The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1912-04-10

trQS Oh ILlc JuuACAdIy.
out change the platform as rec
mmittee. There was no roll call
tdent Taft was read, it was marked by
applause and cheering which lasted for
one minute Senator Root speaking
in favor of the platform, said:
Il shall confine what have to say
| to a single subject he said. That
| is the attempts to interfere with the
independence and destroy the author
| ity Of the judicial department Of our
government This Is of over-shadoW-
ing and great Importance.
THE founders of our republic were
wise men in more ways than one.
were students and they were men OF
affairs. They founded our govern
ment on two fundamental bases. They
learned that our natures are weak,
prone to err, subject to being led
astray Ny impulse.
"All of the history Of religion, NOR
ality, government and Of man teens
with proof of this great fact upon the
recognition Of which our civil Society
man can control his proneness of er-
ror and that is by adopting principles
to govern and restrain impulse.
"Tf1e principle which today makes
the people of Mexico one great seeth-
ing mass. is failure to impose limita-
tions- upon mob rule.
ITO threaten q judge with the re-
call, you make a coward of him. 1T
is not human nature that judges can
make decision which they know will
make them a sacrifice. You must say
here today that there is such a thing
as justice that is independent OF
= :. M s,i.ts ts. ,tAru4f ,,r;nc,-
pies. upon which this country was
based, flies of necessity to anarchy
and despotism."
Comptroller Prendergast of New
York followed with vftriolfc denun-
citation of the platform. :
he said, '1eads me to believe that I
would not be fulfilling my whole duty
to the party if 1 die. not refute the
speeches already made. I am going
to vote against that platform" Here
a. storm of applause came from the
gallery and some Of the delegates
shouted:
'Clear the galleries"
1.-The people are sometimes in the
galleries. shouted Prendergast, and
some one replied:
whats the matter. with Elinois?"
illinois is all right, too," shouted
the Brooklyn orator, amidst a perfect
storm of noise.
Because men are prone to differ
with you and believe in the initiative
and referendum is no sign they are
anarchists and Socialists or agitators,' .
resumed Prendergast. 81 am going
to vote against this platform because
do not believe in the denomination
Of President Taft.
There is widespread unrest every
where. Look at Germany, where the
Socialists have taken almost complete
control Of the government. This
means that the people are determined
to remedy the existing abuses and
that is the exact state of affairs ev-
erywhere in the United States to-
day"
Prendergast declared that the action
of the English parliament In granting
a minimum wage in the coal industry
meant simply that the rights of the
people must be respected by the law
making body
1--WE resent the declaration that we
are Socialists he said. Socialism
has made great headway in this coun-
ties have been unresponsive to the
popular demand that the peoples s
rights be respected.
You will not stop the spread of
Socialism until you show the people
that they can expect some relief at
the hands of the two great parties.
The people as a whole are not enjoy
ing prosperity. With strikes in pro-
grcss, with impending strikes on the
railroads and in the coal fields and
with the spectacle just presented in
Massachusetts,, don't close your eyes
to the fact that this country is at this
minute facing a crisis.
What we need at this time is not
rhetoric; it is remedies. If there are
men in this country who are suggest
ing remedies, even in conservative
New York, don't turn your backs up
on them. President Butler called at
tention to the fact that since 1897 our
party has been in control in this
country. Now I protest emphatically
against the idea that the man, who
presided over the destinies of this
country from one-half of that period;
l protest as a Republican against the
Characterization Of that man, with his
splendid service which for patriotic
effort has never been eclipsed, as a
political patent medicine man. You
know the kind of medicine he pre-
scribed as President of this coun-
try"
This emphatic defense of Roosevelt
electrified the galleries and resulted in
a storm of applause there but the
delegates sat stolidly unmoved in their
chairs
Prendergast then defended the init
iative, referendum, and recall, saying
that while they had demerits, yet the
people demanded them because they
would give relief from existing condi-
tions.
AS proof that there was grave need
of change. Prendergast referred to
the manner in which bills are passed
in Congress, saying that under pres
ent conditions bad and good bills
alike are jammed through.
I'm the light of all that has trans
pired, in the state of public feeling.
and in the light of the returns from
every State where there has been a
Presidential primary, / want to stand
here this afternoon and tell you that
1T is my best Judgment that President
Taft cannot be reelected President of