Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-06-17
LEADERS FIDDLE
AS PARTY BURNS

CHICAGO, June lit is about as
easy to present the humorous aspect
of the situation in which the Repub-
lican party finds itself a day be-
fore its national convention as it
would be to give an amusing account
of Nero fiddling while Rome was
burning. And yet it must have been
funny to see the old codger playing
the violin while all that havoc was
being wrought around him. For that
matter, there's a comical side to
every funeral.
Here in Chicago there is quite a
conflagration going on, but instead
of one fiddler there are a dozen. Bill
Barnes, of New York, is fiddling.
Crane, of Massachusetts. is adding.
Senator Root is fiddling. Penrose is
fddling. And Roosevelt himself is
playing the first violin. In all the
little committee rooms and at all the
conferences and in the lobbies of all
the principal hotels the fddling is
going on.
And the Republican party is burn
ing.
NeSrO NOtt may otctup Nv a.
In all political history there never
before was a situation exactly ike
this. In it's serious aspect 1t Is enough
to make an onlooker weep to see the
machinery of self-government work.
ing SO pathetically. And, from a hui
morous standpoint. the very situation
itself is so comical that to write a
% 4 uyo1ttd hn 1txa
attempting a humorous account OF a
Weber and Fields burlesque.
They are attempting to renominate
Taft, present President of the United
States to reelection to his office. The
very men whom he has selected to
su%perintend the task seem to be alb
solutely devoid of any enthusiasm in
their work. They are trying to NOM
mate Roosevelt, and the very men
who are most ardent in supporting
him are afraid of him. Either side
is willing to make every sacrifice to
defeat the ends of the other. And
between the two the Republican party
may go hanged.
The corridors of the leading hotels
are damned with delegates to the
convention. These delegates are sup
posed to carry out the wishes of their
constituents, to gather together and
deliberate upon the choice of a cam
didate for the Presidency. To listen
to them, however, you would never
guess it. What seems to interest
them most are the s~ixty-odd negro
delegates who may possess the bal
ance of power. And is anyone de-
liberating with these negro dele
gates? Or arguing with them? Yes;
but it would be a shame to tell
about it.
Ready to Throw Both over.
The great fact of the day is hat
Roosevelt is here in person. What
is he doing? No one has the faintest
idea. This, however. is known: Mes
sengers have been approaching
wavering delegates all day long with
this argument:
Taft can't possibly win. Roose-
Welt may. If you stick to Roosevelt
you'll be taken care of. If you don
you lose anyway. So you see there's
nothing for you to do but to stick to
Roosevelt"
Meanwhile the leaders, those who
control whole patches of delegates and
money and interests have been con-
ferring in secret all day long. About
WHAT, The platform? The princi>
pies involved? There hasn't been a
smell of a principle in Chicago yet.
They're mostly busy telling each
other they would be willing to throw
both candidates overheard If they
dared agree upon a third.
And what will the outcome of 1t all