom. he, Col. Roosevelt, might name MT. Roosevelt. with much spirit. re- piled that their proposition was pure ly an academic one and that he could listen to nothing Of the sort in view of the manner in which some of MT Taft's delegates had been seated Mfr friends replied that they were powerless to change the roll and that MT: Taft would surely be nom mated on the first ballot unless he Col Roosevelt, would consent to name 3 compromise candidate His reply1 was a flat refusal If Mir. Roosevelt had sent word to the convention af- -er the demonstration in favor Of Gov-t srnor Hadley, that he would support Hadley, if nominated. no man can