The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-08-27
WASHINGTON LETTER.
BY J. K. Dougherty.


Special Correspondence most
important political development of
the past week Was the complete
an-Progressive fusion in New York
and the consequent renewal with
added bitterness of the feud be-
tween the old guard faction of repub-
licanism and the Roosevelt following.
Finding themselves in the saddle
again the old time leaders at the
New York state convention, led by
Senator Root, decided to go into
battle under their old flag, asking no
quarter and giving none.
If any further evidence were need
ed that the much Wanted harmony
in the rank of the Republicans is
still as far away as ever, the Sara
toga convention furnished it. First
Harvey D. Human, who had been
picked by Col. Roosevelt as a fusion,
candidate for governor, repudiated
the progressives and announced he
had elected to stand with the Re-
publican ticket Then Senator Root,
the same Root who, as permanent
chairman of the 1912 Republican
convention, rode over the Roosevelt
forces, rubbed it in. In a speech to
the convention he said:
THE threat of third party,
which alarmed so many Republicans
two years ago and still'vexed us one
year ago, has practically disappeared.
1t is now plain that it never had any
real substance apart from the pow
erful personality of Mr.. Roosevelt"
ln do mo I'M
this speech Col. Roosevelt was at
Lewiston, Me-. addressing a Progress
sive party conference Col. Roose-
welt declared that ''The Republican
party is as bourbon and reactionary
now as it was two years ago and If
anything it is worse" He declared
there should be mo compromise with
the reactionaries in any form"
The attitude of the old guard
leaders in control of. the New York
convention, Senator Root, William
Barnes, jr., George w. Wickersham,
Taft's attorney general, and others,
made it very plain that they had
taken heart of Bristow in Kansas
and, Crawford in South Dakota, PEN
roses defeat of his primary opponent
in Pennsylvania, and the capture of
the Republican senatorial nomina-
ton in Ohio by Warren G. Harding,
the man who nominated Taft at Chi |
cago. Senator Root made standpat
tariff speech to the convention in
which he said that "the time has |
come when the American people are
ready to try the protective systemI
upon it's merits and to call for legis-
lation inspired by spirit of friend
illness toward American industry
Senator Root did not content him
self with plea for return to the
old policy of high protection, but he
made an attack on the Democratic
income tax, which is perhaps the I
most popular legislation with the
rank and file of the people enacted
by the Democratic administrations |
1t may be worth while at this time
to quote Senator Roots reference to
the income tax as showing the cap
italistic view of this legislation. He
said:
ut has been discovered that by
graduating the income tax and fixing |
a high exemption, practically the
entire tax may be drawn from the /
great industrial communities of New |
England, the middle states and the
central west, while the disposition of |
the money raised by taxation may
be determined by representatives Of
other parts of the country which
have paid none of the tax; so that
one set of Americans is to pay the
money and another set of Americans
is to spend it. The SIS, 900
voted by the House for good roads
is the prelude of schemes running
up into the billions for spending the
money taken from rich states by tax
alton"
The income tax is not popular with
men of the Root point Of view. They'll
do not believe the coal oil and rail-
road barons Of New York and Penn
the. Wall street kings, the
millionaire automobile manufacture
eEs of Detroit, and the rich bfeWefs |;
and distillers Of Cincinnati should
taxed to build good roads. Rathet