Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-05-11
COLONEL Says
He ALONE CAN
BEAT BOSSES

L 1yplIy anu Elllpouy q
Great Cause Which Can
Only be Furthered bySup-
porting Me-" Says T. r.
New York, May 10.-The Theodore
Roosevelt committee today gave out
the following copy of letter from
Col. Roosevelt to R. A.. Caswell OF
Minneapolis: .........1. j..
New York, May 10, 1912.
Hon. r, A. Caswell, chairman Of the
Roosevelt committee and clerk OF
the supreme court, Minneapolis,
Mimi:
Il wish it had been possible for me
to go again to Minnesota. Unfortu-
nately 1t is physically impossible.
mine states have now held prest-
Dental primaries, or their equivalent
North Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Oregon, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts and Mary
land. These states. the only ones In
which there has been free chance
for the expression of popular will, are
to be represented by 256 delegates in
the Chicago convention. Forty OF
these delegates are instructed for
President Taft and 216 are against
him. He has carried but two Of the
nine states, New Hampshire and
Massachusetts, in Massachu-
setts the Roosevelt delegates at large
were elected by over twice the major
ity which Mr.. Taft obtained on pref
erential vote.
"In all the nine states altogether
about three out of every four OF the
republicans who voted at the primaries
were against Mr.. TAFT. If primaries
could be held In all the states there
would undoubtedly be no substantial
variation from these figures, and Mr..
Taft could by no possibility have two
hundred votes in the Chicago conven-
!tion. Mr.. !Taft's chance Of renomina-
ton lies solely IN securing at Chicago
delegates who will misrepresent the
will of, the people. He can get these
delegates, not in the primary states,
but in the convention states, where
delegates are chosen under the old sys-
tenn, and even in these states he can
only get them where the state Is ruled
by a boss.
Says Bosses Oppose Him.
AFTER a prolonged experience Of me
as president practically all the big
bosses in the republican party dis
like me so heartily that they opposed
Mr.. Taft's nomination because l fav-
ored it. They were afraid that Mr..
Taft would give them the same kind of
trouble that I had given them.
after three years and half ex-
perience Of Mr.. Taft since he has been
elected, these same men have turned
around and heartily favored his re-
nomination. They we're opposed to
me four years ago and they are op-
posed to me now. They were opposed
to Mr.. Taft four years ago when they
had not tried him as president, and
they heartily support him now.
these men include, for instance,
Mr.. Gaddinger in New Hampshire. Mr..
Adrich in Rhode Island, Mr.. Penrose
in Pennsylvania, Mr.. Healing in Indi-
ana, Mr.. Lorimer in Illinois, Messrs.
Guggenheim and Evans in Colorado,
Mr.. Calhoun and the Southern Pacific
railway crowd in California and the
Amalgamated Cooper crowd in Mont
ana; and in your own state they In
clude Mr.. Smith and Mr.. Tawney. The
fight is nationwide fight Of the plain
people against the bosses.
Only He Can Defeat Bosses.
There is just one candidate whom
it is possible to nominate against the
bosses, and that is myself. Every vote
for every other candidate from now on
is in reality a vote for Mr.. Taft. The
fight is against the bosses in Mime
sofa. as it is everywhere else. A vote
for Mr.. Taft is vote for the bosses;
it is a vote for Lorimer, for Penrose,
for c lggenheim. for Gallinger, and for
all the rest of them; and it Is a vote
for these men whether 1t is cast in
Minnesota or in Massachusetts, or in
Ohio or New Jersey or California.
81 became candidate only when
became convinced that no other pro-
sressive candidate could by any pos
sibility be nominated against Mr.. Taft:
The contest has gone so far as to
make it now evident that certainly
can be nominated against Mr.. Taft and
that either I shall be nominated or
else a reactionary will be nominated.
Says 81 Typify Great Cause"
, 'sIt is also evident that not only
every progressive republican but every
man who believes in decency and
honesty in politics, who is against boss
rule and for the genuine rule of the
people, and Is for the elimination Of
special privilege and for efficient en-
deavor to secure social and Industrial
Justice, can achieve his purpose only
by supporting my candidacy.
My personal interest Is of no con.
Germ one way or the other, but it hap
pens that at this time typify and
embdy the great cause which can only
be furthered by supporting me. AL
most everywhere where have been
able to appear personally in this cam
paign and fight the bosses We have
beaten them and ask that Minnesota
stand beside Oregon and Illinois.
Pennsylvania and Nebraska, Maine,
Honsas and MARYLAND in this fight