New Britain herald., 1916-05-23
ROOSEVELT AGREES
 TO MAKE THE FIGHT
Taft Republicans Urge Him to Be-
 come Active and He Mill

Oyster Bay, N. Y., May 23-Cast- ing aside all quibble and compromise
 a committee of twenty-four prom inent republicans, practically all of them Taft advocates in 1912, came to Oyster Bay yesterday afternoon to
 inform Colonel Theodore Roosevelt that representative republicans of every state in the union were organ izing to work for his nomination for president at the republican national convention on June 7 as the leader in the movement for Americanism and preparedness. The Colonels re- ply was to the point:
 "I am naturally deeply touched and pleased by rour action. I accept it absolutely in the spirit in which you have taken it.
 Then the Colonel smiled cordially and his auditors applauded. There was more applause when he gave expression to this statement, which was taken as a parting shot at Jus tice Hughes:
 Any man at this time of crisis who is not progressively, openly, and specifically for these principles is against them, and every patriotic man should trust our public servants on this basis.''
 The scene was intensely dramatic and impressive. The members of the delegation, headed by George Won L. Meyer, who was secretary of the navy under Roosevelt, gathered in the north room at Sagamore Hill and waited impatiently for the Colonel to appear. They were gossipping, al- most nervously, as if to give vent to their feelings, when the Colonel strode into the room, accompanied by his secretary, MT. McGrath. The Colonal was dressed in a riding suit of khaki and he carried a roll of manuscript, the carefully prepared answer to the announcement which he had been told was to come.
 Cheers Greet the Colonel
 He stood at one end of the room, alongside @ pair of huge elephant tusks, presented to him by Emperor Nenelik of Abyssinia, while MT. Meyer read his brief address, stating the reason for the organization of a nationwide committee. There was a moments silence when the speaker had concluded, and then, with a bow to his auditors, the Colonel began.
 Several times, during his address in which he spared neither Wilson nor nor any other man ''in or out of office," who has failed to come for ward with his beliefs concerning the needs of the country, the Colonel 1 was interrupted by cheers. His words 1 were taken as an outspoken declara- 1 ton of his candidacy and a mes 1 sage to the members of the delega- l ton and their co-workers to take off | their coats and get into the fight for 1 him.
 One of the most impressive scenes l came after the more formal events in 1 the famour north room. The Colonel 1 and the members of the delegation 1 had gone to the lawn in the rear of l Sagamore Hill, where photographers | turned a battery of cameras on them. | Then they entered into an animated 
 Prof. Bingham's Statement.
 One of the delegates was Professor Hiram Bingham of Yale, a close | friend of ex-President Taft, and an alternate to the republican conven- tion Professor Bingham pushing his l way through the others to the Col 1 oneFs side said:
 "Colonel Roosevelt, I want to tell l you very frankly just how I stand. When I was in Peru as a represen- tative of the National Geographic so- ciety I found much that didn't please me. I found that the claim to Amer ican citizenship won no respect. We were even accused of stealing gold | there, and our statement that we were mem bers of the National Geographic | society apparently was no claim to | consideration. They did not have a | very high opinion of Americans l there. So I decided that there were 1 pleasanter occupations for an Amer l ican citizen than exploring in Peru, l