The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-05-21
TRYING TO GET TOGETHER.
And Why the Country Refuses to Be-
 come Excited.

The country has a mild interest in the get-together movement started by the republicans and progressives-
 Whatever its outcome this novem ent indicates that they realize the success
 of the Wilson administration and a1so that the failure of any one-man party
 Is inevitable. There is, of course, a good deal of humor and not a little tragedy in the persistent reports that republicans and bull moosers, progress
 sives and standpatters, are getting together" The cold fact of the mat
 ter is that they must get together and offer a solid front to the opposition or suffer destruction piecemeal. The-ques-
 tion now is whether such unity comes too late. Over this question the coun- try, approving the democratic admin istratiopS is not excited. As long as Wilson and his supporters are en-
 deavor1ng to fulfill the letter and the spirit of the democratic pledges it
 matters not to the nation as 9 whcle whether the bull moosers and the re- publicans continue to live apart. What
 the people are interested in is the suc- cess of reform
 It seems apparent to all who have watched this ''get-together'' revival, since it's premature suggestion by Gov. IIadley in the Chicago convention, that it is healthy sign The country knOws--and each republican and pro- gressive party worker knows-that this union never would have been
 made necessary (for there never would have been a splitC had it not been for the shadow of one dominating person ality that fell athwart the campaign. Those who opposed the progressive movem ent, not because of the progress it advocated, but because of it's lead ership. contended right along that no third party, born under selfish circun1-
 stances, could exist any longer than
 the power that inspired it could exist. That power dwind1ed even before the Pelection. Many men of genuine pro- gressive sentiments refused to leave the republican party. They knew that that partys record-for the time at Ieast-had been rendered hopeless through treachery. They desired pro
 gress, but they did not desire progress
 at the price of honor.
 From the moment the force of the
 dem ocratic landslide was known the
 disintegration of the third term par ty became a certainty. Now, from many and widely separate quarters, come proposals for a merger. The
 suggestion has been made by Munsey and Hanna, each of whom invested a fortune in the third-term candidate They realize that investments in a one
 man party Ars foolish, and that the only way to get interest on the money already sunk is to piece the old ship together again. Others desire unity of progress among all factions in or
 der that the party's principles may not be lost. And what of the thousands who divided their ballots between the sundered party? The day of life | long" and @'inherited'' partisanship is past. All the people desire is pro
 gress. They are getting results right
 now at Washington. They care little whether the defeated parties get to- gether or not. The prediction is tn t | the factions will get together; wheth- ! CT power will be held by the Munsey- na-Aldrich-Smoot wing or whether 1t will be held by the Cum
 mins-B s-Borah-Had d1ey-La Toilette group
 remains to ba seen. But it must nor l be forgotten that the chances for re-
 publican = progressive future success
 depend on. which power is in control. indianapolis News.