Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1912-10-04

4
TAFT committee. There were 500 i'm
leach group-about 500 Roosevelt men
and 500 Taft men. Not exactly. !
am just speaking roughly. A man is
expected TO speak roughly when he
speaks OF the Chicago convention.
prolonged laughter and applause.)
There We're 500 in each group and
then in between there were rs whose
seats were contested. Now, 1t is an
easy matter in arithmetic that If the
Taft men got the Is in the middle
whose seats were contested they
would get the convention. If Roose-
Welt should get the 75, he would con-
troll the convention. The committee
determined who will get the rs. /,
was Taft committee and seated the
Taft men and gave them the ten
porary organization, and they con-
stituted themselves a permanent OF
sanization, and the fact that the old
committee was Taft committee de-
termined not only the character Of
the temporary organization, but
through 1t the character of the per-
manent organization and then named
a president and a platform.
ROOSEVELT WOULD HAVE
DONE 1T THE SAME
WAY, IF HE COULD
Now, that was what was done at
Chicago. Suppose 1t had been a
Roosevelt committee. Would it have
done the same thing that the Taft
committee did? Well, all I have to
go by Is that they thought the Taft
committee ought to seat them. and If
they thought the Taft committee
ought to. possibly the Roosevelt COM
mittee would have done It.
SENTIMENT OF THE
COMMITTEE THAT MADE
THE NOMINATION
Now, my friends, I am not COM
planning because this power Is abused.
know how great temptation It is
when great ONCE like that of presi-
dent hangs In the balance, and that
convention WAS divided into two great
groups, Five hundred Thought Mr..
Tafts Nomination would be q great
Injury to the party and the country
and 500 thought Mr.. Rooseyelt's nom
ination would be a great injury to the
party and the country, and I believ.
they both were honest, and 1 believe
them both. I guess they were both
right, and I am not surprised that
their views lead them to substitute
the ends for the means and consider
not the merits Of the cause, but the
result OF the contest. Now, we have
a plan for meeting such difficulties.
In our Baltimore platform we say, let
the committeeman commence to take
their ONCE as soon as they are
elected. In the old committee AMI
under the old rule a committeeman
holds over even after his successor ia
elected, and although the successor
Is there and ready to act he goes on
and acts during this temporary or
ganization. This has been the trou-
BILE. Now, we say let the committee
men commence as soon as he is
elected and then you will have a new
committee, organizing new eonven-
ton In harmony with the present
sentiment. II there is any argument
to be made In favor of popular gov
eminent, that Is that popular govern
ment must represent tho sentiment OF
today and not the sentiment of four
years ago, or forty years ago, or 400
years ago. Our plan has met this
6ificulty and we have changed the
system, and thus will not occur In a
democratic convention hereafter.
Hereafter no dead hand can reach
out from the past in our convention
to clutch the living convention and
strangle- the life out Of It. This is
the way we deal with an abuse when
II 10 understood. and yet Mr.. Tafts
did nothing and the system remains,
and four years from now this years
committee can organize the conven-
ton and do then Just as the old com
nnittec did this year. But Mr.. Roose-
velts convention, which was held
after our convention, when they had
q chance to read our platform, al
though they took other things from
our platform, did not take this plank,
and Mr.. Roosevelts selected this year
will be in a position to do next year
Just what Mr.. Tafts committee did
this year at Chicago.
RANK METHODS OF THE
REPUBLICAN, CONVENTION
| tell you that the democratic parts
has shown its proEressiveness not oni,
by words, but by acts. which speak
louder than words. I mention thi,
that you may know one OF the dim.
cuIties at CHICAGO ana fha othar GO,