The Washington times., 1912-07-25
NORRIS BITTERLY
FLAYS METHODS
USED AT CHICAGO
N Ne braska Congressman
Scores Taft's Nomination
AS Illegal. \
(Continued from First Page )

Continued from First Page.)
q roll call in which the Roosevelt men
were voting. those two men would have
voted, and their alternates would not
have been allowed to vote. So regard
less of what we may think about the
ruling of Chairman Root. those votes
ought not to be counted; because u
mitted even BY the Taft fellows that
Taft would not have received those two
votes.
''Mr. Tafts majority was nineteen. If.
psess the re e thst S
fraudulent, dishonorable or illegal
means, then Mr. Taft's nomination is
tainted with fraud. 1t is null. i Ii void,
and Is entitled TO no consideration from
anybody. Fraud has vitiated contracts
from the beginning of civilization. and
fraud ought, and at least in moral
sense, does, vitiate nomination, even
though there Is no law that can con-
troll national conventions.
"The gentleman from Wyoming has
had considerable to say about soap box
primaries. i wanted to ask him ques-
'tion, but he would not yield so that
could. The question would develop this
from Wyoming in his two and one-haif
hours of laboring could find a place
where some Taft delegates were elected
at primary, he told us about II. ~ ]
question. and think the record will
show that in no instance where there
was primary did they refuse to give
the Taft delegates the vote of that pri.
whatever advantage that might be.
And think the reverse is true, thai
In every case where there was a primary
which elected Roosevelt delegates that
it was called fraudulent, and 1t was
said that there was no law controlling
1t, and that they had no way to tell
what the honest vote was.
In Indianapolis.
''They talk about the primary in In.
dianapolis being an honest primary be-
cause Taft won out there. Oh, that was
a virtuous AFFAIR. I remember meeting
a member of this House the day aftel
they held that primary, and he said:
Taft got great big majority In In
dianapolis, and am sorry the Repub.
licans thought 1t was necessary to stuff
the ballot boxes down there, because
they did not need to. We could have
beaten the Roosevelt fellows without It.
The indianapolis papers announced
that there was fraud there. l am no
claiming anything Tor Indianapolis.
am not going to try to take 1t ava,
from Taft because do not know how
much fraud there was there. refe
to 1t only to show how the gentleman
from Wyoming loves primary whei
1t goes for Taft and how he hates 1t ant
despises 1t where 1t goes against him.
"In the State of Washington there
were primaries that went for Taft. Th'
gentleman from Wyoming takes tn,
pains to mention that here. There wa
no contest over them. Nobody Is claim
ing that they ought to be taken ava.
from Taft. Everybody has concedei
that those counties ought to be given I,
him; but he repated 1t over and over
oh. here was primary away UP ther,
In the country that went for Taft
"But down in King county In tn,
same State-and I suppose they did no
have a different law in one part o
Washington from what they had in an
other-there was primary that Roose
welt carried. I wanted to ask the gen
tleman whether anybody has ever mad
any charge before his committee or else
where that there was one single frau'
committed in that primary? The news
papers of Washington had no recor,
of III afterward"