Norwich bulletin., 1914-04-03
A Movement to
 Down RorabaCk
ALLEGED OBJECT OF MEETINGS
 AT NEW HAVEN.
COL. JULIAN AT HEAD
Progressive Expresses Opinion That Latter Intended to Build Machine of His own-Letter Made Public.


 New Haven, Conn, April "A po1it- at meeting of the board of governors of the New Haven Progressive club, when the president, F. L. Leighton, read and authorized for publication a letter written by George A. Romans | of Danbury. 8 prominent progressive, laying bare the secret history of the | recent movement to purify" repub- | lican politics in this state
 There has been much speculation as | to the recent meeting in this city, fol- 1 lowed by another gathering today, of l prominent republicans and progress | sives. While the official statements l given out from time to time were more | or less vague as to the objects, the real reason is made apparent, through | the making public of MT. Romans let | ter.
 To Smash Rorahack Machine.
 In it he says Colonel Isaac NJ. Jll- | man of New Haven. who until his re- | cent retirement was one of the most l prominent republican workers in the 1 state, was interested in the movement. | Stiles Judson, states attorney for Fair l field county, was invited to a secret l conference held in New York with 1 Gutzon Borglum of Stamford, the well 1 known sculptor and progressive He | was unable to be present. Colonel Ull- l man is said to have done most of the | talking and it is Mir. Romans opinion | that Colonel Ullman was trying to | break down the So-called Roraback 1 machine and build up one of his own. 1 Dr. Delmar F. Croft, a prominent pro- l gressive. was interested in securing | the candidacy of former Lieutenant l Governor Everett J. Lake for the gov ernorship. according to the letter, and i Prentice w. Chase a New Haven law yer and progressive, was anxious for the return of United States Senator | Frank B. Brandegee of New London. | designations Called For.
 It appears from the letter that MT. l Borglum had little to do with the ] discussion at the original meeting and MT. Romans was not in favor of ally ing the progressive party with the movement without the knowledge and consent of the party as a whole. The reading of the letter resulted in action being taken later by the | board of governors requesting the res ignations of Dr. Croft and Attorney Chase from the club. The resolution passed reads: Because of acts, pub lie and private, inimical to the inter ests of the progressive party, Delmar 1 F. Croft and Prentice W. Chase are requested to resign from the Progress siYe club.''
 Text of Romans Letter.
 The text of MT Romans letter fol- lows:
 i ''On the night of Jan. 21 I received a telephone message from MT. Gutzon Borglum inviting me to lunch with him in New York city the next day. I met MT. Burglum in his studio and he told me that Croft had invited Stiles Jud- son, Col. Isaac M. Ullman and Prem tice w. Chase to meet him to discuss the political situation in Connecticut. MT Borglum said to me that he pre- feTred not to meet them alone, and therefore invited me to join him. MT. Borglum and l decided to sit tight and 1 let the others do the talking, and this programme we carried out, to their great modification and annoyance.
 Plan Outlined by UIIman.
 tDr. Croft appeared much disap- pointed because Stiles Judson did not show up, and was evidently chagrined because I unexpectedly came on the scene. MT. Ullman did most of the talking and the conclusion that I ar rived at was that he wanted to get the support of a sufficient number of progressives to enable him to smash l the Roraback machine and build up 8 machine of his own. Chase was strong to have Brandegee returned to the l United States senate, and Croft inti- } mated that Lake was the man who should be elected next governor of Connecticut. I think they had hoped to get Borglum and myself to arrange for future larger meeting of pro-
 
 our attitude they left the matter of } future meetings almost entirely to Croft.
 Prosressives Should Act Alone. T later told Croft that any meeting in regard to the progressive party should be among progressfves only, in order that any action that should be taken should be with the full know ledge and consent of the progressive DartV a whole
 GEORGE A. ROMANS"
 Sixteen at Yesterdays Meeting. Today's meeting. like the previous gathering, was yelled in an air of mystery. pr. Croft. who seemed to be the leading spirit, told the news paper men that the meeting was pri- } yate. Incidentally. there were at one 2 time, more newspaper men present than delegates. There were Is of the latter in attendance. No statement ] was given out after the meeting. For l mer Governor Rollin $. Woodruff l whose name was attached to the invi- tation was not present: neither was Judge William J. Malone of Bristol l who presided at the previous meeting . One of the prominent men present ] who declined to allow the use of his name, said that when the movement started, it was planned simply to talk over conditions in the republican party and seek remedial measures. It was 5 not lnlenueQ to UlSCuSS OI l platforms. It appears that some of s the leaders strayed from the original 5 idea
 :. Unfair Representation. It is understood that one of the mat s ters talked over at the meeting was the present plan of representation al 1 republican state conventions. Some maintained that the plan was unfair , {naSmuch that the small towns hao = an advantage over the cities. Whether l. any definite steps were taken could
 not be learned.
 . Princeton Won't Debate Suffrasists, U Princeton, N. J., April a.-Prinee- s toms negative team of debateFs which