New Britain herald., 1914-04-18
BIRD RAPS IDEA
 OF AMALCANAT|ON
Repub iCanS and PTogTeSSiVcS Can Never Be Affiliated, He Claims.

Indianapolis, Ind, April 1s.- Whether Albert J. Beveridge would
 accept nomination for the United
 states senate was the question upper
 most in the minds of the delegates to the Indiana state progressive conven- ton when that body opened it's de- Alterations here today.
 In the event that MT. Beveridge should refuse to accept, friends of Judge James B. Wilson of Bloom ington were ready to urge the latters S l name upon the convention as the next
 strongest candidate.
 One of the questions which was expected to arouse much discussion
 in the consideration of a platform was
 that of prohibition plank. It was said that the delegates were about equally divided on the question, some favoring a declaration for nation wide
 prohibition, others for leaving 1t to
 the decision. of the people.
 Bird Raps Amalgamatlon. Amalgamation of the progressive and republican parties is impossible, declared Charles Sumner Bird. former progressive candidate for governor of Massachusetts, in an address at the convention today.
 "Is 1t possible he asked, that the l leaders of the progressive party would work in harmony with the men in con- ] trol of the republican party? Stand them up and judge for yourself. In 1 one row are Barnes, Penrose, Shoot, l Guggenheim and their kind In the other are Roosevelt, Johnson, Stubbs, Lindsay, Beveridge, and men of their type. It is as impossible to bring these men together upon one plat l form as it would be to induce the rank and file of the progressive party l to follow the leadership of men who would compromise with the bosses of the old parties in order to win the 1 spells of office
 Blazed Own Trail.
 NO, we progressives have blazed our own trail and that is the one we will follow. Disintegration of the progressive party? Nonsense! Those ] who talk it are the ones who fear the republican party will go first. To- 1 day We are a party of more than four l million strong-a party of advance | much alive and working together with practical unanimity. We do not eX- pect immediate results and are content to wait until victory Is at tended on solid and lasting basis.'' MT. Bird placed upon the republican | party the responsibility for what he termed the "demoralized and desper- ate condition" of business of the coun- try. asserting that during the Taft l administration the republican leaders had broken their solemn prediction l pledges" and if they had not stolen l the presidential nomination in the Chicago convention of 1912. then 8 democratic administration would not 1 have been elected"
 Raps Democratic Party. Neither can the democratic party" 1 he continued, escape the responsibil- l ity for the deplorable business situa- tion which, notwithstanding their pro- testations, has steadily grown worse since, the election of MT. Wilson. Their ceaseless. unremitting attack upon business, the unscientific tinkering
 with the tariff; the failure to appoint l tariff commission to remove that question beyond the reach of profes- sional politicians;-the un-American,
 aimless, drifting Mexican policy, which | means war or dishonorable peace, which is worse than war; the footing of our diplomatic service whereby political creditors have superseded trained and faithful public servants all these cause distrust, suspicion, un- certainty. Business heSitates and
 halts and the American people are
 waiting and watching for a rift in the cloud which hangs over the industrial
 activities of the country
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