Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-06-10
Washington
w LETTER
nv ~ n WAL KER
HOPES OF REPUBLICANS
BY H. B. WALKER
star STAFF Correspondent.
Star Bureau.
Metropolitan National Bank Bldg.
WASHINGTON. June 10.

WASHINGTON. June 10.
Republican regulars who look to
See the old dinner-pail party
come back into power next year on
the strength of a Democratic tariff
panic are finding cause for self-con-
graduation and happiness just now
over internal ructions among Bull
Moosers in New Jersey, Maryland,
Delaware and some other states. In
Maryland, especially there is just
now a lot of excitement among new
party members over the attitude of
several of their leaders of last year
who are urging fusion with the Re-
publican party. These leaders have
been denounced and renounced by
Maryland Bull Moosers generally,
but there are just enough of them to
give color to Republican hope and be-
lief that the Progressives and Re-
publicans may be able to get to-
gether for the purpose of beating the
Democrats in 1916.
The New Jersey situation is char
acteristic of what is going on In
number of states, where the radical
and conservative wings of the Pro-
gressive party are in disagreement
over party programs and leadership.
Roosevelt the Magnet Then.
When Theodore Roosevelt declared
for new party last year, his i'm
mediate following included men and
oil
political doctrine and afhliation.
There were men of conservative
views, disguised with the rottenness
of Republican machine politics, but
chary of the radical tendencies OF
Roosevelt. There we're many men
who knew and cared nothing about
the program or principles of the new
party. but were willing to follow
Roosevelt anywhere. There were men
who for years had aspired to office and
failed in the old parties, and who
saw in the new party possible nope
of some day achieving their ambition.
There were single takers who saw IN
the new party hope Of heading off
Socialism, and there were Socialists
who believed it a chance OF making
Socialism come sooner.
The platform was a hastily ar
ranged tumble of political, social and
economic ideas representing the ideas
and ideals of committee OF spe-
cialists 1t did not work out con-
nected program of changing economic
conditions 1t did not seek to do so.
1t proposed a large number OF more
or less well-known and popular re-
forms, and a few new ones, mostly
unconnected and none of them care
fully worked out
Vote Rebuke to the Party
1t was a party hastily collected,
and a platform hastily built. There
was no time for more. The four and
half million votes cast for Roose-
welt were probably, not so much an
Endorsement of the candidate or the
platform. a vote of rebuke and re-
pudiation for the Republican party,
and distrust of the Democratic party.
1t is probably fair statement that
those who took an active part IN the
Bull Moose campaign last fall were
fairly evenly divided those who were
for Roosevelt only because he was the
Progressive candidate, and those VINO
were Progressives because Roosevelt
was the candidate.
The Roosevelt men were for Roose@
Welt because the Republican conVen-
ton had not nominated him. The
radicals were for him because he was
helping to destroy the Republican
party, and making possible polltical
realignment in which there would be
a radical and a conservative party.
Excepting in presidential cam
paigns. there is no national party. AT
least, there has been none for many
years, the Socialists accepted. In
other elections, parties are state,
county or city organizations. Most OF
the issues contained in the Progress
sive platform last fall were really
State issues, and most of them were
hospital measures proposed for the
relief of surface conditions
How the Split First Came.
So. as soon after the last campaign
as the Progressives began to plan
permanent organization, and the
fighting of local and State battles,
they began to split up into two
crowds everywhere, and these two
crowds, the radicals and conserVa-
tives, are now planning to fight it out,
In New Jersey and elsewhere, to de-
eide whether the Progressive party is
to become more radical or less so.
Of course, they all want to win.
There are some of them who are will
ing to win with any kind of candi-
dates and any kind Of a program.
The real fight. however, is between
the radicals, who want to raise new
issues, and the conservatives, VINO
want to keep going on the present
platform and the popularity of Roose-
Welt
Generally. the radicals want to
write into the platform of the party
declarations for the single tax, pub
lie ownership Of railroads and city
utilities, and to revise the State con-
stitutions to provide for equal rep
resentation, municipal home rule,
initiative, referendum and recall. The
conservatives want to soft pedal on
these fundamental reforms, and are
doing a lot of talking about such hos