The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-03-21
THE ROOSEVELT FOUNDER.

''It is TO laugh about the primary
election in North Dakota. Here we
have had the Roosevelt claquers
sounding the note throughout the
country that the only possible way to
get at the people s real choice for the
Presidency was to have Presidential
| primaries. And yet the first Of such
| primaries is denounced by them As
perverting the popular will and turn
ing over to the opposition sentiment
the choice of Republican delegates, To
this the successful La Toilette mon in
North Dakota reply that they have the
delegates because they had the votes.
They neither admit nor deny that
Democrats voted with them, except to
say that as many Democrats voted for
the Roosevelt delegates as voted for
the La Toilette delegates. In this they
are probably correct. But what a
break down it is for the Roosevelt
shouters! It looks now, indeed, as
though La Toilette would be likely to
have as many delegates in the Nation
al Republican Convention. or even
more, than Roosevelt will have.
The result in North Dakota Is evi-
IDENTIFY a shocking surprise to the
Roosevelt crowd. They had been
counting La Toilette out of it right
along. and now they find that he is
Sin it" even more than their own
candidate. The fact that Democrats
uhl1 Io rnfo aS
maries and Republicans to vote at
Democratic primaries, has been evi-
dent all along. We have referred to
1T many times, and see no possibility
Of either disputing or lodging the
fact. Tt is equally plain that any Re
publican who would claim to be a Dem
ocrat for the purpose Of voting
at Democrtic primary, or any Demo
crat who would claim to be Repub-
hcan for the purpose of voting at
Republican primary, could not be held
to his newly yannounced allegiance, be-
cause, as we have stated, and as is
evidently the case, the very purpose of
political campaign is to convert
Democrats to Republicsnism or Repub-
licans to Democracy. And this is the
ample and sufficient reason which any
man can give for his change of opin-
ion between the primary and the gen.
eral election
This newly-fedgeI zeal OF Col.
Roosevelt for preferential primaries is
likely to result in a political chill for
him, precisely as his endorsement of the
New York primary law gave him
chill when he found that it would not
work his way. As to that New York
primary law, Mr. Roosevelt in June.
1910, urged the Legislature, then IN
extra session, to pass that primary law
His telegram urging the passage Of
that law, which was opposed by every
Republican member, is brought to light
by William Barnes, ,lr.. member of
that years New York Legislature.
And yet, after urging the passage of
that law, Roosevelt says of it this
year:
doubt II in any State in the Union
there is a more thoroughly mischlevous
primary law on the statute books than
the one We have here in New York II
was passed by the two Machines acting
together. with the purpose of preventing
any expression OF the popular will.
He evidently forgot when he said
this, his telegram of June, 1910, urging
the passage of that primary law. What |
he says now about it being passed by
Nthe two machines acting together
is msnifestly erroneous, because the |
law as passed was opposed by every
Republican member Of the Legislature. |
Roosevelt appears to be very much at
sea as TO his facts all the time. and
nowhere is he at greater disadvan
tage than IN this matter of the Presi- |
Dental primary.
This year, however, he seems to have |
staked his whole fortunes upon ii, and |