The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-08-06
BULL MOOSE CONVENTION GOES WIN
WHEN ROOSEVELT STANDS ON STAGE

eno otdte Qelegat1Ons held CaucuSeS
prior to the opening of the convention
hali. Most of them paraded to the hall
headed by the band and the veteran
drum corps and big delegation OF
woman suffragettes.
There can be no denial of the faet
that the introduction Of the woman's
suffrage element into the situation is
gong to play tremendous part. Be.
ing an entirely new element in Ameri-
can politics, injected to an already
Dadly scrambled situation, every indi-
cation is that the political dopesters
are going to have their figures thrown
sadly out of line.
The progressive leaders are very
frank In their statements that the
suffrage plank in their platform will
De one of their strongest vote-getters,
especially taken in connection with
the social betterment proposals. They
say tnat the suffrage movement has
already much stronger following
throughout the nation than has been
generally understood- largely to
the fact that until the progresssves
made their plunge there seemed little
chance of the proposition becoming
live national issue. 1t is the hope of
the Roosevelt followers that with the
suffrage issue we'll to the fore, the in
direct force of the millions of women
VIII be exercised on fathers, husbands
and brothers in favor of the progress
sive candidate
The success of the Roosevelt lead
ers in enlisting the help of Jane
Addams, Americas greatest woman"
is generally regarded as a clever
stroke. 1t Is no secret in Chicago
that the greatest possible pressure
was brought to bear upon Miss Ad-
dams by both democratic ard repub-
lican supporters of Hull house to keep
her out of the fight. 1t is said that
Miss Adams, who throughout her
whole career in Chicago has never
been drawn into a political contest or
has ever publicly expressed herself in
any partisan contest, was only won
over to the progressive movement
when the features Of the Roosevelt
declaration of faith-the features on
which the heavy emphasis is to be
laid during the campaign-were re-
vealed to her.
At every turn the bull moosers are
being confronted with the query of
why is George W. Perkins financing
this movement" and what is the
real reason for Frank A. Munsey's
alignment with the bull moose?', or
which plank is Perkins going to
write and which is Munsey interested
in?" TO all of these the leaders, such
as Governor Johnson, Judge Ben Lind.
sey, George l.. Record and the Pinchot
brothers merely reply you will have
to get your answer from the platform
and 7. r., declaration of principles
They point to the stand Roosevelt,
platform and the party are to take on
the tariff, the currency and the hours
of labor and working conditions in the
steel inquiry as evidence of the fact
that Perkins and Munsey have had
no axes ground and declare that be.
fore the campaign is over other big
men Of the business world-many OF
them men who were factors in the
pernicious political activities In form.
er days-will "see the lights
An odd feature of the situation, as
it is presented in the convention hall
itself and about the lobbies of the
hotels, is the temper Of the delegates.
There is neither the staggering
hoastfulness which some had expect
ed nor the half apologetic, hang-dog
attitude which others had figured
would mark the gathering. Some of
the younger of the delegates have dis.
played little Of the cheerful cock
eyness of the first voters leaguers,
but for the most part the delegates
are taking themselves with quiet
optimistic seriousness. Few of them
display any of the time-stamped dis
tinguishing marks of the old line
politicians. There is practically no
curbstone Or smoking room oratory
about the hotels Brass bands and
red fire are conspicuous only by their
absence, but each evening the lobbies
of the hotels are jammed with small
groups of serious-faced, quiet-voiced
men, who appear to be rather over
sensible of their being factors in a
crucial movement. Predictions of sue
cess for the progressive tickets are
scarce among the delegates, though
all insist that they will have fighting
chance. The inevitable reply, how
ever, to query as to possible success,
is that a victory in November is not
the big thing in view The main
thing to be considered is according to
their assertions, that they have three
months to fight for the most human
itarian and progressive platform that
has ever bid for popular support.
'HThe fights the thing-not the vic
tory," declared Raymond Robbins, the
Chicago sociologist, today in discuss
ing the situation with group of dele
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