Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1913-01-02
HISTORY OF 1912
IN UNITED STATES
Chief Evans In Politics.. Dis
aStaTS, Obituary, Sports.
ev JAMES A. EDGERTON,

| By JAMES A. EDGERTON
TT ERE is another year to be re.
| viewed. They are going by
| with ever increasing freuuen-
! cy. like stations seen from an
( express train. Why is it that Father
Time seems to sprint faster the older
we get? He should be arrested for
Overspeeding.
The chief events of 1912 in the good
old Z. s. A" were the presidential
campaign. the attempted assassination
of Theodore Roosevelt and the Titanic
disaster. While in technical sense
the sinkin. of the Titanic was more of
y foreign than q domestic happening
tber" were 50 many noted Americans
who lost their lives in the wreck thar
we should have the melancholy priv
ilege Of claiming it as our own.
The unusual features of the fight for
the presidency were the first trial on
an extensive scale of the preferential
primary. the Roosevelt candidacy. the
fierce precOnvention campaign i'm which
for the first time in our history Il presi-
dent of the United States was driven
to take the stump in his own defense
the splitting of the Republican party
and the organizatio of the Progress
sive party. the long and fierce fight in
the Democratic convention ending In
the nomination of Governor Woodrow
Wilson of New Jersey. the death of
Vice President Sherman and the great
plurality given Wilson at the polls.
| 1t was some time after the announce
ment of Colonel Roosevelt that my
hat is in the ring ere the tide began
to show in his favor. He had pre-
viously said that he would not again
be a candidate. and the denomination
of President Taft was taken as mat
ter Of course States having the old
convention system still continued for
Taft. but most of the primary states
began swinging into line for Roosevelt.
Illinois and Pennsylvania going with
rush that made the politicians gasp.
Taft Wins and Loses.
Roosevelt was on the stump through
out this struggle and Mr. Taft now
followed him The two campaigned
Massachusetts. Maryland and Ohio.
Massachusetts and Maryland were
close. Taft carrying one and Roosevelt
the other. but Ohio gave a large plural
ity to the colonel.
The Republican convention was pre-
ceded by an acrimonious struggle in
the national committee over contested
seats. Roosevelt and his friends
charged fraud and theft. and the for
mer president went to Chicago in per-
son. In the convention Taft and Sher-
man were renominated by slim ma
jority. while the cOlOners followers re-
fused to vote. Later they organized
the Progressive party and held a ma.
tiOnal convention in Chicago. which
nominated Colonel Roosevelt for pres
ident and Governor Hiram w. John
son Of California for vice president.
This launching of the long expected
new party alone makes 1912 historic.
The fight in the Democratic cOnven-
tiop was almost rs fierce. Champ Clark
led ut the start. gaining for ten ballots
an actual majority. but lacking the
twO-thirds necessary to nominate. Will
liam J. Bryan. who had fought Judge
Alton b. Parker for the temporary
craftsmanship, had written much Of
the platform and forced through reso
lutiOnS attacking the reactiOnary ele-
ment. here threw his influence against
Clark. Wilson had been steadily forg
ing to the front and was nominated on
the forty-seventh ballot.
|
than had been the fight for the nomi
nation. and the vote was surprisingly
| light. Wilson carried the election by
more than 2,0OO.OO0 plurality in the
popular vote and by about $40 maiori
ty in the electoral college. Both
houses of congress went with him. the
senate by a narrow margin. ltoose-
welt led Taft in the balloting. The So
cialists materially increased their vote.
ana woman suffrage captured Arizona.
Kansas and Oregon.
The Titanic Disaster.
The other big domestic event of the
year was the collision of the Titanic
with an iceberg in midocean. sinking
with 1901 out of 2.2oS souls aboard
Many of those who persisted We're men
of worldwide fame. such as W. r.
| Stead. the British Journalistic Charles
| NJ. Hays. president of the Grand Trunk
| railroad: Colonel John Jacob Aston
| Mr.. and Mrs. lsidor Strans. Major A.
| W. Butt. the aid to the president;
| Francis ID. Millet. the artist: jacques
FutreIle. the novelist. and many more
almost as well known. The Titanic
was the largest steamship then afoat
and was making her maiden voyage
| Inquiries into the disaster were held
on both sides of the Atlantic
The shooting of Colonel Roosevelt
occurred on Oct. IA at Milwaukee
| The assailant was John Scbrank of
New York. afterward adjudged insane
The bullet lodged against II rib. which
it broke. Despite his wound. the colOs
mel made II speech to which he was
going when attacked and before the
month was out was back on the stump
The death Of Vice President James
Schoolcraft Sherman occurred only
| few days before election at his home,
in Utica. y. Y. He was the first Re-
publican vice president ever renomi-
| mated