The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-07-24
SAVAGE ATTACK
 ON ROOSEVELT BY CONGRESSMAN
Republican Regular Assails Third Party Leader Calls Him a Pirate and a Few Other Choice Epi-
 thets Hot Stuff

Washington. July 24.-Branding Col .onel Roosevelt as a pirate charg- ing him with ..deliberately mislead- ing the public and alleging that he gtrumped up@ and. faked'' contests of delegates at the Chicago convention. Representative Frank Mondell, (Rep., Wyo.), today, in the House, denied al- legged fraud in Taft S renomination.
 The speech was one of the most bit ter ever delivered in the House, teem- ing with epithets of denunciation for Roosevelt and his managers. The Wyoming member spoke in Taft's de- fense to the Roosevelt charge of "sto- len delegates and larcenous nomina-
 tion,'' firing the opening gun in Con greSs of campaign of defense that will be followed up by Representative Bartholdt, of Missouri, and by Senator Root.
 Colonel Roosevelt and his support CTS have repeatedly and in the most violent and incorporate language made most serious charges of fraud and wrong-doing in connection with the election and sea ating of delegates, ' Mondell declared Many people ac- cept them as gospel
 Few. realize how men. may be led by over-zealous or interruptions sup porters Or subordinates. The truth is ever at a disadvantage in the presence of persistent prevarication." Commenting upon the plan of Will liam F1inn to nominate the same men on the Taft and Roosevelt tickets in Pennsylvania, Mondell said: 'It is proposed to steal the livery and secure the benefits of Republican state organizations while at the same 1 time repudiating the party. It is diff proposal of pure piracy. They plan scuttling the ship after having gotten away with the cargo. The local boss of the new crew is a. more cautious pirate than some others. But the chief repudiates any such mushy pro cedure If you are to be a pirate, quoth he, be pirate, carry their flag as long as it is to your interest to do so, but eventually make them walk the plank and scuttle the ship.
 Mondell declared Speaker Clark has cratic ticket as Roosevelt has to form the new party, ting that the nom- ination was ''ruthlessly snatched from him without warrant, justification or excuse.
 Roosevelt. the speaker said. first contested 238 delegates and then be- fore the credentials committee aband- oned all but 128.
 'sThat even this list of 12S was pad ded by cases known to have no merit, 7 the wyoming member continued, is
 
 contests were finally heard by the credentials committee, including some whose seats were given unanimously to the Taft delegates by the national committee.
 s"The overwhelming majority were brought deliberately for the purpose of confusing the issue, misleading the public and laying the foundation for the outrageous charges which fol- lowed The southern contests were 1N. -c 1, most prejudiced Roosevelt supporters. |'The inpudent demand made by those responsible for faked and f1in1sy contests, that no delegate whose seat was contested should vote on any question, was simply adding insult to injury. What was proposed was that. having given notice of contemplated wholesale theft. all the proposed vic tims were to be disarmed to allow easy and expeditions perpetratlon Of the outrage.
 "As admitted by the Roosevelt man agers, they started out deliberately to create contests. a large number being pure fiction. Many were upon pre- arranged bolts based on the. f1lmslest preteXtS.
 ..The proposition that electors on the Republican ticket in Roosevelt states shall cast their vote for any candidate of third party has its al 1 legged excuse in downright and per sistent prevaricatlon on Whlcn rotten l foundation it lays it's proposals of reasonable larceny" Mondell. who was one of. the mem bers Of the national committee. re- viewed in detail the testimony before the credentials committee in the
 Roosevelt contests of 72 delegates made the basis of the Roosevelt motion to purge the rolls.'' He declared every committeeman decided every case
 SContinued on Page D