The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-07-25

[Mr. Rosewater, editor of the Omaha
Bee, presided over the sessions Of the
Republican national committee and of
the convention itself until Senator
Root was elected temporary chairman.
Despite his modest disclaimer no one
can speak with more authority than he
| in regard to the question of contested
delegates, upon which Mr.. Roosevelt
primarily justifies his bolt. Editor
! independently
| The invitations to contribute to the
! Independent an article on the ques-
| tion OF the contested delegates at Chi
cago opens up a field broader than l
can possibly cover Being neither
lawyer nor a contest expert and hay-
| ing no longer immediate access to the
records, could not assume to ex-
plain the contests In detail, but hay
ling presided over the sessions at which
they were submitted, perhaps can
throw few sidelights helpful to q
better understanding of the case on
the part OF the public.
In the first place, 1t should be re-
membered that the tentative adjudica-
ton OF contests by the national COM
mittee in making up the temporary
roll Is no new thing. Four years ago
sat through the contest hearings
which determined titles to ZIG dele
gates seats, and this year the same
| duty devolved upon the committee
with reference to disputes over 262
seats. / mention the number of con-
tests particularly to show how impos-
isible it would be for any one acting In
the capacity of juror, or Judge, to re-
member the circumstances and issues
of all of them as presented in quick
succession. Four years ago the fact
soon developed that of the ZIG con-
tests presented to the national COM
mittee, the vast majority OF them
should say nine-tenths OF them-were
absolutely fictitious and trumped up by
inspiration of trouble breeders. That
the same was true to almost as great
an extent this year, when the number
of contests totaled 262, likewise quick
case was either withdrawn or fell of
its own weight under the unanimous
vote Of the committee, the Roosevelt
men and the Taft supporters joining
in condemnation, 1t was inevitable
THAT suspicion should attach to all OF
the cases championed by the same
contest attorneys who had practically
confessed to the perpetration of these
fakes. 1t may be said, without fear
of contradiction, that most of the con
TESTS in the southern states followed
the appearance of a mysterious strang
er who had, by some occult power o.
covert influence, set in motion unsuc
cessful place hunters and other discor
! dant elements for some reason dis
satisfied with what the regular organ
ization3 and their conventions haa
done.
A word as to the committees pre-
cedure: The necessity for a code 0
rules governing contest hearings i
selfevident. It was recognized by tn
national committee four years ago b.
the appointment of subcommittee o
three members to draft such a code
! and the report of this committee wa
4 at that time unanimously adopted.
provided for executive sessions, thirt
, minutes to side, for state contest
e and fifteen minutes to side for dis
4 trict contests, subject to extension Q
4 time on motion or restriction on agree
I ment for consolidation, withdrawal G
= contestants and their attorneys afte
/ presentation OF the case, and immet
d late decision by the committee will
D out debate by vivi voce unless deman
e for a roll call were sustained by twe1
ty members The committee whic
s formulated these rules consisted {
/ George H. Carey OF Oregon, F. /
g Kellogg Of Minnesota and Fran
i, Streeter Of New Hampshire. Mr.. Ke
/ llogg being the only one of the thre
. remaining on the national committe,
q When the question OF rules arose thi
v time, the draft which Mr.. Kellogg ha
n helped to frame was no longer sati
:, factory to him and those associate
] with him as the Roosevelt floor mai
. ayers, and they asked for variou
!, changes. Their demand for publicit
was met by modification of the r
!. quirement for executive sessions, tn
:, doors being opened to the extent {
permitting two representatives {
: each OF the five great press associ
:. tons to be present throughout tn
;. proceedings. an arrangement for tai
= ing down stenographically every wor
= uttered, and making the transcriI
:. available daily to any of the pres
correspondents who might wish to e:
anime It. The demand for reducin
II the number required to order a 70
U call was net met, the committee a,
'e herring to the view that lesser nun
% Der than two-ffths would merely stir
y ulate dilatory motions and encourae
% flibustering, when at best It would
y difficult to complete the work ahea