The Detroit times., 1912-06-29
'IDSElAys AMBITION HAS
DIVIDED PROGRESsHES,
DEcIARESSEn, ttf0utTFt
D>crmastering Desire to Win
Led Him to Forget Loyalty
to Conviction
DEPLoRES PERKINS AID
Wisconsin Senator Insists Men
Identified With Steel Trust
Helped in Campaign
DEPLoREs PERKINS AID

MADISON, Wis, June 2s-An edi'
.(orial signed by Senator LaFollette,
/ healing with his views on Theodore
.Iloosevelt and the progressive cause,
! a the feature OF the senator's weekly
DnbIished today I.aFollette says
Until Roosevelt came into the open
~ candidate for the presidency hVe
months ago there was a strong ana
rapidly growing progressive movement
within the Republican party. II was
based upon clearly defiped principles,
n stood forth as the representative OF
modern political thought on funda-
mental Democracy. II had assumed
national proportions. IL was united
Into this movement, when II gave
promise OF national success, Roose-
/ Welt projected his ambition 10 be
'Dresident a third time. He spent
weeks carefully planning 'spon-
|aneous cali for himself. He respond
"a by announcing that he would be a
Receptive candidate. His candidacy
began to drag He and his friends
were In despair.
Then came his defeat In North
Dakota He became desperate. An
enormous campaign fund was raised
Headquarters were opened In New
York. Washington, Chicago and states
+ east and west Newspaper writers
we're engaged at large prices to boom
his candidacy Special trains were
hired and the receptive candidate
arted in frantic pursuit OF the NOM
Xtion In the history OF American
<itios there has never been In
Imary campaign for presidential
Imination. an approach to the eX-
ayagant expenditures made in his
8mpaign. Men VIGOROUSLY Identified
Fith the steel trust and the harvester
rust became his most active sup
|porters. Leading reactionaries, stand
patters and political bosses of the
Hanna and Quay sort became his
closest political friends and repre-
sentatives in many states.
"a number of the newer recruits
10 the Republican progressive cause.
men, who before 1909, with three or
four exceptions, had either been In
INHERENT or opposed TO the progressive
movement became the noisiest sup
porters of Roosevelt. II mattered not
TO them that Roosevelt had co-operat-
tr<Eith Aldrich on legislation during
I.
tent. They forgot that II was only
men Roosevelt was out of office In
IrIcN, through the united efforts or
IN Mwho for years had been fighting
Pc ial interests that the progressive
be became, a national movement;
"a Roosevelt was for Taft in 1910,
rro<n Taft was denouncing all progress
lies as pirates and traitors; that he
Matted until little more than year
ago. balancing the chances before de-
Gliding whether TO cast IN his lot with
the sprogressives In this presidential
year counted for nothing with the
class Of progressives who wanted to
[wins-not real progressive victory
lust q victory.
land they did win precisely that
md Of victory. They carried over
helmingly the great standpat states
Illinois and Pennsylvania. That
>&mpsd the Roosevelt candidacy with
IT, true character. No real progress
I'VE could have secured anything like
|nch n vote In either CT those two
@afes.. II had, however, the outwardly
koming success, the sort of success
!. DAT .fntoxicates-that catches the
crowd II enabled Roosevelt TO win
IA two or three really progressive
states fortunately, 1t did not enable
him TO tecure the nomination which
would have compromised the progress
sive movement and defeated real
achievemept for years.
"Upon Theodore Roosevelt and his
followers rests the responsibility OF
having divined the progressives IN
their fIrst national contest. Stimulated
by an oversmastering desire to win.
they denounced loyalty TO conviction
and principle as stubborn selfishness.
sIn the convention they put forth
no platform--no issues. They made
no flRht against the reactionary plat
form adopted. They substituted yul-
gar personalities and the coarse
epithets Of the prize ring for the seri-
Gus consideration Of great economic
problems and for the time being
brought ridicule and contempt upon
great. cause. 4'-
But the progressive movement
does not consist OF few self-consti-
tuted leaders. It consists OF millions