Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1912-07-18
For President:
HON. WOODROW WILSON
Governor of New Jersey.
For Vice President:
THOMAS r. MARSHALL,
Governor of Indiana.
1.-THE CASE OF Mr.. ROOSEVELT"

Under the caption "The case of Mr..
Roosevelt" Senator LaFollette has writ
ten the following editorial in the current
number of La Follette's Weekly:
"Bryan at Baltimore, foregoing all
chance of his own nomination, marshal
ing all his forces, Drawing Tammany and
the trusts to rescue his party from their
domination. carrying the convention for
the adoption of the most progressive
Democratic platform yet offered and the
nomination of the most progressive
Democratic candidate available, was
a towering figure of moral power and
patriotic devotion to civic righteousness.
Roosevelt at Chicago, backed by
money derived from the stock-watering
operations of the steel trust and the
Harvester trust, organizing what are
now confessed to have been fake con-
tests as to nearly two. hundred delegates
in order to control the Republican con-
vention and secure his own nomination,
refusing to aid in making a progressive
platform, bound to have the nomination
or destroy the Republican party, was a
most striking example of misdirected
power and unworthy ambition.
Roosevelt had as great an opportunity
to serve the progressive cause at Chicago
as Bryan had at Baltimore. But Roose-
welt was serving the man. not the cause.
H. u,ortoJ ~ thir~ ~ ,r,-kal A..
nomination. And yet he did not have
enough votes to nominate himself upon
any honest basis. He did have enough
delegates in that convention ultimately
TO have nominated a real progressive and
adopt a real progressive platform. He
could even have nominated Hadley on
such a platform, and progressive repub-
licans could have supported Hadley in
much the same spirit as hundreds of
thousands of them will now support
Wilson. Neither Had)ey nor Wilson are
veterans in the progressive ranks;
neither of them has been tried by the
severest tests. Both are men of high
ideals, whose records, though short, give
promise,
"But Roosevelt would not consider
Hadley. He would have no one but
himself. At the first suggestion of
Hadley be ordered the third party
m%aneuvers, lest he lose his followers.
If he had the evidence to prove that
Taft could not be honestly and fairly
nominated, why did he not direct his
lieutenants TO present that evidence to
the national committee, and then to the
convention, and the country could see
clearly that the convention would not
have dared to nominate Taft, and that
Taft could not, in honor have accepted
the nomination, if made.
The reason is obvious. An analysis
of the testimony will l am convinced,
show that neither Taft mol Roosevelt
had a majority of honestly or regularly
elected delegates. This the managers
on both sides we'll understood. Each
candidate was trying to seat a sufficient
number of fraudulently credited dele
gates added TO those regularly chosen
to support him, to secure control Ct the
convention and steam roller the nomi-
nation.
"It was a proceeding with which
each was acquainted. and which each
had sanctioned in prior conventions.
"This explains the extraordinary con
duct of Roosevelt. He could not enter
upon such an analysis of the evidence
as would prove Taft's regularly elected
delegates in the minority, without in
evitably subjecting his own spurious
credentialed delegates to an examina.
ton SO critical as would expose the
falsity of his own contention that he
had an honestly elected majority of
the delegates. He therefore deliber-
ately chose to claim everything, to cry
fraud, to bully the national committee
and the convention, and having thus
created a condition which would make
impossible a calm Investigation of cases
upon merit, carry the convention by
storm.
"That this is the true psychology OF
the Roosevelt proceedings becomes per.
fectly plain. He was there to force bis
own nomination or smash the conven-
ton, He was not there to preserve the
integity of the republican party and
make it an instrument for the pro-
motion of progressive principles and
the restoration of government to the
people. Otherwise he would have di-
rected his floor managers to contest
every inch of the ground for a pro-
gressive platform before the committee
on resolutions and in the open con.
vention.
"But Mr.. Roosevelt was not governed
by suggestion of that spirit of high
patriotic and unselfsh purpose of which
Bryan furnished such a magnificent