Morris tribune., 1912-02-23
CONTEST Will
Be INTERESTING.
Three SS::11]d Fight for Repub.
IICdn Presidential Delegates.
Taft SUPPORTERS ACTIVE
Every oprort"nity Taken Advantage
of to Scost for the Pres
cnt Executive.
Especial Correspondence.)

or La Toilette" promises TO be lead !
ing question for the next three mouths. |
and more than one Of Ainnesota'il
shining political lights may 60 down
un7er the advance fire. The battle |
which promises to outparallel any |
thing in the political history of the
North Star state, might be said to
have started last week when State
Chairman E. E. Smith returned from
a conference at Washington and later
when, at meeting of the directors OF
the Minnesota Progressive league, H
T. Halbert- a leading progressive OF
ST. Paul, was kicked out of the or
ganization for declaring La Toilette to
be impossible and thereupon espousing
the cause of Theodore Roosevelt. And
If further verif1cation is wanted for
mer Congressman James A. TaWney
supplied 1t when, in an Interview, he
declared the presidents nomination
to be certainty and that he would
work for him. Now a Roosevelt mass
meeting is planned, SO it can be said
the battle is truly on. With the regu-
lars, headed by Chairman Smith, Gov
holding steadfast for President Taft,
the Progressive organization still
welded to La Toilette and refusing to
accept the statement that he is unfit
physically to make the race and far
reaching straw votes showing an un-
doubted lead in sentiment for ROOse-
Telt the situation is unfathomable to
many But to the observing politician,
as things stand today, there is only
one outcome and that is victory for
the organization, though it may be
repudiated at the regular election.
Leaving out Senator La Toilette,
whose candidacy is not taken serious
~, he knows that Minnesota is over
wheImingly for the big Stick" but
he doubts the ability of those who
have taken charge of his unknown
cause to deliver. He admires their
enthusiasm, but it is the other horse
that gets his money In imparting
thing new, nor is it case where the
wish is father to the thought. It is
borne out by cold facts.
!. !. +
The launching of the Taft boom in
Minnesota has been so glaringly open
and some of the methods used to
force it so cold blooded that admira-
ton for some of the scuttle ship
methods has broadened into wonder
that those behind Mr.. Roosevelt and
his accepted popularity in Minnesota
have failed to fire back. Hugh T. Hal
bert, president of the St. Paul Roose-
welt club, who gave Congressman Ste
vens of the Fourth district a bad scare
in the race for place year ago, when
asked the other day what his crowd
was going to do answered: Nothing
for the present. l am receiving many
letters and kilograms from over the
state and it is my idea to let the dis
tricts get together and then hold a
mass meeting in the Twin Cities in
the near future. The sentiment for
Mr.. Roosevelt is overwhelming and
am already assured that there will
be no trouble in organizing the dis
tricts" The fact that Senator Clague
of Redwood county had assured hin
that he need not worry about the
Seventh district, as there was NJ
question where it stood on the presi
Dental question and that others ovel
the state had sent in enthusiastic re
ports and assurances that they woult
get busy seemed sufficient for Mr.
Halbert. He said that there would b.
no general correspondence nor wouIC
any printed matter covering the move
ment be sent out for the present. Mr.
view of what he had read, seen ana
heard.
=
How the organization works wal
demonstrated last week almost in
mediately on the return of the ennis
Saries sent East Chairman SmitT
said it was Taft, Jim Tawney useC
the auditorium of the West Side Com
mercial club in Minneapolis to impress
the fact on the boys and the Mime
apOlis Young Mems Republican club
at meetings in the two cities held t.
celebrate the birthday of the immorta
Lincoln, the subject, "Our Emanc
pator," was forgotten in the boost TO
the president, which was the principa
text of the two speakers. Congress-
man Mccall did the honors in Mime
apolis and j. Adam Bede provided tn
fireworks for the st. Paul gatherins
In the Mill City big Business" wa
the principal part of the audience
while in ST. Paul the mob held fortE
In the Capital City the Lincoln clu
is a political organization and the al
nual gathering is a time for th
launching of Republican booms. Mayo
Keller, whose bid for a renominatio
at the hands of the Republicans wa
announced at the meeting, was on th
job and was the busiest man of tn
lot What has happened since thes
preliminaries is only conjecture, but