Evening star., 1934-07-30
colorado FACING
POLITICAL BRAWL
Fiuht Brewing in Presidents
Program to Absorb
G. o. p. Progressiyes.
Special Dispatch 70 The star

Special Dispstrh % The Star
DENVER. Colo. July 30 (NAEA).
President Roosevelt's program Of
absorbina the progressive wtng Of the
Republican party is in fun swing IN
Colorado and Il has the making Of as
fine a political brawl as Is likely 70
be staged anywhere In this 1884
Campaign.
The crucial questions sre- Who Is
20 be taken over and who is going
20 run the sh0w when the "taking"
process is conpleted2 The old-line
Democratic leaders we're quite willing
to admit the progressive voters. 80
long a. their own hold or the man
sgement and perquisitez OF the party
Was unchaIlenged. In this case. how
ever, the erstwfile Republicans frankly
are out to grab all Of the ofilces and
make themselves the dominant Lead
eEs Of the amalgamated party.
Senator COstigAn IL Leader.
The chief moving spirit In the
progressive group in Colorado Is
Senator Edward p. Costiean Back
IN 1912 he was the Bull Moose cam
didate for Governor and. in 1917. he
was appointed by President Wilson as
a Republican member OF the Bipar-
tisan Tariff Commission He sup
ported Robert M La Follet1e's inde-
pendent presidential candidacy in
1924, after which he disappeared from
the political stage. taking no sides as
between Al Smith and Herbert Hoover
until he turned up as a candidate for
the Democratic nomination for Sen
ator in 1880 That was a year In
which the Democrats In Colorado had
very little hope of winning, strictly
on their own account, and they ac-
cepted Costigan on the theory that
he would split the Republicans. He
won by a narrow margin OF votes
In 1889. Costigan was particularly
active in promoting the Progressive
League. in the name of which such
Republicans as George w. Norris of
Nebraska, Robert NJ. La Toilette, jr.,
of Wisconsin; Hiram w. johnson Of
California, Bronson Cutting OF New
Mexico and Harold L. Ickes OF Illinois,
threw their support to Roosevelt.
The titular head Of the Progressive
League in Colorado in tnat campaign
was Oscar L. Chapman, who previously
had managed CoStigan's campaign
for Senator, and when Ickes became
a member OF the Roosevelt cabinet.
one of his first acts was to make
Chapman Assistant Secretary of the
Interior.
Seek to Control Patronage.
Costigan and Chapman are said
to have dictated the appointments of
most Of the Federal officials In the
State since March. 1893, and now
they are attempting to win the gov
ernorship and with 1t control of State
patronage. Their candidate for Gov
ernor Is Josephine Roche, the wealthy
and social-minded head Of the Rocky
Mountain Fuel Co. Miss Roche, like
Costigan and Chapman, is an ex-
Republican.
The opposition to this program
arises from the fact that Colorado
already has q Democratic Governor
In the person of Edwin G. johnson,
who by all the rules Of party politics
is entitled to q second term. Gov.
johnson Is aggreSsively campaigning
&OE 4CA4OA44Af4tkb4O11p ttS HAS bklG sup
port of most of the conservative Demo-
Gratis, including John T. Barnett, who
polled more than 10000 votes for
Senator in the Democratic primary In
1892. Barnett was Colorado's member
of the Democratic National Commit
tee, beginning in the time Of Wood
row Wilson, and he financed the party
in the State almost single-handed In
the lean years that followed 1920.
Latterly the situation has been COM
plicated by the entry as a guberna-
torial candidate of william H Adams,
who filed the office for three consecu-
tive terms previous to 1888. This ex-
Governor, now 70 years old, is backed
principally by his nephew, the junior
United States Senator from the State,
Alva B. Adams. Thus the contest,
in addition to its alignment of pro-
gressives against conservatives, mas
placed the two Democratic Senators
from the State at each others throats
and both of them against the Demo-
cratic Governor.
Preliminary Convention.
A pre-primary convention, to be
held IN M0ndav NORMALLY might he