Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-07-06
KILLING A GREAT PARTY

Speaking of weasel words that
eat each other" and words that are
not translated into deeds " and words
that dull the moral sense of the peo-
pie. where shall we find more of
them than in the letter in which
Roosevelt undertakes to surrender
his party to the old guard?
Every syllable here uttered to JUS
tilication of the progressive move
ment bellies his argument in favor of
the dissolution of that organization
and his support Of Mr.. Hughes. The
very men who ruled the republican
party in 1912, when Mr.. Roosevelt
denounced it as "boss- ridden and
privilege controlled, I" are it's masters
today, with the same aims and the
same methods. and they are all ap.
plauding him.
1t is not possible to read this capt.
nlation without loss of respect for
the author 1t is the final act in what
must be regarded rs the deliberate
betrayal of party and q cause. II
shows that so far as Roose velt is con-
cerned he had four years ago no In
spiration higher than the meanest Of
revenges upon Taft, and that he has
no impulse today but envy and hat
red of Mr.. Wilson. His abuse Of
democrats now is no harsher than
his abuse of republicans then.
The progressive party has been put
to the base end of serving disap-
pointed mans personal grudges. Its
recent convention was permitted to
name a candidate who never intend
cd to run except as the nominee of
the regulars, and it was forced to
adjourn without naming q candidate
of its own who would run. It was
stupefied with untruths and promises,
trapped in it's own household and
delivered to its enemies. according to
program. BY vote of two to one It's
national committee ratified the per-
fdy.
Aside from proof of his political
faithlessness and his malice toward
the president, Roosevelt's letter is q
blank except for his mama for war.
Having abandoned every principle"
on which he made his assault upon
Taft, he offers nothing now in his
assault upon Mr.. Wilson but the i'm
pudent assumption that Hughes
would be a war-making president.
Whether Hughes agrees to this CLASH
fication or not, it certainly is implied
in the denunciation of Mr.. Wilson as
weak and vacillating" for keeping
the peace under crushing difficulties
and the praise of Hughes as man of
"yigor and force" who would have
acted differently.
On this point the candidate Is en-
titled to be heard for himself. In
fairness he must not be held respOn-
sible for the rawlings of defeated am
bition unless he shall make them his
own. Should it appear that as the
price of the Oyster Bay favor Hughes
has accepted Roosevelt's idea that
war with Germany, war with Turkey,
war with Mexico, war with Japan.
war with anybody and everybody, Is
the only way in which the nation can
"find its SOUL" several millions of
Americans will insist upon knowing
the exact terms of very compromis-
ing agreement.
Political parties sometimes dissolve
or make alliances of their own mo-
ton, but even SO, the decision of their
representatives binds nobody who ia
unwilling. A political party that ia
wrecked by false lights and false
leaders loses all power of cohesion
and is reduced to it's original ele-
ments. Probably there never was q
greater delusion than the belief that
Roosevelt in retiring or rump COM
mittee sitting in secret could deliver
the true progressives of the country
to a hidebound party of privilege
and greed from which they long ago
separated for cause. No matter
what Roosevelt says or discredited
committee does. the quarrels begun
in Chicago will be settled only at the
polls in November, where democrats
and progressives will meet republican
reactionaries as in former days. all
without disguise.