Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-03-21
Circulation Every 1A0OO
Evening Yesterday l4OZO
LOYAL hx a Close Shave.

II was by a close shave, only, that the
Republican party of Wisconsin, at the
primary election for the selection Of q
candidate for United States Senator, on
Tuesday, preserved reputation for
LOYALTY and devotion to the best interests
Of tbe country at most critical time.
Rv a scant majority of only about 200
was this reputation saved.
The Republican contest for the ,ena-
torial nomination was open and clear-cut.
On the one side was Representative
Irvine l.. Lenroot, Republican leader
in the House OF Representatives. who
has made fine record by his able co
operation with the government in all
measures for the prosecution of the war.
Thereby he had clearly established his
loyalty and shown that he could subor-
dnatc partisan interests to the interests of
his country On the other hand was
James Thompson, the candidate
of the German propaganda, OF Senator La
Toilette -discrcdited and now facing OK
puIsion proceedings on charges of actual
dslovalty- Of all the partisan elc
ments of the Republican party that
would sacrifice the interests Of the country
for party success.
In such situation, it might have been
supposed that the patriotic sentiment Of
Wisconsin Republicanlsm would have
been manifested by an overwhelming ma
jority for Representative Icnroot. But
not so. The voting was so close that
the carly reports gave Thompson the
lead. and it was not until late yesterday,
when returns from the rural districts be-
gan to come in, that it was ascertained
Lcnroot had safe, although somewhat
mcagrc lead. For awhile it seems as
though Wisconsin Repuhlicanism had
surrendered To kaiScrism.
But even with this satisfactory result,
Republican voters of Wisconsin have
gwen a black eve to their State They
have sent notice to the rest OF the country
that among the Republican voters Of
that State is q large clement that sympa-
thizes with Germany and Is hostile 10
our government in its prosecution o1 the
war; that justitics the sinking Of the
l.usitania and every other dcviiish and
tiendish cruelty that Germany has been
guilty of during the war; and that IS not
in sympathy with the Federal government
in its war against this most Inhuman Of
modern nations. Despite the final triumph
Of the forces OF loyalty and patriotism
within the Republican party. the Ger
man propaganda Of the country Will be
bcartened by the large support gwen by
the Republican voters of Wisconsin TO a
candidate for nomination for United
States Senator who virtually represented
their cause.
But the loyal citizens of Wisconsin viii
thank God and take courage over the
fact that a majority of their party refused
to surrender to Germany and resolved 10
stand by the country.
A significant feature of the primaries
was the unusually large vote polled for
Victor Berger, the sole candidate for
the Socialist nomination for United States
senator. He Is under indictment in the
United States District Court on charges
OF disloyal and reasonable utterances,
but notwithstanding this fact, the Social
lists registered their votes in his favor 10
surprising extent In the entire State
he received 4 vote that viii exceed sc. 900,
and in Milwaukee county consisting
mainly of the city Of Milwaukee re-
ceivcd $1,000 votes, to about 5000 for
Thompson and about 5000 for Lenroot
This shows that Milwaukee may be set
down as d Republican city, and that
Socialist sentiment also is rampant in
the State.
The Democratic primaries resulted in
the nomination of Joseph T.. Davies,
formerly Federal Trade Commissioner,
by large majority. He stands firmly by
the administration. and his nomination,
therefore, expresses the absolute loyalty
OF the great body Of Wisconsn's Dem
ocratIc voters.