The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-03-21
A HARD BLOW
TO ROOSEVELT.
Loss of North Dakota to Sena-
tor La Toilette on Tuesday
CANDIDACY IS WEAKENED
This Change Is Taken to Mean That
Hereafter tire Wisconsin Man Must
Be Considered the Favorite Can
didate Of the Radicals.

didate of the Radicals.
Washington, D. c., March 2l.--Tha
the bottom is knocked out of the Roost
welt third-term candidacy by the victor
of La Toilette over Roosevelt in th
North Dakota state primary Tuesday
the honest opinion of political Washing
ton. In his first attempt to stand as
radical or progressive candidate in plac
of La Toilette, Roosevelt has been re
puidated by vote of about two to on
and the Wisconsin senator hereafte
must be regarded as the favorite candi
date of the radical wing of the Republi
can party. That this failure should tax
place in state primary where everyon
is privileged to vote directly, withou
the intervention OF party boss or dele
gate, is the more significant.
Washington is laughing over the naiv
admission of John S. Bass, the Roosevelt
manager in North Dakota. that La Fol
lette was voted for by practically al
the Democrats, and eff the Democrat
had stayed out of the Republican pri
mary there is no question that Roosevelt
would have Won" This has been tn,
criticism the Taft men have continual,
urged against the primary system unless
the ballot We're properly safeguarded
No party enrolment is required in Nortl
Dakota, and as the Democrats already
had decided to instruct their own dele
gates to the Baltimore convention foi
Governor Burke, they were free to turn
out in numbers and muddy the Repub
lican waters as much as they could
Ii what Mr.. Bass says is true, the result
is significant also as indicating that the
Democrats thought they would help tn,
Republican party less by going for Ia
Toilette than by still further strength.
ening Taft, who is already strong every.
where except in professional insurgent
territory.
Taft Made No Campaign.
The Taft forces made no campaign
in North Dakota. They regarded it as
insurgent territory which might very
well be allowed to go to La Toilette
and when they saw the contest shape
up squarely between La Toilette and
Roosevelt they were content to let the
state alone. They are following the
same policy in Wisconsin, for in these
two states the La Toilette sway is prac-
tically supreme and nothing could be
gained in an effort to unhorse the SEN
ator.
The third term candidate did not take
this sober view of the situation, He
regarded himself as the real leader Of
the Republican insurgent movement and
50 set about to capture the delegates in
North Dakota, His campaign there was
largely to Clifford Pinchot, who
spoke in every part of the state and
what he believed to be eff.
fective Roosevelt organizations or con
yictions. The Roosevelt men had plenty
Of money, while La Toilette did not 90
into the campaign until FIVE days before
the primary and then trusted only to his
own speeches on the stump. He believed
that if he could convince his friends that
he was not out of the contest they
would stand by him, and they did.
La Toilette Army Rejuvenated
IT is now evident that Roosevelt must
face a rejuvenated La Toilette army in
every one of the insurgent states The
Wisconsin primaries viii be held April 2.
Some DAYS ago the managers of the
.hird-term candidate took steps to have
Roosevelt's name 60 on the Wisconsin
ballot, but they may follow the Taft
Example and save their energies for other
md more promising territory. Much OF
he same conditions will be found also
n Nebraska, Minnesota and South Da-
gotta. La Toilette will make fight in
Oregon, where the primaries will take
place April 10, and word received at his
headquarters from California states that
he insurgent Republicans in that state
ire dropping Roosevelt and coming again
TO the support of the senator.
The North Dakota results show how
BADLY Rooseyelt's seven gubernatoral adj
risers misiudged the general situation,
along with a good many other people,
when they informed the colonel that La
Toilette was practically a dead duck
md that the work begun by La Toilette
should be carried on by him. Now, not
)nly are the La Toilette men repudiat-
ng Roosevelt in the territory in which
hey are strong, but the country at large
5 rapidly repudiating the doctrines of
both La Toilette and Roosevelt, at least
% far as they relate to judicial issues.
Viewed as a test of the primary, the out
.ome in North Dakota appears the more
when compared with the
Roosevelt criticisms OF the primary law
n New York state, in which the colonel
because the Republican party
n his own state has things so tied mp
hat a fair vote cannot be taken. The
act appears to be that the colonel be-
ieves that he cannot win in New York
Unless the Democrats are permitted 20
-ote. while he could stand no chance of
Winning in North Dakota unless the vot-
ne were confined strictly TO Republic
ans. Developments of this Kind are
-oing a long way toward exposing the
efects Of the primary system, knowI-
dye of which made the Massachusetts,
legislature so hesitant to attempt an
Experiment. with a new law when they
called that the demand for it was much
0uder than it was broad