The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-06-05
COMING TO A HEAD.


The political events of The wear. Sc
far A. the actions OF the Republican
Nation:rl ConN cntion arc concerned, AZ,
| rapidly drawing TO head. IL is seer
irom Col Roosevelt s actions that h,
has, in fact, no such confidence of sue
cess ms his bluiliug declarations would
imply. lie will insist upon the now
National Committeeman taking charge
Of the work of preparing for the Con
veutiou. in spite Of the fact that until
the National Convention has ratified
their title to be National Committee
men, they are not National Committee
men at all, hut only the choice OF their
States, whether by primary or conveD'
tion, for filing that position when the
time comes for filing it in the usual
order of the convention S procedure.
He will also fight the designation OF
Senator Root 10 be temporary chairman
of the Convention, setting by his prop
osition that the temporary chairman
ship is. not important; and his statement
on this point amounts to rindlct!Vc
wall. He evidently considers that IL
would be serious loss to him If Root
should be confirmed as temporary chair
man when he has declared his opposi'
tion to Root, and when Root is not for
Roosevelt 1t is not in the least llkeiy,
however, that the committee VIII be
overborne in this by the convention;
for except in one case. that oil 1851,
when '.sthc field united against
Blaine, the designation by the commit
fee of the temporary chairman has al
WAYS been acquiesced in, and III that
case, although Blaine lost the tempo
rary chairmanship, he got the nomlna-
tion. But now Col. Roosevelt will not
only oppose Root, he Will make it
strenuous point Of his campalon. There
fore. il he is beaten in that opposition
and Root is confirmed as temporary
chairman il is likely that tie Roose,
welt plan will then and there develop,
and if that plan is to hold a rump CON
vention of Roosevelt followers alone,
the success of Root will be the signal
for the Roosevelt delegates to retire to
place where they Will hold a conven-
tion Of their own, or else attempt to
capture the convention itself by storm.
The Roosevelt statement on this mat
ter of the temporary chalrmansmp aud
in opposition to Senator Root, is a
complete breakdown.
President Taft has indicated his de
sire for public, open hearing of all
the contested cases. This shows his
confidence III the justice of his claims
to delegations IN contest We are glad
TO see that the committee will yield 10
President Taft's suggestion in this, and
will have open hearings in all of those
eases. The advantages Of open hearings
are obvious. That will insure thor
ough understanding in the public mind
of the points involved in every case,
and the reasons why the committee de-
cides in the contests submitted, 1t Will
also save large amount of time in
the Convention itself, in case the Roos-
evelt delegates remain taking part In
the proceedings, for it Will obviate the
necessity of any detailed explanation
in the contests one by one as they come
up for hearing and final decision by the
Convention. 1t will not then be neces-
sary for the committee or any one for
the committee to explain either what
has been developed b. testimony or the
reasons why the committee arrived at
the conclusion that it did, ior every ono
viii know without anv explanation Just
why the committee found as II did find.
And so the Convention, having full
knowledge, every delegate being per-
fectly informed on all points of The
case. can proceed to vote lntelliGently
without any waste of time in explain
ing either the facts or the principles
and convention law of the case. 1t is
an excellent suggestion, this which Is
made BY the President, and its many
advantages are so evident that it was
sure that the Convention would CO.
incide and order public open hear
ings in all contests.
In the meantime, the capture by the
President of the six delegates at-large
from Ohio, whore Roosevelt carried the
primaries, will Offset the loss of the
Massachusetts delegates large, where
President Taft carried he primaries +;
it will also materially strengthen the
hands Of the President s friends, as
proving that where Republicans only
take part in the prclimiparics, the
Roosevelt strength fades away.