Fergus County Democrat., 1916-06-29

question. 1t is unpatriotic to refuse
to do the best possible merely because
the people have not put us in position
to do what we regard as the very
lest. It remains for us, good-humor,
edly and with common sense, to face
the situation and endeavor to get out
Of it the best that it can be made to
yield from the standpoint Of the in
terests Of the nation as whole.
This was the situation at the open
ing Of the present year. 1t was evi-
dent that unless cataclysm occurred,
the presidential election would result
in the choice Of either the republican
or the democratic nominee"
In urging Mr. Hughes election,
Colonel Roosevelt wrote.
In my judgment, the nomination of
Mr. Hughes meets the conditions set
forth in the statement Of the progress
sive national committee issued last
January, and in my own statements.
Under existing conditions the nomina
ton of a third ticket would, in my
judgment, he merely move in the
interest of the election of Mr.. Will
SON
Il regard Mr.. Hughes as a man
whose public record is a guarantee
that he will not merely stand for
program OF clean-cut straight-out
Americanism before election but will
resolutely and in good faith put it
through if elected.
"He is beyond all comparison better
fitted to be president than Mr.. Wilson.
1T would be a grave detriment to
! the country to reelect Mr. Wilson.
II shall, therefore, strongly support
Mr.. Hughes Such being the case, it
is unnecessary to say that cannot
accept the nomination on third
| ticket | do not believe that there
should be third ticket. believe that
when my fellow progressives cody
consider the question they will for the
most part take this position They
and have but one purposeAthe pur-
/ pose to serve our common country. It
/ is my deep conviction at this moment
We can serve it only by supporting
| Mr. Hughes
! Continuing, Mr.. Roosevelt wrote:
ut is urged of Mr.. Hughes that he
was supported by the various So
called German-American alliances, I
believe that the attitude of these pro-
fessional German-Americans was due,
not in the least to any liking for Mr..
, Hughes, but solely to their antagon'
! ism of me. They were bound to de,
feat me for the nomination.
'"rhe only way by which they could
achieve this object was by supporting
Mr. Hughes and they supported him
accordingly, without any regard to
other considerations.
"Mr Hughes character and his
whole course of conduct in public at.
fairs Justify us in the assured convic.
tiOn that the fact that these men have
for their own purposes supported him
will. in no shape or way, affect his
public actions before or after election.
His entire public life is guarantee of
this.
"The events of the last three and
half years have shown that as much
cannot be said for Mr.. Wilson. In
Mr.. Wilson's case we do not have to
consider his words. but his deeds. His
deeds absolutely contradict his words;
and for the matter of that, his words
absolutely contradict one another.
1--WE owe our present trouble with
the professional German-Ameriean ele.
ment in the United States to Mr.. Will
sons timid and vacillating course dur.
ing the last two years.
"As regards Mexico, the situation
which Mr. Wilson confronted was moth,
ing like as difficult as that which
President Mckinley confronted at the
time of the Spanish war
"As regards the foreign situation
during the great war, the fact that
the existence of the war made it far
easier for Mr. Wilson to assert our
rights than if he had to deal with
some single strong power which was
at the time unhampered by war;"