New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-05-02
PLAN A PLATFORM
MOOSE CAN ACCEPT
Confess Hardest Task VIII Be
to Convince Party Root
Can Be Elected.

mate the party and give 10 an aggreS-
siye. constructive Motley.
The men behind the movement in
cludc some. hut not all. OF the old
guard" but they claim TO expect sup
po~t from part OF the Progressive
faction. Their plans. they believe. have
been prepared 10 meet all contin-
goncics but they did not wish TO put
them in motion until the Roosevelt and
Hughes booms had passed their crcsts.
This they assume TO believe has hap
pened.
Three difficulties. these men believe,
confront their plan 10 make Roose-
welt support Root. 10 put through the
straghtout platform they want and 70
convince the convention that Root
could win in November The first con-
sideration is the one which has held
back many Of the "old guard" and other
politicians who would really prefer TO
see Root nominated. One Of the wisest
Of these was told that some politicians
believed that Roosevelt could be
brought 10 support his former Score
. tsry of State.
They are IN error" he remarked
calmly IF they persist IN their error
J: will mean defeat for them and all
they and We want. II they plan 20
manpuvre Roosevelt into a position
where he will have TO support Root
against his will they should remember
that the Colonel has fought many po-
hticsl battles and lost few Of them
Declare Their Confidence
The Root men. however. feel CON
rdent of doing just this They say
they are confident. too. that they can
put through a platform that will be
vigorous IN the extreme. The chief
difficulty, as they view II. Will be 10
convince the convention that Root can
win. and they admit that they cannot
control even their own most carefully
picked delegates unless they present
a programme that promises victory IN
November All politicians here agree
D that if The Root men can make the
Root candidacy look like winning
one, including the necessary support OF
Roosevelt. they will have the delegates
10 nominate him. To accomplish this
their aims as outlined by them include:
The commitment Of the party, through
the platform TO be adopted at Chicago,
to a policy Of constructive American
ism, with preparedness, both military
and industrial. including the tariff, and
a strong fore en- policy as its funda
mcntals. This would exclude any at
tempt to cater to the byphen vote.
The reunion Of the party on this
platform, with past quarrels frogotten
and the party control firmly in their
own HANDS.
The nomination OF Root as the best
exponent OF these principles. except
Roosevelt, and the best man to carry
them out without exception.
Hope 10 Stop Dissension.
The Root men say this is policy
that will last beyond the present cam
paign. and they hope 10 ind IL an anti
dOte against a recurrence Of the party
ouarrels. which many have predicted
Will come rs soon as the immediate
emergency has passed. They Assert
their belief that many Of the "pro-
Crcssive' policies have already shown
signs % failure. and that before many
wears have passed their own ronscrFs
lively progressive policy vfN have
proved itself best They dcr' no. also
thai no internal matter OF .rcH. me-
p0rtarcc. compared with fnc .'rougtn
Of tho nation iu relation fu other ma
tions. since no domestic polio, can last
long If the nation rs unable to protect
itself.
Tho equipment which tho Root Lead
ers have for the start Of their cam
paign is. on the surface, ~ least. very
small. Senator Wadsworth predicted
to-day that Root would have about
forty Of the New York delegates. and
that more would come 10 him later,
giving him finally a majority of the
delegation The Root men have the
general wish Of politicians that Root
could be elected and the fact that their
opponents are divided between the hv-
phcu pacifst group and the Roosevelt
camp.
The tactics Of the Root men are sim
pie: First, they say. they intend 10 nut
through a platform so strong, so d.
rcctlv in line with the Roosevelt poll
c,cs and demands, that the Colonel can
have no excuse for refusing 10 support
the candidate on II. % make this Ger
tain they intend 10 include i'm the plat
form enough Of the Progressive poll
cies i'm domestic affairs 10 prevent his
having a clear issue with them on that
score.
To get this platform through, they
declare they expect 20 make use OF the
votes of three states where the hyphen
and pacihst feeling has been strong
| Ohio. Indiana and Illinois. The pOlltl-
clans from those states arc among the
mos bitter against Roosevelt, and ,he
Root men say they believe that. given
the chance 20 force the Colonel into
line without giving him power, those
| states will accept the platform. The
Roosevelt men, they argue, Will have TO
vote for such a platform, and 6yith the
three states, the Roosevelt strength,
and their own delegates, the Root men
say they believe they can win.
Then, the Root leaders say. they in
tend 20 nominate Root Here the
Roosevelt men will be against them, but
| they profess TO believe that they Will
| have the support Of the three states
| named. Of the South. and of their own
delegates winning combination.
| Hillcs. who has been working with the
| Southern delegates, Is under tocd 10 be
one of the Root supporters.
The big job. according TO the Root
men, will be in convincing the conveu-
ton that Root can win. Their one
| doubt is here, though they calculate
| half the battle will have been Won II
they can insure Roosevelt's support
They claim. also. that between now and
convention time there will have been
such slump in the Roosevelt stock
and resulting slump in the Hughes
boom that the convention viii be much
easier 10 convince than 10 would be
now.