The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-07-04

Woodruff statement. "ta all the TWEEN.
~ Republican States in which were
held preferential primaries or their
equivalent, except In New Hampshire
with her eight delegates, and Massa-
chusetts, which was a stand-on. The
theft perpetrated by the National
Committee TO overturn this result
drove the delegates from these States
out OF the convention. precipitated
: the ruin OF the Republican party and
occasioned the necessity of a new
party.
These Roosevelt delegates knew,
as the National Committeeman ad-
mitted. that this theft was perpetrat-
ed, not TO nominate Taft, who they
know could not be elected, but to
beat Roosevelt. who they knew would
be elected.
; Saving Themselves.
"A dozen OF the National Commit
teemen. who had been defeated in the
primaries, and who were not even
delegates to the convention. were
simply trying to save what little there
was left of their own political for
tunes which Colonel Roosevelt had so
badly shattered. This was perfectly
clear several days before the main
body of the delegates arrived in Chi
cagO. When they came | tried to
have them understand it as | had
! seen it during the days | had been
! there. They asked if steam rollers
had not been in use at previous Ma
| tiOnal Conventions. | admitted that
there might have been, but if so, they
must have been operated by one lot
of politicians against othe politicians
who were on their jobs and and per-
| fectly able to take care of themselves
but never before for the purpose of
overriding the will of the rank and
file Of the party, as clearly and over
whelmingly expressed at legally con-
Quoted Presidential primaries
The great moral obliquity tot the
| National Committee and of the Con-
vention itself was not alone in using
the steam roller, reprehensible as
that was, but, as | repeatedly warn
ed my fellow-delegates from New
York, in using it for such purpose
as would inevitably destroy the Re-
publican party. | had learned enough
in Chicago before the convention of
the sentiment of Maine, Massachu-
sets, New Jersey, Maryland, Penn
sylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Illi-
nois, West Virginia, Missouri, Kan
sas, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Da-
kota, Idaho, Oregon, Washington,
California, and of Texas, New Mexico,
Arizona and Oklahoma, which l visit
ed last winter, to say nothing Of the
sentiment of our own State. to know
that the honest Republicans of these
States and the delegates who were
not bound by instructions or machine
domination, would never abide by the
action of a convention thus and for
such purposes controlled.
Feared His Enemies.
LAS soon as the primary results in
these Republican States showed the
wonderful and constantly increasing
strength of Colonel Roosevelt, l be-
resorted to by his enemies, which
those who were not his enemies could
not and would not tolerate. l felt
called upon to make a public state
ment at that time to the effect that,
although | had been elected as Taft
delegate in March and intended to
vote for him in the convention, l re-
~ s-l~& 7
found those supporting him were &C
tuated by Interior motives or pur-
poses. l said / did not agree with
some of the supporters of President
Taft that Colonel RoOsevelt's candi-
dacy would be a menace to the busi-
ness interests of the country, a posi-
ton which l had previously taken.
particularly in the debate with SEN
ator McCarren in October, 1907, in
the midst of the panic, when it was
my privilege to defend the then Re-
publican President of the United
States against the bitter attacks
made upon him for purely political
purposes by the leader of the Demo-
cratic organization of Kings Coun-
ty. That local campaign resulted in
decisive victory for the Republican
ticket During the weeks preceding
the convention it became clearer and
clearer, until when we got to Chicago
there was no longer any doubt about
it, that every conceivable means
would be used to prevent Colonel
Roosevelt's nomination.
Why They Opposed Him.
Some were willing to resort to
these un-American methods-meth-I