New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-08-14
THE PROGRESSIVE HEGIRA
Opportunity for Them Now to
Work with Republicans.
the Editor of The Tribune.

/ To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Progressives Of New York having
been reported as favoring, by a distinct ma
jority of their leaders, maintenance of their
separate party organization, Notwithstanding
that many of their most prominent members
and former workers and leaders favor dis
banding and returning to the Republican
fold the ground of the determination TO
stand pat" becomes interesting The implica-
ton is that both the old parties are boss
ridden, allied to ancient and worn out ideals
which Progressiyes have repudated and, on
the whole, that they lack substantially all the
virtues that the Progressives claim 10 have
largely monopollzed; virtues a new catalogue
Of which seems not yet to have been made
up but which is promised soon, as Colonel
Roosevelt is reported to be engaged on the
fabrication Of new platform.
With the assumption of superior virtue
vociferously proclaimed in 1872 the general
electorate Of the land is familiar that cleo
torate obviously has appraised and measured
it with some care, and the result has been, as
Senator Root just about a year ago declared
the most remarkable desertion by Progress
syes Of a party and realignment with the
party they had temporarily deserted that
the history of political parties IN the United
States had ever exhibited. But three years
have elapsed since the construction of the
Chicago Progressive platform, the first two
planks of which pledged the party to advo-
cacy of direct nominations and nationwide
Presidential preference primaries. Multi
tudes will recall that the most vigorous OPP
ponent of Governor Hughess policies along
these lines was Lieutenant Governor Wood
ruff, and that, Notwithstanding that hos
tility to what those planks proclaimed, Col
one Roosevelt in the face of his own decla-
ration that every Progressive must accept
each and every plank of that platform, ac-
cepted and eulogized Woodruff because he
supported him, and let the planks go, as
mere rubbish, together with other planks of
the same sacred platform! And this suggests
another contrast from the fact that during
the last legislative session State Chairman
Tanner, before the County Committee, de-
cared his strong opposition to the then
pending Argetsinger bill, the object of which
was TO restore the old convention system
which the new primary law had displaced,
Mr. Tanner asserting that in his view those
of the new law were entitled to have it practi-
cally tested and judged by its results. No
one announced that a single well known
Progressive opposed the Argetsinger bill.
We know it never became law and that Re-
publicans improved the primary law and made
it more effective.
That Mr. Perkins should desire the con-
tinuance of the Progressive party should sur
prise no one. A man who has put scores of
thousands of dollars into an enterprise natur-
ally revolts at seeing it come TO naught But
significant part of his speech has practi-
cal bearing-that in which he advocates the
establishment of a non-partisan tariff COM
mission, empowered to gather facts on which
tariff legislation may be based. lie says a
plank advocating that was in the Progressive
Chicago platform. That is true, but he-I
suspect designedly- ignores the fact that be-
fore the Progressive party was born Presi-
dent Taft had fought for and secured legal
authority for just such a commission had
appointed one, with distinguished Yale pro-
fessor at the head of il, and that that COM
mission had gathered vouminous statistics
available for the action OF Congress- In all
his advocacy in the 1912 campaign of such
a commission Colonel Roosevelt persistently
ignored as Mr.. Perkins now does-this
great achievement Of Mr.. Taft. But the ques-
ton is bound to recur-and it is especially
significant for Mr.. Perkins, in view of his
obvious belief in the importance of plat
form.
Finally, does not this 1915 exigency present
TO ProgresslVes great opportunity op-
portunity which also is a test of judgment
and patriotism? Whatever ambitions certain
Of them may have had, the great majority
and must desire to see those principles whica