The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-08-02


Colonel Lyon. his superior. had thus
iirected him. The district committee
was called. Seven members attended
he meeting The district convention
was called on May Ii. Eleven counties
,ut Of the fifteen responded to the call
Ind took part In the convention. Three
ounties were not represented, and in
,ne Of these there was no election.
After this convention had been called
he chairman Of the district committee
changed his mind and called a meet
ing of the committee for April IL
This committee called a congressional
convention to be held on May 1S But
there was no publication of the cah,
which had TO be thirty days before the
convention, until April 81. The Taft
convention seems therefore to have
been duly and regularly convened,
while the Roosevelt convention was
not The Taft delegates were seated.
Tenth District
In the Tenth district the decision
tnrned largely upon the bad faith with
which two members OF the district
committee voted In the seating OF dele
gates and upon the bad faith with
which one of them used the proxy In
trusted 10 him The Tam delegates In
this coae bolted and left the hall and
Immediately In the same building or
gnn4oed another convention which con-
sisted OF Delegates from six counties
Proceedings were regularly held; per-
manent organization effected. the re-
port Of the COMMITTEES on resolutions
adopted and delegates pledged TO Taft
vere elected The undisputed evidence
Indicated that a 6egrnnt attempt had
been made 10 deprive Taft OF this dis
trict, 10 which be wss tustiy entitled
The national committee sustained the
title Of the Taft delegates and alter
Mates by a practically unanimous vote.
Fos,~teenth District.
In the Fourteenth district there were
fffteen counties IN tho district When
the executive committee met at San
Antonio to make up the temporary roll
there were ten members Of the COM
mtttee present whose right TO act was
undtsputed. of whom SIX were for Taft
and four for Roosevelt There were
four other Roosevelt men present
whose right 30 vote was disputed and
who were clearly not entitled TO repre-
sent their county st that meeting. One
OF them held the proxy Of the commit
teeman from Kendall county. who was
dead, and the proxies from three other
counties were held, two by postmas-
tiers and one by an assistant postmas-
ter, while under the election law of
Texas no one who holds an Office of
profit or trust under the United States
shall act as a member Of an executive
committee either for the state or for
any district OF county. The temporary
roll was made up by Taft members.
having a clear majority without per
mttting these men to act under their
proxies. There was contest over the
delegation from BeInr county, which
contains the city Of San Antonio Full
consideration was given 10 this contest,
but the testimony was overwhelming
that Taft carried the county by a vote
OF four or five to one On the proper
basis the total vote In the district con-
Venton was siXty-eeven, OF which the
number instructed or voting for Taft
was thirty seven and one-half, the
number voting or instructed for Roose-
Welt twenty-eight and one-half, not vot-
ing one. The Tan delegation was
therefore seated at Chicago.
CONCLUSION.
The purpose OF this resume OF the
contests in which there was any shad-
ov Of substance has been to inform
those who have not time or inclination
10 read the longer and more detailed
account OF them contained In the larger
pamphlet 1t Is NOT essential 30 mako
Me Tafts title tndisputable that al
men agree on every one OF the fseues
raised. They were decided by the tn
bunals which uniform party usage had
made the proper tribunals 10 decide
such contests. If those tribunals acted
In good faith mistaken judgment would
not tnvalidate their decisions. AS a
uoafber OF fact, an examination Of the
cbcte show that the tribunals were
right In every Instance There is not
the aightest evidence that they were
moved by other than a mere desire to
reach a right conclusion On the other
hand. the setion ct the Roosevelt men
In bringing l6o contests that they
promptly abandoned strongly tended
to show the lack Of good faith In the
prosecution OF all Of them. Those who
support President raft can well afford
to stand on the record In this case and
10 asseRerate without fear OF success
tul contradiction that the delegates
whose seats were contested were as
fairly seated In this convention as in
any in the history Of the party.