The Washington herald., 1912-06-23
Taft'S Safe Policy
IndorSed by G. 0. P.
At Chicago Convention

After j long, bitter. and sensational
contest, President Taft has been re-
nominated at Chicago for second term.
This outcome was long ago predicted
in The Washington Herald
If, as the result of Mr.. Tsfts vic
tory, the Republican party faces crisis
in its history, the responsibility there
for rests solely upon the shoulders Of
Theodore Roosevelt It does not mat
ter now whether he was inspired to
opposition to President Taft by am
bition or lust of power or through mo-
tives of personal revenge. Until
Mr.. Roosevelt succeeded, by shrewd
manipulation, in having himself in
vited to be a Presidential can
didate, Mr.. Taft was not antago-
nized by any one The President
expected, and, indeed, deserved, re-
nomination. If Mr.. Roosevelt had not
projected himself into the arena, Mr..
Taft would have been renominated by
acclamation by a united party and might
with some confidence have anticipated
reelection.
Mr.. Roosevelt, however, entered the
race as a receptive candidate, speedily
developing into an energetic seeker of
the nomination. He has emerged from
. the contest angry and disappointed.
There can be no doubt that he expected
II overwhelming demand upon the part
Of the people for his nomination. His
first shock came when he discovered
that the spontaneIty upon which he re-
lied did not exist, and that enthusiasm
had to be stimulated by personal cam
paign- His second sad surprise came
when, after reaching Chicago, he found
that there were some men in the world
who were not altogether convinced of
his greatness, who refused to bow the
knee before him, and who would not ac-
cept his commands.
Mr.. koosevelt's purpose, first of all,
was not to be himself defeated, but, in
any event, he was even more emphat-
icslly determined to accomplish the
downfall of President Taft He has
failed in both. The scheme which he
and his managers outlined was as novel
as it was discreditable. They originated
contests upon himsy grounds against
the delegates who had been chosen to
vote for Mr.. Taft, and then, when these
manufactured claimants had been very
properly thrown out of court, raised the
cry of theft" and robbery" The
very first speech which Mr.. Roosevelt
made at Chicago was a hysterical out
burst against thieves; and so far during
the contest he has not risen above the
level of abusive epithet Not once did
he appeal to the delegates to nominate
him because of any great principle in
volved. He made his entire fight upon
the fact that the National Committee
and the convention refused to seat his
delegates, claiming that these delegates
were the only ones honestly elected.
He overlooked or ignored the fact that
in very large majority of the contests
his friends upon. the National Com
mittee had Joined in unanimous YER
dict adverse to the Roosevelt claimants.
And then, having been defeated in
his struggle for the nomination, Mr..
Roosevelt declined to take his medicine.
He is a hard loser.
First of all, he endeavored to pre-
vent the nomination of Mr.. Taft by in
sisting that the President could not be
reelected, and suggesting the selection
of compromise candidate. In this,
too, he was unsuccessful. It is true
that many of the delegates deeply re-
GREETED the factional strife which had
arisen within the party, and they feared
its effect upon the approaching election.
At the same time, the delegates could
not help but realize that it was Mr..
Roosevelt who had forced the fighting
that Mr.. Taft had met the issue square
ly and fairly and had won; and that
to desert Mr.. Taft at the last minute,
after enduring for him all the vilihea-
ton and vituperstion which could be
heaped upon them, would have been IL
logical and absurd. In the end, there
fore they gave the President the re-
nomination for which he had so en-
ergeticslly and courageously eontended,
believing that after all, victory with
him might be problematical but that
without him It was impossible.
II is in full accord with his rule or
ruin policy that Mr.. Roosevelt has de
clined TO accept the decision of the
convention and viii head party of his