The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1912-07-24
CARROLL DISCUSSES CONTESTS

Gov. B. F. Carroll today made pub.
lie a statement on the national con-
| vention contests. He upholds the
work of the national convention and
declares many of those who are now
! crying fraud have not looked into the
merits of the cases settled at Chica.
go. The statement follows:
Since the Chicago convention the
charge has been freely made by those
who were opposed to the renOmina-
| ton of President Taft that his nom
nation was stolen" by the seating
of delegates who were not entitled to
seats in the convention. am 60
ing to venture the assertion that not
one man in hundred who crys
fraud" knows anything about the
real merits of any of the contests.
The California case has attracted
much attention. Just here want to
say that whatever may be said as to
other contests, that one, in my opin-
ion, was settled as it should have
been.
So far as l am aware the national
convention has never recognized the
unit rule as to states. At any rate it
has not done so for more than thirty
years. In 1880 the republican con-
vention of the state of Illinois tried
to force unit rule upon it's delegates.
permit it and adopted rule support
ed by such men as James A. Gar
field and others, providing in sub
stance, that the convention in the fu-
ture would not recognize any method
of selecting delegates which deprived
the congressional district of the right
to make it's own selection. That has
been the rule of the convention ever
since, and l am informed that a pro-
vision to that effect has been embod-
led in the call of every national con-
vention from that day until this. So
that in reality the merits of the Cali
fornia case were passed upon more
than thirty years ago and by men
whom the party now delights to hon
| or. Yet men who in the Chicago con-
vention acted in entire harmony with
! the rule adopted by those honored
party heroes are classed as thieves"
and robbers"
A few days after the call for the
last national convention was issued,
and with full knowledge of it's pro-
| visions, the state of California enact
ed law providing that all of the del
egates from that state to the nation
al convention should be elected by
the voters of the state at large, there
by depriving the districts of the
right to select their own delegates,
disregarding the rules of the nation
al convention and attempting to force
unit rule. The vital question in
volved is, has state right to legis-
late as to matters pertaining to a
national convention in violation of
the rules of the convention? l main
tain that it has not, and that is the
view that was taken by the majority
of the national committee, the Gre
dentials committee and by the nation
al convention itself. A national con.
vention is purely voluntary organi'
cation. 1t can meet and adjourn at
will or can dissolve at pleasure. 1t
could, if it chose, entirely exclude a
state from sitting in it's councils and
can make and alter such rules as it
desires for it's government A state
has no more right to invade the pre-
negatives of national convention
than it has those of the congress OF
the United States.
1t is argued that the laws of SOW.
ereign state should obtain as against
| the rules of a national convention. A
state is not sovereign for any such
purpose. The recent efforts to revive
| the old doctrine of state rights is NO
more defensible than it was during
the early days Of the republic or dur
| ing the SOS when many men gave
| their lives in order to wipe out that
| heresy. 1t is perfectly right and
| proper that the national convention
| should recognize the laws of states
not in conflict with it's rules, and this
| the convention does do, but it is equal
| ly important that the convention
should reserve to itself the right tC
determine it's own affairs. If the con
| vention recognizes the laws of one
state in conflict with its own rules
| it must, in all fairness, recognize the
| laws of all other states. If Cali
| fornia has a right to provide that its
delegates shall be elected at large
any other state would have an equal
right to provide for any other meth
cd and there could be as many differ