The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-11-12
ROOSE WELT SAYS
BAT Tie HAS
JUST BEGUN
Progressives in the Fight Until
Principles Are Adopted
RECEIVED BIG POPULAR VOTE
New Party Accomplished Much in
Three Months in Spite of
Many Obstacles.


Roosevelt made a formal statement
last night bearing upon the election
and the future of the progressive par
ty. In line with previous expressions
of his own and of his colleagues, he
reiterates that "the progressive party
has come tostay," and $50 far from
being over, the battle ,has just begun"
He regards the party's showing in
polling over 100000 votes in the face
of numerous obstacles naturally in
the path of new movement as lit
orally unparrallel in the history of
free government"
The statement follows: 81 congrat-
ulate the progressives of the country
that is, | congratulate those men
and women who, with sincerity OF pur
pose for the common good, have had
the vision to look into the coming
years and see what the future de-
mands from us who work in this pres
ent. What the progressive party mas
done since the theft of the republican
organization by the republican bosses
at Chicago last June is literally I'M
p5ralleled in the history OF free gov
erment, worked under representative
institutions.
Three months have gone by since
some hundreds of earnest men and
women gathered to found the new
progressive party. Without much
money, without any organization.
against the wealth of the country,
against the entire organized political
ability of the country, against the bit
ter hostility of 80 per cent of the
press of the country, against the fur
ious opposition of every upholder of
special privilege, whether in politics
or in business, and with the channels
of information to the public largely
choked-the progressive party has
polled between 100000 and $500, 900
votes; has hopelessly beaten one of
the old parties, both in the electoral
college and in the popular vote; has
taken second place in the nation, and
either first or second place in some
81 of the 4S states.
mo task in any way approaching
this has ever been performed by any
party in our country. Such a feat,
performed by volunteers hastily
brought together, and without any
previous cooperation with each other
against the trained veterans of the po
litical arena-these trained veterans
including the entire mercenary forces
of politics-should be a source of
pride not only to those who perform
ed the task, but to all believers in
good citizenship and in all the capaci-
ty of Americans for self-government.
During the campaign ! said repeat
eddy that this movement was in no
shape or way a one-man movement.
but a movement for great principles
"a movement which has sprung, as
all healthy movements in our democ-
racy must spring. from the heart and
This truth must be kept steadily be-
fore the minds of all of u.s. The pro-
gressive party has come to stay. If
either of the old parties will endeavcr
to put into legislation any one of our
planks it can count Jpn our hearty
support in so doing: but we will not
rest content until the entire platform
is enacted into law and becomes part
of our political system, national and
state.
Il am proud indeed that the great
good fortune has been mine to fight
shoulder to shoulder with the men
and women who. in the ranks and in
various positions of leadership, have
waged this great battle for social and
industrial justice. So far from being
over. that battle has just begun. We
will not rest content until every fea-
ture of the progressive program has
been put into effect, and when this
has been done unquestionably there
will have opened to us new avenues
along which it will still be a duty to
work for the moral and economic bet
terment of our people"