The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-09-12

and melancholy spectacle of our po- 1ltical history.
 7oIe Rebuked by vote of the people in days of extreme statement I may use so mild a terna), by about fifty per cent. of the Republican party itself. What shall it profit, the RepubI- can party, if it shall gain a thousand trusts and lose the common people?'' It has been said more in sorrow than handed in both hands, makes every conceivable mistake and generally takes all decisive action on Friday
 And now. such is the irony of events. the man who selected Taft and told us with unconscious sarcasm that he was the best equipped man in public life for President. has organized a new ring, and has added to the political maxims of the age that delightful saying: 'tIt is a, bad trait to bite the strained to refer to the classic Ian guage Of MT. Dooley who represents tWillurn' as saying, He says 1t is a bad trait to bite the hand that feeds bit it? His hand was in me face
 MT Roosevelt. having acknowledged that he made a mistake when he elected Taft in 1908, now vociferously and. indeed, unanimously recommends himself as the proper person to be
 
 upon it. The little, blue flower of nodesty never biossonned in his gar den. He is what the old grammars used to call "a thing sui generis. ' There was a. prejudice against & third term nomination. He brushed it aside.
 Taft was his true and loving friend
 LaFo1lette was entitled to his SUD- port. He shot him down the shoot the chutes. The grand old party stood in his way He ripped 1t wide open. T17a1 I HzoYe fa campaign contribution, he proclaimed himself "a practical man, and got s26o.ooo through his dear friend, liar riman. He prohted, benefited, and made use of all the agencies of the old Republican party for his own per sona1 glory-and when that game ed. we find him organizing a, party of his own. consecrating it to the ser vice Of the Lord, drawing campaign contributions from George W. Perkins singing Onward Christian Soldiers. g It is weird and entrancing spec tacle.
 In 1904 Judge Parker, charged pub was being financed by the great trusts and Combinations of this country This charge MT. Roosevelt denied in language which was neither parlian1en- tary nor polite; and, such is the per versity Of human nature, the people believed him. In the course of time the insurance 1nVGSCISdIIOnS were con- ducted and the revelations there made, supported the Parker allegations From time to time, thereafter, cumulative evidence was discovered and made public, which proved the charge be- yOnd controversy.
 During all this period persistent ef- forts were made to get Mir Roosevelt to permit the publication of the names of those who contributed to his cam paign in 1904 Although he strenu- ously denied that he had been the declined to make it known who the contributors were or how much they had contributed. We now find that he is driven into making a different form of public statement. On August 10th of this year he restates his case and admits that corporate contribu- tions were in fact made. He says that he never denied that they were made, and all that he ever did deny was that he, Roosevelt. and Mr- Cor telyou were trying to b!acknau these other words, he got the money but he made no promise in return for it. He got the money but he did not bludgeon the corporations into giving it. The corporations poured out their wealth, not because they expected returns up- on their investment but because they the Republican party and were dead in love with Theodore Roosevelt This is the incredible story which Mir Roosevelt hopes that the people of this
  long enough to credit
 Let us pursue this topic a little fur ther.
 Col. Roosevelt in 1904 assumed a vir- tuous indignation in denying Judge Parker's c1arge-yet at the very mo- ment when Col. Roosevelt made his rlittee was spending the last remain ing dollars Of the hundred thousand dollar Standard Oil contribution.
 Col. Roosevelt's denial was made just before the election On Sept. lSO4. the New York World publicly asserted that d large Standard Oil contr1butlon 6a5 had been made Late to in nr oetober. co25e you and told him to return the mon ey- It was not, in fact, returned About the time the letters to -Cortel- Philander c. Knox about it. You know. at that time, Philander was great man and member of a great cabinet, presided over by great president. Philander said: 1T think the money has all been spent and Roose- welt said. *.Fl1 send the letters any way-they will put the record
 Certain suspicious persons have sug- gested that if the money had already while to send out letters suggesting it's return unless. of course, 1t was ex- pected that later on political exped1- ency might require the production of such letters, and it was the part of 1 wisdom to have them ready and i'll | 'Ethe letter fiIe.'
 Let us dismiss so impious and yet d~r spoke further and said he 1T feel certain that MT. Prick will make good l any loss that is occas1oned to the campaign @fund'' |
 This is MT. RooseveIt's own account l of the transaction and it discloses an interesting question of ethics for It makes to the American people wheth- sr their President accepts with one