ROOSEVELT'S UPHILL FIGHT.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14343, 1 May 1912, Page 4

ROOSEVELT'S UPHILL FIGHT.

TAFT GAINING GROUND

(kkom orn own corresponbest.) SAN FRANCISCO, April fl. Two things have happened in the last fortnight that teem to point- with considerable directness to tho conclusion that .Mr Taft will defeat Mr Roosevelt in tho bittcrly-wagci! contest lor the J ivepublican nomination for tho Presidency. The first is tho victory won by Senator La FoJcttq over 'Teddy" in the North Dakota primary election, a victory which has been J ollowcd by a recrudescence of the La Follctto boom and a consequent split in the ranks of the Progressives or Insurgents. Tho otr.er it. the? overwhelming manner in which the Now York voters in their primary election last Tuesday protiounml for Tait as against Roosevelt. The election was for the pnrjjose , of naming delegates to the convention which will select the Republican candidate for President. Of the delegates elected 87 are Taft supporters, and but seven followers of Mr Roosevelt. What- detracts somewhat from the force and enVct of the .New iork election is tho fact that it was olio of the most lmrriblv muddled in tho history of American polities. Roosorelt* describes the dwthiu. a,; "a criminal Jarce." and both the. Courts and the State Legislature are being ; ppenlcd to to order Ja. now election. The Tail delegates; j "i«ldy" charge?, were elected by methods "moro ouir.".<ieous than Hie ( worst methods Tammany Hall itself ! ever employed in an election." In scores of voting booths there woro no ballot papers, and in many other* the papers arrived a tew minutes before the time of polling dosed. Thus many thousands of voters were disfranchised. It is charged by Roosevelt that the Republican marhino of Xew York, which favours Taft, caw to it that it was in districts favourable to Roosevelt i that the bailot papers were not de- ■ livcred. Whether this bo so or not, j tho election was disgracefully misraanI aped. It was tho first under tho new I primary election law. ! Dut, conceding that "T/R." did not i get tho square deal to which he v?as . entitled, there is no room for doubt nt ! all but that the voters of New York • Stato are, as a whole, opposed to him. ; They showed this very conclusively iin 1910, whon his candidate for Gover- | nor way defeated, and if the primary I elections are re-held they will show it again. The truth is tlSat Mr Roosevelt never v.-.v the strong figure in his own State of New York that lie waa j in other parts of the United States. I Notwithstanding the rebuff adminisj t?red to his candidacy by tho primary I election.", in Now York and North Itaj J:c-ta. tho ox-President, is electioneering jat his most strenuous gait. Almost 1 nightly he delivers three or Jour ! cpeeehes. and already Ims covered most ;of the States between Illinois ami : tho Atlantic Coast. In a notablo I speech at New York he sharply rapped I President Taft as wanting in* the d«>- ---; moecivtie, American spirit. "Are the i Amc.-ican people fit to govern th?ini sclv&s, in • rule themselves, to. control ■ thomsvlves?" is tho question at issue. ; according to Rooserelt. His own anI sv/er is that they are, but he accuses j the President of believing otherwise. i ".Mr Taft is very much afraid of the i tyranny of majorities, ,, lie wont on. "I havo scant patience with this talk of the tyranny of the majority. Wherever theire is tyranny of the majority I shall protest against it with all my heart ami soul. But we are today suffering from the tyranny of minorities. It is a small minority that is grabbing our coal deposits, our water : powers, and our harbour fronts. A small minority is fattening on the sale of t adulterated foods and drugs. It is a small minority that lies behind monopolies and trusts. It is a small minority that stands behind tho present law of j master and servant, the sweat-shops, • and tho -whole calendar of social and industrial injustice." The mismanagement of the New York primary election he partly laid at the door of tho President. "When President Taft keeps dwelling on his distrust of popular action it is natural," be said, "that his lieutenants khouid I feel t:iat they have a free han<l in trying to thwart \\\c wishes of the people." lln the same speech-as. thnt- in which the latter statement-was made, Roosevelt answered in epigrammatic style I tho charge that, be aspires to be king !of .tho United States. "I like the kiii£s ! I'have met," he said, "but 1 don"t, j want to be one because the functions' J of those kings, expressed, in the term? of democracy, would be the vice-presi-I dency for life with tho leadership of j tho '{00 thrown in. I think there are othfi" jobs that a fuil-sized man would prefer." With all his wonderful activity, it I cannot ba perceived that. Mr Rooserelt '\i making any gains calculated t& cifsoi- the initial advantage possessed by Taft itt the fact that the delegates from tho southern Stater, are, in the terms of American volitics, ''sewed up and delivered" to him. Thciro is just one contingency upon which the Roosevelt supporter.'; are counting. Tlw. southern delegates nro ''job chasers" to a man. Their chief concern is to pick tho winner and line up behind him. In the event that Taft i<: not nominated on tho first t'.vo or three ballots it is possiftlo they will switch to Roosevelt. Furthermore, they might be inclined to Roosevelt by the thought that if nominated he would stand a better ehtiT.ee. of election against a strong Democrat than Taft. Should a Democrat hn olflntwl President, these jobehasinir dclcirntes would all bo kicked out of the public service. As iho time for tho meeting of tho Democratic | nominating' convention draws closer. Mr Woodrow Wilson. Governor of Now Jersey, seems to hold it not improve his commanding: position as a candidate. . Tho othw v Denioer.'itic candidates b.ivc divided ui> the fflsk c>f opposing Wilson. In nva State it is Chnnm Clark against '.Wilson, in another Underwood against' Wilson, and in a third Judson Harmon against Wilson. It requires a thrcafourths voto of tlio Democratic Convention to nominate, and from present iad'entions it is croiny to be no easytask for any candidate to secure a vofo of tbnt proportion. "Keep your eyo on ]>ryan," is the cry that is already t'oinjr uj>. While not actively a candidate fo' , the honour of leading his party s>. fonrtb tho situation seems to favour the Nobrnskan. There wonlrt Ivc a sentimental arcument for makin-r himthe nomiiieo in a year when the Democratic chances are conceded to 1*» better than in many years past. With a muHiplicity of enndidptcs. Bryan might easily carry off tho prize. I