New-York tribune., 1912-11-20
AN EXAMPLE IN DEMOCRACY.

Mr.. Roosevelt does not explicitly
mention the municipal campaign Ill his
speech declaring against fusion of ,1e
Progressives with any other party, but
the whole spirit Of his talk is opposed
10 any such subordinatiOn of partisan
ship to patriotism. His declaration
will undoubtedly be accepted by his
followers as a warning not TO promote
unselfsh efforts to save this city from
Tammany domination, and be regarded
by the general public as an indication
that no aid can be expected from the
Progressives in the coming fight for
good municipal government.
This impression will be strengthened
by the passage Of the resolution offered
by Mr.. Woodruff, who deserts his
friend, Mr.. Prendergast, to align him
self conspicuOusly in support OF Mr..
Hotchkiss's effort to destroy local au-
tOnomy in the party and subordinate
all It's actions to the central state ma
chine. This resolution forbids any
local organization Of the ProgreSslves
70 fuse with the local organization OF
any other party without the consent
of the state committee or of It's eSecC-
tive committee or even to take prellIn-
inary action toward such coalition or
fusion without like consent. This IS
one of the most extreme denials of the
doctrine Of home rule ever made by
political party. And it comes from
men who have professed superior de-
votion to pure democracy, the spirit or
the New England town meeting and
the uncontrolled rule of the people.
They had so little regard for the
claims Of central party authority that
they were perfectly ready where they
had the physical power to seize the
Republican name and position on the
ballot for their candidates, on the
ground that they were representing the
will of the people in the localities
where the robbery was committed, and
that the Republican party as a whole
had no rights as to the local use Of It's
organization, name and emblem. But
for their own purposes they establish
q political trust, more centralized ana
despotic than even Mr.. Hearst's In
corporated enterprise, Its local bodies
have long exercised the right to deal
with local problems In their own
way. The Roosevelt machine, however
makes everything and everybody sub
ordinate to the purposes Of the central
managers. The thousands Of Progress
sives In this city cannot do what they
think wise and for the best interests
of its citizens with respect to purely
city business-the selection Of Mayor
or Conuoller-withOut the previous
permission Of Mr.. Hotchkiss, formerly
of Erie and now of WestChester, and
his particular associates, acting under
the advice Of a citizen Of Nassau
County. As an exhibition of downing
the bosses this is magnificent What
a mistake Mr.. Platt made in not ad-
vertising his methods as a campaign
for the rule of the people and the ex-
tinction Of bossism! Then he would
not have had 10 prOceeu Cautiously as
an "easy boss"
OF course, If the only reason for
maintaining the Progressive party is to
have an organization firmly in hand
for a Roosevelt campaign in 1915, this
concentration of power and this sacri-
fee Of all considerations Of public well
fare to the perfection of disciplined
body Of fanatics devoted solely to the
realization Of Mr.. Rooseyelt's third
term ambition are logical. But we
have only to turn to Progressive as
distinguished as Mr.. Prendergast to be
told plainly how wicked from a civic
point of view" such a policy Of per-
sOnal selfishness is.
-@------~~-