Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], June 13, 1912, Page 4, Image 4

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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4
ROOSEVELT SHOWS ANGER.
NATIONAL COMMITTEE SCORED.
PARTY IS BEING WRECKED.
‘^THEFT” NOT Fl EOT LA RITA •
Colonel is Stirred by the Faet That
9th Alabama District la Given to
Taft.
The republicans of the country were
called upon Saturday at Oyster Ray, N.
Y„ by Col Roosevelt to protest against
the action of the republican national com
mittee in ruling upon the-contest for seats
in the national convention from the 9th
Alabama district. The colonel served no
tice upon his opponents that, in his opin
ion. the party as a whole would repudi
ate a nomination if it were obtained in
"defiance of justice." He declared that
every man who wishes to see the party
continue to exist should protest at once
"against those who are deliberately try
ing to wreck it." "The leaders, said
the colonel, "speak as if they were the
regular republicans. I do not, concede that
theft is a test of regularity.”
Col Roosevelt’s statement was given out
after a conference which lasted all the
afternoon. He talked politics Saturday
with men from a number of states. Among
them were Arthur Hill of Boston. Gov
Bass of New Hampshire. Charles Thomp
son of Vermont. Dean W. D. Lewis of
the university of Pennsylvania law school,
and Howell F. Lea and E. M. Reilly of
Kansas City. Col Roosevelt's statement
follows
"In view of the action taken by the na
tional committee yesterday in unseating
the two legally elected delegates in the
Sth Alabama district and replacing them
with men who have no more title to sit in
the republican convention than they have
to sit in the democratic convention. I
would like to make as serious an appeal
as is in my power to every good citizen
who regards the republican party as an
instrument for good government which it is
wicked lightly to destroy.
"Alabama is entitled to 24 delegates in
the convention. As regards several of the
districts where there have been contests,
it is my sincere belief that the right is .is
much on our side as on the side of onr
opponents. But in these districts there
was room for honest doubt, and, talking
the matter over with Senator Dixon, we
both agreed to advise the Roosevelt mem
bers or the national committee to support
no contest in any district where there was
room for reasonable doubt as to the right
of the Roosevelt delegates to be seated.
Accordingly in all the Alabama districts
in question the Roosevelt men in the na
tional committee voted with the majority,
and this in spite of the fact that, as I
have already said, we regard the claims of
the Roosevelt men in certain of these dis
tricts as being as good as those of their
opponents. But in the 9th Alabama dis
trict two Roosevelt delegates had been un
questionably elected. The facts are as
follows: The republican committee of this
district, composed of 30 members, met to
call the convention. Eighteen members
were favorable to my candidacy. 12 to Mr
Taft's. The Taft men conceded that this
was the tegular district committee and
began by participating in the meeting, but
as soon as it developed that the Roosevelt
men were in the majority the 12 Taft men
left the meeting and called a convention of
their own. leaving 18 members, a clear ma
jority of the regular committee, to call the
regular convention, in which the Roosevelt
delegates were named. No serious evi
dence was presented before the national
committee to contravene these facts.
Contest Had No Foundation.
"The contest against these two regularly
elected Roosevelt delegates had literally
no foundation whatever even of the most
flimsy description. There was no more
ground for unseating these delegates than
there would be, for example, in unseating the
Taft delegates from Rhode Island, or in
any district in any state where there is ;
no contest whatever. Yet. the national i
committeemen who are supporting Mr Taft |
voted to unseat the two men properly
elected and to seat in the national conven- .
tion two men who. as I have said, literal- J
ly have no more right to appear as dele- I
gates in that convention than they have i
to appear in the democratic nation- I
al convention. They represent noth- ;
ing whatever in the republican party ex- I
cept the determination of certain members ;
of the national committee who have them- i
selves been repudiated by the republican
party that the majority of the party shall
not be permitted to decide whom they wish
to be the nominee for president.
“Now. T wish to call the attention not
only of all good republicans but of all
good citizens to just what this type of ac- j
tion means. As yet there is no law to ■
govern national nominating conventions '
as there is to govern national elections — |
although in certain states the nomination
of candidates is carried on under the law
of those states precisely as are the elec
tions. Because of this lack of federal law.
acts which if done to influence elections
would be criminal, can be perpetrated with
impunity so far as national nominations
are concerned. But this is a difference in
legality and not in morality. Again and
again we have sent to the penitentiary
election officials for deeds morally not one
whit worse than what was done b.v the
members of the national committee who
unseated the two properly elected dele
gates in this 9th district of Alabama and
substituted for them men who have no
more right to sit in the national conven
tion than a repeater has to vote at an
election
"The majority of the committeemen thna I
voted to seat in the republican convention
men who have no shadow of right to rep
resent any portion of the republican party
anywhere, and who have no more right
to sit in that convention than any other
two outsiders. None of these committee
men came from the republican states of
Illinois. Kansas. Missouri. New Jersey,
North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon. Pennsylvania
and West t irginia. Every one of these
nine national committeemen lias been re- ,
pudiated by his home voters. Not one of
them will succeed himself on the national
committee. Each of them represents a
state which at the recent primaries has
declared overwhelmingly against Mr Taft.
The. nine states in the aggregate have 302
delegates in the convention, of which 258
are for Roosevelt and only 34 for Taft.
The nine committeemen are for Mr Taft,
the delegates from their states are 8 to 1
against him.
Appeals to Sober Judgment.
"It is in view of these facts and of what
these faets foreshadow that I wish to
make my appeal to the sober judgment of
all men who believe that the usefulness of
the repub ican party has not ended. Every
man who wishes to see the republican party
continue to exist should at once protest
against those who are deliberately procee 1-
ing to wreck it. The leaders speak as if
they were the regular republicans. I don't
concede 'hat theft is o test of regularity.
The republican party h not in commission
nor has it appointed a- its receivers the
nine repudiated committeemen I have men
tioned nor their other colleagues, who have in
similar fashion been repudiated by the pop
ular vote of the republicans of their states.
Nur is the question now at issue one as
to the personal preference of any repuh'icnn
lor any particular urin for president or
for the doctrines which that man embodirs.
The question is now merely whether the de
liberately expressed judgment of the rank
and file of the republican party is to be no
leas deliberately nullified by the very men
J whose leadership has just been repudiated
t by this same majority. A nomination ob
। tained by the votes of delegates seated in
I utter defiance , r justice, as these two Ala
bama delega,.., have just been seated, would
be worthless to the man obtaining it and
. would he indignantly repudiated by the
party as a whole. Apparently certain na-
I tional comm'ttiomen and certain of the
bosses who from outside influence the ua
tional committee, have yet to learn that
the rank and file of the republican party
most be treated as the masters, and not
the servants, of their representatives. The
republican party cannot continue to exist
unless ita ofii -ia! action is determined by
the expression of the sober and deliberate
judgment of th> majority of the party."
COLONEL'S ATTACK IGNORED.
Taft ("haniher Meeting — Chlcaigo
Awaiting: Roosevelt.
! A majority of the members of the re
publican national committee after a long
conference Sunday unofficially decided to
refrain from any comment upon the state
ment issued Saturday night by Col Theo
dore Roosevelt in which the former presi
dent denounced the action of the committee
in seating the two Taft delegates from the
9th Alabama district. Saturday's im
promptu meeting of the national commit
tee members was held at n down-town ho
tel and was attended exclusively by those
committeemen who generally are accepted
as being favorable to President Taft's can
didacy far renomination.
Certain of the committeemen who at
tended the meeting expressed great indig
nation at the text of Col Roosevelt s state
ment which they declared was deserving of
an emphatic reply. Others, however, coun
seled against a reply of any kind, and
urged their fellow committee members to
ignore the statement. This advice finally
prevailed. Scarcely any of the Taft mem
bers of the committee would discuss Sat
urday's meeting. One, however, said : "We
are going to stand on our actions regard
less or the remarks of persons
who are prejudiced and unfair. The
work speaks for itself and that is all
there is to it. There is but one way to
handle unreasonable people and that is to I
ignore them.”
Senator Dixon Sunday issued a state- i
ment in which he denied reports that the
Roosevelt managers intended to withdraw
pending contests. In this connection the
statement said: "Of course we do not
intend to do any such thing. Every con
test will be presented by us. If a majority
of the national committee is prepared to
deliberately unseat Roosevelt delegates as
the Taft managers insist they will do. we '
are going to see that the robbery is com- I
mitted in the open daylight and in the I
full view of 90.000.000 American citizens-
"It is perfectly apparent that the Taft
managers have under perfect control
enough members of the national committee
to do exactly as they please regarding the
remainder of the contests, nearly all of
which are from the republican states of
the North and West. To gain temporary
control of the convention the inner circle
of Taft managers boidly have determined
to unseat Roosevelt delegates from Cali
fornia. Washington. Missouri and South
Dakota. In California and South Dakota
Col Roosevelt received overwhelming ma
jorities in the preferential primaries, in
Missouri and Washington Col Roosevelt
had majorities of from 300 to 400 in the
state conventions."
AS TO ANSWERING THE COLONEL.
Senator Crane's View Prevailed With ,
the Taft Men in Chicago.
[From Ernest G. Walker's Chicago Dispatch
to the Botson Herald.]
That fiery statement from Col Roosevelt
Saturday, flaying the national committee
for decisions in southern contests, partic
ularly in the 9tli Alabama, was discussed
by numerous politicians to-day. Thore was
quite a meeting ~of members of the na
tional committee, several of whom thought
the colonel's strictures called for reply in
kind. Senator Crane of Massachusetts dis
sented strongly from that view. He argued
that the colonel's abusive output answered
itself. In a similar line, the senator ad
vised against the daily statements b.v Di
rector McKinley from the Taft bureau.
He would let Manager Dixon have a mo
nonoly of the vitriol bottle.
The Bay state senator's advice was ac
cepted in both instances. The fact that
Col Cecil Lyon of Texas, one of Col Roose
velt's most ardent admirers and stanchest
supporters, voted with the national com
mittee majority to seat Taft delegates
from the 9th Alabama and that National
Committeeman Rogers of Wisconsin, a La
Follette adherent, did likewise, and the
further fact that Col Roosevelt's own
statement shows he had been claiming
other Alabama delegates, -when, by his own
confession, he knows they belonged to
Taft, were mentioned as self-evident items,
which there was little need of emphasizing
to the public.
Those who favored answering thought it
should be at once and by one of prom
inence. Representative Lawrence of Mas
sachusetts suggested this could well be
done by the president's secretary, Mr
Hillgs, if at ail. F. W. Estabrook, the i
New Hampshire committeeman, was of
the opinion that those who would believe
such a preposterous statement as Roose
velt had made would not credit a refuta
tion and therefore it would be as well to
ignore the matter entirely.
The colonel's onslaught is regarded as
making it more difficult for southern dele- •
gates, seated by the national committee, to I
desert the president. Therefore it has not I
been altogether unwelcome. National com- I
mitte leaders believe there is advantage, j
in the long run. in-taking a dignified stand
and trusting to the American people's sense I
of fairness.
Much as Roosevelt's tactics are feared
by the Taft people, whom he has all but
demoralized in recent weeks, they have
intimations that he. is losing courage and
that his campaign is going to pieces in the
face of the strong and steady program here
at Chicago. Ex-Representative L. N. Lit
tauer of New York, one of the colonel's
close friends, has told republicans here
that, notwithstanding all the show of ag
gressive courage, there have been very
gloomy days at Oyster Bay.
Consequently with cries of "steady,
steady," the national committee leaders
will proceed anew to-morrow to their work
of disposing of Roosevelt contests.
Those who met to-day discussed infor
mally the evidence from several districts.
There is no disposition to be too summary
in the verdicts. It is claimed some of the
better cases in the colonel’s behalf can be
! approved and enough delegates yet re-
I tained to assure President Taft of the
nomination. To-day's discussion indicated
that two contests from North Carolina
may he decided in Roosevelt's favor and
that something, may be conceded in Texas.
There is mention of Missouri in that con
nection. Taft leaders are loathe to throw
Gov Hadley out of the convention if any
valid excuse can be found for giving him
a delegate’s seat.
GIVE THE COLONEL HIS RIGHTS.
[Front the New York World. I
The republican national committee
should give the colonel his rights.
If he wants 250 or 250.000 tickets to the
national convention, he ought to have
them.
If ho wants to be temporary chairman
and permanent chairman and the commit
tee on credentials and the committee on
resolutions, why should the crooks and
the bosses and the reactionaries he allowed
to interpose objections?
If he wants to make the speech nominat
ing himself for president, that is his af
fair.
If h» wants to cast the votes of all the
1978 delegates for himself and make the
nomination by, acclamation, no oligarch
should be permitted to stand in the way
of a pure democracy.
The ideal republican national convention
is one in which nobody is present except
the colonel, together with such clerical
help as may be neoessarv to compile the
official record of his deliberations.
THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1912.
ROOSEVELT TIDE AT THE TURN.
TROUBLES OF COMMERCE COURT.
Taft's Loss of rrestige Through Fail
ure to Appreciate How to Handle
the Press.
From Our Special Correspondent.
Washington, D. C.. Sunday. June 9.
The Roosevelt program at Chicago is
extremely puzzling to Washington ob
servers, After conducting an eminently
successful campaign at the primaries, the
signs are that the Roosevelt management
is going to pieces in Chicago at the most,
critical stage. Perhaps it is one thing to
conduct a campaign at the primaries,
where a "great victory” can he achieved
through a small percentage of the vote
coming out, and another thing to handle
strong men at a convention. From the
vacillation shown it would also seem that
so much time and thought has been de
voted to the stump campaign that there
has been no room tor planning maneuvers
in the convention itself. It seems to have
been left to the last moment, with lots of
generals about and none in supreme au
thority.
Furthermore, it is known here that while
the colonel and his hosts much deride the
steam roller, they have had one of their
own in their ranks and have engineered it
successfully, and have also wielded the
big stick. The constant talk of the colonel
and some of those nearest to him of bolt
ing has been disagreeable to some of the
Roosevelt men. They are republicans first
and they are seasoned politicians. The
word "bolt” has a horrible sound to them.
They do not like to become associated with
anybody that talks of bolting. So in the
last days there has been a decided dispo
sition on the part of some Roosevelt peo
ple to keep away from the convention. Be
ing entirely away from the convention,
they would not hazard themselves in auy
way. and they began to find excuses. If
the colonel and his people have been shout
ing terrible names at the Taft people and
all good republicans who have believed
with them, tney are nothing compared with
the words that have been used upon such
Rooseveltians as have expressed a reluc
tance to go to Chicago. “Coward,” “cow
ardice” have rung into their ears with a
hissing sound. And not without effect.
But it is declared that even stronger words
must be used if the colonel does bolt and
expects a considerable procession to follow
him. and even then vainly.
If Roosevelt Is Nominated!
Meantime, what if the colonel is nomi
nated regularly? It is said by some of
those for him that he would at once begin
trying to build up what he has done so
much to tear down. Pacification would
be his watchword. While it is admitted
that the ex-president is an adroit and as
siduous worker, it is doubted very much
by even his own followers whether he is
herculean enough to repair the destruction
he has wrought. The time is too short,
the damage inflicted too extensive. Human
passions and hatred are not allayed in a
dav, and then there are other and more
serious questions that must be met in the
campaign.
All told, the republicans are much dis
couraged, no matter what happens at Chi
cago. It is agreed the party batMy needs a
spanking, and that it will get one is antici
pated. Not in years has a great political
party approached a presidential campaign
so thoroughly split. Even members of
Congress are wondering where they are
at. "At least those few of us that will
ho returned to the next Congress,” re
marked one republican, "will be insured
good committee assignments.” Meantime,
republicans report democrats as still look
ing .scared lest T. R. be nominated.
To no mean degree they appear to be
Champ Clark men, who know that the
nomination of Roosevelt would mean that
the Baltimore convention will at once have
to forget all about the merits of Clark,
a wholly different candidate being called
for from the democrats in that emergency.
Commerce Court Disciplined.
The disciplinary correction administered
by the supreme court to the commerce
court is hardly thought likely to save that
court from extinction through the starring
out process that has been devised by tbe
democrats in the legislative, executive and
judicial appropriation bill and which it is
expected will prevail in Congress, so un
popular there is the court. Few there are
to sav a good word for the court and were
it not for the president, whose special child
the court has been, the tribunal would be
lonesome indeed for friends. It has been
its own worst enemy. There was oppo
sition to it from tho start and particularly
in Congress, but the president was insist
ent and Congress most grudgingly hu
mored him.
There can be little doubt that the theory
establishing the court was correct, to pro
mote harmony and celerity in deciding upon
railroad legislation, but as shown by the
supreme court decision of last week tbe
commerce court had ambitious ideas and
tremendously transcended its own authori
ty and place. Now it has met its reproof,
but much earlier it reaped a high degree
of unpopularity in consequence of which
it is threatened with extinction. The per
sonnel of the court seems from the start
to have been unfortunate, and this is sur
prising in view of the fact that so com
petent a judge of judges as President Taft
should not have proved more fortunate in
his choices. A wise court would have
been slow and cautious in feeling its way,
but instead of pursuing a policy of this
kind the new court began daringly and at
once proceeded to assert a super-direction
over the interstate commerce commission
that was rasping, particularly at a time
when the state of mind of the public was
least psychologically ready for such pro
cedure. In vernacular the court started
like “a smart Alek.”
The Archbald Scandal.
In the light of what has happened it is
unfortunate that the more sensible mode
was not selected in appointing the court
by which it would have started through
an assignment of trained circuit court
judges already on the bench to sit as a
commerce court, as has been arranged for
the after life of the court should it be per
mitted to go on. As it was, the court start
ed practically with fresh men who were
afterward to be absorbed into the gen
eral circuit court. Then followed the
Archbald scandal, which has had the ef
fect of making certain the extinction of the
court. It has been a most unfortunate
episode, and while tbe impeachment of the
judge is hardly likely to be ordered by the
House, still that he will he censured by
the judiciary committee of the House is
altogether probable. It seems agreed that as
a judge the accused jurist has no fine sense
of the proprieties becoming his position,
and from that point alone has demonstrat
ed that he has outlived his usefulness <>u
the bench. He ought somehow or other to
retire from the bench and certainly from
the court of commerce about which he now
serves as a millstone to drag it down to its
destruction, even if it were not sinking of
it® own fault through inability to steer a
'■ourse safely and discreetly in highly
tempestuous waters.
Scribes Desert White House.
One hates to confess it, but it is aston
ishing how the White House has become
deserted of newspaper men. To be sure,
just now most of the Washington corre
spondents are at the seat or war, but
tr.ise remarks a_pply to the period just pre
ceding tin begira for the republican na
tional convention. The denudation, so to
speak, as it exists to-day, has been no
ticeable for some weeks and even months.
The White House used to be an attrac
tive place for tho correspondents to assem
ble at all times of the day. This was es
pecially true in Mr Roosevelt's second
term and it was for a long time true of
Mr Taft's term so far. Once plenty of
news was to be found at the White
House either through the president and
his secretary or through the many visit
ors who went to the executive mansion.
But less and less profitable has it been to
seek news at the White House, until the
corps has been reduced to the general
press associations, which are always sta
tioned at the White House, and some
four faithful voluntary scribes, and this
number bus now been reduced to one.
So the White House has ceased to be a
busy hive or a newspaper exchange. It
is till truly wonderful.
There are reasons for it. Where there
is no news, there are no newspaper men.
Economy forbids. How the president and
liis staff have luul a sort of congenital
inability or disinclination to use the press
to the advantage of the administration has
been well known, but the degree of it has
perhaps been not so well known, espe
cially the recent abstention from the use
of it. The president could as well have
fought Theodore Roosevelt from the
White House as from the stump, even
better, and with little if no loss in pres
tige. Instead, the ’White House hardly
saw the president for a month.
The President's Secretaries.
The president has also been more and
more unfortunate in his secretaries. They
have all in their way been able men, but
they have had no instinct for making use
of the press so that many a fine perform
ance of the president has gone by unad
vertised and the president lost much credit.
Mr Carpenter was. however, accessible
and so also was Mr Norton, who prob
ably was the best of the advertisers and
even to the president's hurt, as witness
his patronage letter, but least accessible
of them all has been Mr Hilles, an able
secretary there can be no doubt, but the
newspaper corps is forgetting what, his
face looks like, and it will not be content
to have dealings with subordinates.
More than a year ago there used to be
had what was called a newspaper cabi
net meeting in the president's cabinet
room. It met once a week and talked
things over with President Taft. That
was not resumed this year. Then the
president has been compelled to journey
away often, and so, what with these jour
neys, the inability to reach Mr Hilles,
secretively busy with politics and the pres
ident himself in other respects less accessi
ble. there has been a growing diminution
in news, even in that supplied b.v Gus
Karger, correspondent of C. P. Taft’s
newspaper, who has a run of the White
House and kindly volunteered to become
the White House press agent. He would
forage around for “items” inside: there
has been less and less reason for calling at
the White House in quest of news until
the lure has reached the vanishing point.
Perhaps after the stress of the pre-con
vention politics there may be some return
to the old days when the White House
was a mint of news—the initiative
must be taken there—but it is thought
hardly likely as the importance of the
press has never been thoroughly under
stood by the Taft administration. It
started in with doors almost closed to the
press and then relented, but the policy
has been vacillating. At all events, a
strong and friendly arm of support and
defense has been permitted to fall into
desuetude.
WHITE MOUNTAIN REPORT. *
Forest Cover Shown to Have an Ap
preciable Effect Upon Streams.
That the forest cover of the White moun
tain area has a distinct and measurable
effect upon the navigable streams which
head in that region is the conclusion of the
United States geological survey at Wash
ington. The director of the survey has
filed his preliminary report on the White
mountains with the national forest con
servation commission, and, as earlier an
nounced, th?, findings are favorable to the
purchase of lands under the Weeks na
tional forest conservation law. The report
of the geological survey is based on tbe
results of exhaustive investigations and
specific field tests which have been car
ried on during the past year. According
to the report, the investigations are be
lieved to solve definitely a problem that has
long been a source of strenuous contention
among scientists, including the friends of
forest conservation, and while their appli
cation is direct with reference to the entire
White mountain area, they establish a
principle which is of far wider application.
In the southern Appalachian mountains
tracts aggregating 1.962,800 acres have
been certified to by the geological survey
as affecting the navigability of streams by
reason of excessive erosion which follows
deforestation in these areas. Owing to
the geologic conditions in the White moun
tains, no excessive erosion, according to
the survey geologists, can be shown to
follow deforestation. Therefore the survey
carried forward its further investigation
in the White mountains along the lines of
trying to show that deforestation and sub
sequent burning of the vegetal forest,
mulch results in a more rapid run-off, and
therefore tends to make unstable the flow
of streams. In this it was successful.
The hydrometric showing presented in
the preliminary report is of results on two
small, almost exactly similar, drainage
basins on the cast branch of the Petni
gewasset river of about five square miles
each, one largely clothed with virgin tim
ber and the other deforested and burned,
is so striking as to render the position of
the survey impregnable. Careful measure
ments of precipitation over the areas and
of the run-off of the respective streams
show, according to the report, that not
only was tbe snow held better in the for
ested area, but that during a period of 17
days in April, including three extended
storms, the run-off of tbe stream in the
deforested area was a comparative flood—
practically double that of the stream flow
ing through the forested area. The survey
report shows that the stream discharge
from the deforested basin was double that
from the forested basin, and that the
maximum flood flow from the forested
basin was only 67 per cent of that from
the deforested basin.
The conclusions of Director George Otis
Smith of the Survey are as follows: "The
comparison between two adjacent basins
during critical periods is presented in this
preliminary statement as a sufficient show
ing for the purposes of the national forest
reservation commission. While data cover
ing longer periods for both these and other
basins in the White mountains have bean
collected, and will be available for the
more complete report, the particular cases
of the Burnt brook and Shoal pond basins
is typical for the region and establishes tbe
general conclusion that, a direct relation
exists between forest cover and stream
regulation. The results of the Burnt hrook-
Shoal pond brook studies are held to show
that throughout the White mountains the
removal of forest growth must, be expected
to decrease the natural steadiness of de
pendent streams 'during the spring months
at least.
"The foregoing conclusion forms a strong
basis for arguing the desirability of pains
taking methods of administration in re
spect to forest lands in the White moun
tain region. Deforestation followed by
fires, as in the Burnt brook basin, results
in conditions unfavorable to natural spring
storage because conducive to rapid snow
melting and stream run-off. Control of
White mountain lands that would reduce
fires to « minimum and promote normal
reforestation must result in a great im
provement over present tendencies, and
this improvement in forest cover can logi
cally be expected to favorably affect
stream regulation to tho extent quantitn
lively indicated in the comparison of the
forested Shoal pond brook with the de
forested Burnt brook. While the intensive
hydrometric work was confined to a few
headwater tributaries of the Connecticut
and Merrimac rivers, the. basins studied
were selected as typical for the whole
White mountain area, and the field exam
inations over this region have shown the
tracts now under consideration for pur
chase to be similar to the basins here re-
ported upon. Therefore, the favorable
showing of this report is of general appli
cation in the White mountain area."
THE PRESIDENT AND ROOSEVELT.
As Summed Up by n Citizen ot Ger
man Descent.
I To the Editor of The Republican:—
I have been asked to express my senti
ments in regard to the present political sit
uation, relative to the fight for supremacy
between Mr Taft and Mr Roosevelt, as it
is claimed that I know the sentiment of the
American citizens of German extraction.
Let me quote words from a man who has
served as congressman from Missouri under
Messrs Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt and
Taft —a man whom I can call my friend
for over 20 years—Richard Bartholdt, who
is a German born, but a true blue blood
American: "In an address on Abraham
Lincoln President Taft said recently:‘With
his love of the truth, the supreme trait of
his intellect, accompanied by a conscience
that insisted on the right as he knew it,
with a great heart full of kindness, we have
the combination that made Lincoln one of
the two great Americans.’” With these
words, says Congressman Bartholdt. “our
great president has unconsciously character
lied himself in the opinion of those who
know him best. His intimate friends, on
reading this characterization, will even be
tempted to exclaim: ‘lt’s Taft as he really
is’
But let us first accord the floor to anoth
er, one who knows Mr Taft better than any
of us, namely, Theodore Roosevelt. He
said about him in his extravagant way:—
To a flaming hatred of injustice, to a scorn
of all that Is base and mean, to a hearty
sympathy, with the oppressed, he unites en
tire disinterestedness, courage, both moral
and physical, of the very highest type, and
a klndiv generosity of nature which makes
him feel that alt of his fellow-countrymen
are in very truth his friends and brothers;
rhat their interests are his. and that all his
great qualities are to be spent with lavish
freedom in their service.
And only a few days before Mr Taft’s in
auguration, the outgoing president sum
marized his opinion about him with these
words: —
No man of better training; no man of more
dauntless courage, of sounder common sense,
and of higher and finer character, has ever
come to the presidency than William Howard
Taft!
Has Mr Roosevelt handled the truth care
lessly then or is he doing so now? Mr
Bartholdt feels that it would certainly be
a bad omen for our people if they exulted
over the stunts of a slick politician while
the dignity, the honesty, the love of truth
and fidelity to duty of a Taft would leave
them cold. In the present instance there
are at stake not only the political fortunes
of a president or of a party, but public
morality itself is on trial! I believe and
I feel signs multiply that it will stand the
test.
As to the president’s attitude toward
Americans of German descent or extraction
let me state that Mr Taft does not distin
guish between citizen and citizen ,* he is the
friend of the good and the foe of the bad.
In an article recently published by Mr
Roosevelt in Die Woche, a Berlin weekly,
he demands that the Germans of the United
States should discard their language as
well as customs. Far from such knownoth
ingism Mr Taft rejoices in our language as
well as our customs. Born and reared in
Cincinnati, he has imbibed them with bis
mother’s milk, so to speak, and, indeed,
every good German can easily discover a
relationship with Mr Taft’s character, his
ways and mode of thinking, and surely
there are no qualities which appeal more
strongly to us Germans than those distin
guishing the president, namely,., honest
frankness, veracity, spotless integrity, gen
iality and that precious humor which is the
source of the hearty laugh peculiar only to
good men. If a German mother bad sung
him her lullaby he could not be closer to
the Germans than he really is by virtue of
his philosophy of life.
Free from religious and all other preju
dices, he shares with us the liberal concep
tion of the enjoyment of life, and his heart,
beats warmly for the good, the beautiful,
and the righteous, having made . Schiller’s
philosophy his own. Whether it is a short
coming or not, he is certainly no politician
in the accepted sense of the term, although
he has been in public life from early youth.
I state my standpoint as a good Amer
ican citizen of German descent by under
writing the following lines written by Sam
uel W. McCall: “President Taft should be
renominated because the policies he has
adopted, which are now and distinctly his
own, are in the interest of civilization and
international peace, and he should be re
nominated because he represents signally
the kind of government which this was es
tablished to be, namely, a government of
laws, and not of men."
Kurt R. Stebnbf.bg.
Springfield, June 1, 1912.
ESTIMATES OF A PUBLIC MAN.
To the Editor of The Republican
A good trust candidate says the presi
dent's discovery that he is dangerous fol
lowed his own discovery that the president
is useless. If so, it was belated. Pos
sibly dates of discovery and announcement
differed. When, for example, an editorial
article said plainly, “Mr Roosevelt is a
dangerous man," the date of information
lay far back of the date of the paper.
This must have been so in many other
newspaper offices. ‘ Among the multitude
of readers, too, were many who did not
regard the personality in question essential
to national safety.
President McKinley hesitated to appoint
so dangerous an official, before admitting
him to his first federal position, replying:
“I want peace, and I am told that your
friend Theodore, whom I know only slight
ly, is always getting into rows with every
body. I am afraid he is too pugnacious."
So, whether Roosevelt's alleged discovery
preceded President Taft’s or not. President
McKinley's did by about 15 years, and,
even then, was led by a discovery preced
ing his own.
As soon as Mr Taft was inaugurated,
Mark Twain made a thankful record in
bis diary because Roosevelt had ceased to
be president. Yet he predicted that a
greedy ambition would bring back in four
years that peril by which the nation has
now actually been menaced. Mark Twain’s
estimate of a common infatuation appeared
when he added: “Our people have adored
this showy charlatan as perhaps no im
postor of his breed lias been adored since
the golden calf.” This discover}' dates
back of the president's warning.
A corresponding estimate was long ago
indicated by a statesman whose manifold
official relations made him during a long
period the associate of notable men. It
would he an incomplete outline which
should mention only his service in the
Legislature, the governor's chair, both
houses of Congress and the cabinet.
Enumeration of details is restricted, not
b.v paucity, but by excess of striking ma
terial. Serious utterances of such a judge
of men and affairs are weighty; nor do
thev lose gravity when uttered, not in
public debate, but in private conversation.
In this more quiet way, George S. Bout
well Remarked, years ago: "Theodore
Roosevelt is the most dangerous man in
America.”
Julius B. Robinson.
Turners Falls. June 4. 1912.
THE DOMINANT ISSUE.
To the Editor of The Republican:—
I have just renewed my subscription to
The Weekly Republican, also that of a
boyhood friend in Massachusetts to whom
I have the pleasure of sending the paper.
Ordinarily a man thinks he has done his
whole duty when he has paid for his
paper. But I w-ant to thank you for the
splendid paper yon are issuing, both from
a newspaper point or view and that of
patriotic service to the country in this
time when we are besought to take the
first step downward as a nation.
I do not share the opinion of a recent
correspondent of The Weekly Republican
that you are devoting too much editorial
space to Mr Roosevelt. Entirely aside
from the third-term issue, which transcends
all others. Theodore Roosevelt’s audacious
assault on the presidency. his violation of
a solemn pledge, his “slippery” speeches,
his unreasoning ambition, his lavish use
of money for nis own selfish ends, with
out regard to the source from which it
comes—all these afford reason enough for
devoting a good share of your space to
the “claimant.” The tariff, the trusts, the
courts, the railroads—al] these have disap
peared as issues. The one comprehensive
issue to-day is Theodore Roosevelt. When
we have settled him we can more easily
settle the others.
Western republicans who intend to vote
the democratic ticket if he is nominated
will look to you to lead the fight against
him in New England. Power to your
arm! Geo. P. Goodard.
St Louis, June 1. 1912.
GERMANS DINE AT WALDORF.
Walters Try to Interrupt—Officers of
Visiting Squadron Given Royal En
tertainment in New York.
A dinner given by Mayor Gaynor Mon
day to the officers of the visiting German
squadron was unparalleled in many re
pects by any similar function in the history
of New York city. While the mayor and
1000 guests were assembling at the Wal
dorf-Astoria an army of policemen, includ
ing the “strong-arm squad,” picketed the
streets in the vicinity to avert trouble on
the part of a mob of striking hotel waiters
and their sympathizers. At times scenes
approaching the riotous occurred} and in
the raids upon the mob the police carted
away in patrol wagons 125 prisoners, many
charged with disorderly conduct and others
taken on the more technical charge of cir
culating handbills.
Whatever the plans of the waiters may
have been to break up the banquet they
were averted by the police protection and
the unusual co-operation of hotel manage
ments throughout the city. There had
been anticipation of trouble and, intending
to take no chances in a civic affair of such
magnitude, more than a score of hotel pro
prietors appeared personally at the Wal
dorf with delegations of trusted waiters
ready to place their battalions in the field
if the Waldorf-Astoria forces walked out.
The grand ball room, in which the ban
quet was held amid a gay display of na
tional colors of the United States and
Germany, was guarded at every entrance
by special policemen. Although the trouble
in the street at times assumed the pro
portions of a riot, those at the dinner were
not greatly disturbed. As official host of
the great gathering. Mayor Gaynor presid
ed and delivered an address of hearty wel
come to Rear-Admiral von Reuber-Pasch
witz, commander of the squadron, bis
princely officers and men. Seated on either
side of the mayor were the German ad
miral and the German embassador, Count
Johann Henrich von Bernstorff.
The second day’s visit to “New York of
the German cruisers Moltke. Bremen and
Stettin proved strenuous for their officers
and men. from Rear-Admiral von Reuber-
Paschwitz down to the lowest ranking jack
tar. On shore the admiral and his officers
and men were everywhere feted, while
those on board ship were kept busy from
noon until almost sunset entertaining thou
sands of visitors. In going out to the
warships the crowds often overtaxed the
capacity of the ship's steamers and the
launches of river boatmen.
During the late afternoon Frank Good
ale in his dirigible airship skimmed over
the German warships and dropped a mes
sage on board the flagship inviting Rear-
Admiral von Reuber-Pasehwitz, his offi
cers and the crews of all his ships to ac
cept the hospitality of a New Jersey
amusement resort.
KATMAI IN ALASKA IN ERUPTION.
Pazsengere Describe Violent Explo
sions and Suffocating Discharges—
Fear tor Safety of Fishing Villages.
Passengers on the mail steamer Dora,
which arrived at Seward, Alaska, from
the westward, Sunday, after passing
through a shower of ashes from Katmai
volcano, believe that several small fishing
villages on the shores of Shelikof strait
may have been destroyed by the eruption.
The revenue cutter service at Unalaska has
been asked to send assistance.
The Dora steamed into the harbor early
Sunday, her white covering making her
appear a phantom of the seas. Those on
the steamer, as she passed through the
falling ashes, were nearly suffocated by
poisonous gases. She was in sight of Kat
mai when the eruption began at 1 o’clock
in the afternoon. Subsequent earthquakes
disturbed the water of the strait, when
suddenly a terrific explosion occurred in
the mountain and a great mass of rocks
was thrown into the air. The first, explo
sion was followed by others in quick
succession, each seemingly more .terrific
than the one preceding.
Soon a steady stream of rocks and ashes
poured from the peak and spread far over
the surrounding country, obscuring the
sun and shutting the mountain from sight.
At 4 o'clock, when the Dora was 70 miles
from the volcano, total darkness came and
ashes began to tall in thick clouds upon
the deck, covering it with- & white layer
three inches deep. Throughout the night
the Dora steamed through the dust-laden
air and was rocked by the earthquakes
that lashed the water while the mountain
thundered in the distance. At L o’clock
Friday morning, the Dora, having steamed
50 miles out of her course, clear air was
reached and the passengers were able to
breathe freely again. Looking back they
could see the column of smoke and ashes
still pouring out of the volcano.
The volcanic disturbance is the most
violent ever recorded in Alaska. It is es
timated that an area of 300 square miles,
much of it fertile territory, has been cov
ered to a depth of several inches by the
volcanic ash. First evidence that the vol
cano was preparing to free itself from the
rocks and lava that choked its throat for
many years came early Thursday when
the Alaskan peninsula was rocked by a
violent earthquake. At this time the
Dora was at Cold Bay, only 15 miles from
the volcano. When the eruption began
she had crossed the Shelikof strait to
Kodiak and was proceeding on her course.
That no person wns killed on Kodiak
island as the result of the volcano erup
tions in Alaska was indicated Sunday
by this message to the government wire
less station at San Francisco, Cal., from
Kodiak: “Volcano about fill miies from
I hero in eruption. Steamer Dora approached
within 90 miles but forced to turn back
by ashes, falling rocks and smoke.” As
the message made no mention of any loss
of life it is believed that none occurred.
GEORGE WASHINGTON’S HOUSE.
[From Washington Letter to the Boston Ad
vertiser.]
While George Washington never lived in
the present capital of the United States,
as is well known, he owned real estate in
the city, and still preserved and looking
most substantial is the building lie erected
on North Capitol street, a block away from
the eapitol. It is now used as a hotel.
It is a live-story brick strncture apd, in
its day rniist have impressed visitors j; the
city. It is still in a fine state of pres
ervation and the neighborhood M a good
one.
Stijl it is destined to disappear, as Con
gress has authorized the acquisition of the
neighborhood to extend the capital grounds,
Review of Reviews; Otto Fidlitz. former
eneeting thereby « wide opening between
Hie oamtol grounds hud the monumental
■union station. So the house, the construc
tion of which Washington personally super
intended, will at no distant day lie,demol
ished, but there are tlios,e in Washington
who would save what can bo saved of it,
and a movement lifts been started to utilize
the bricks in the building in the form of
an appropriate memorial.
ARBITRATION BOARD NAMED.
Men Who Will Settle Differences Be
tween the Engineers and the Hull
roadn.
The board of arbitration to settle the
differences between the railroads east of
Chicago and their engineers, which a few
weeks ago threatened a serious strike, has
been appointed at Washington by Chief
Justice White. Dr Charles P. Neill, com
missioner of labor, and Judge Knapp of
the commerce court.
The board is composed of Oacar Straus,
former secretary of commerce and labor;
Dr Albert Shaw, editor of the American
chairman of the building trades employes’
association of New York; Frederick M,
Judson, lawyer of St Louis: Dr Charles
R. Vanhise, president of the university
of Wisconsin: Daniel Willard, president
of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and
P. H. Morrissey; former president of the
Brotherhood of railfoad trainmen. Messrs
Willard and Morrissey were named as
members of the board by the railroads and.
engineers, respectively.
The issues affect 50 railroads, including
the Pennsylvania and Baltimore and Ohio,
east of Chicago and north of the Ohio
river. About 25,000 engineers are directly
concerned. Had a strike been declared,
more than 100,000 additional train em
ployes, it is said, would have been In
directly affected. The demands of the men
are for a standard wage in the entire eastern
territory. The firemen of these systems
have presented similar demands, but no
action has yet been taken by the com
panies.
AN ANTITHIRD-TERM PLEDGE.
A Significant Movement That Has
. Been Well Started in Missonri.
The antithird-term republican league of
Missouri, meeting recently in St Louis,
adopted the following appeal to the repub
lican voters of the United States:—
We oppose the nomination of Theodore
Roosevelt by the Chicago convention for a
third term of the presidency, and have
pledged ourselves to use all honorable
means to defeat his election should he be
nominated, for the following reasons;—
First. Because all of us are unalterably
opposed to any person holding the office
of president of the United States for
more than two terms, whether such terms
are consecutive or not.
Second. Because most of us firmly be
lieve that nn upright, fearless, learned,
independent and responsible judiciary is
the main safeguard of our liberties, and
Theodore Roosevelt has- done all in his
power to lower the standard of the ju
diciary, and to make its decisions depend
ent not on the law of the land, but on
the shifting whim of the populace and his
own sovereign will.
Third. Because Theodnhe Roosevelt has
repudiated his former declarations, pledges
and promises, by becoming a candidate for
a third term.
Fourth. Because we believe in the con
stitutional limitations which the wise fram
ers of our government have placed around
the executive power, and because Theo
dore Roosevelt in his addresses to the
people has declared his intention of set
ting them at naught, or else has -wilfully
made promises to the people as to what
he would do as chief executive, well know
ing that they were promises which under
the constitution he could never fulfil.
Fifth. Because in his unprecedented
canvass for the nomination he has dragged
the highest office in the world into the
mire, and held it up to the ridicule of all
civilized nations in language wholly un
befitting.
All this we state with deep regret be
cause most of us were his former admir
ers. admiring his declarations and efforts
in behalf of a simple life, and in favor
of honesty in private and public transac
tions. which we at the time considered
sincere, and we deplore that his abnormal
ambition has led him to adopt a course
which has canceled all our former obliga
tions.
And we do hereby call upon the repub
lican voters of all other states, who are
intent to preserve the institutions of this
country, under which it has grown pros
perous’. and has become the foremost civ
ilized nation of the world, to organize at
once for the purpose of defeating the
nomination, by our national convention,
of Theodore Roosevelt for the presidency,
and failing in this to secure his defeat in
the election by all honorable means.
R. E. Rombauer, 803 Pierce building, St
Louis, is chairman of the antithird-term
republican league of Missouri. The anti
third-term pledge has been signed by sev
eral hundred prominent republicans of that
city, including the mayor and most of the
chief executive officers, bankers, manufac
turers, merchants, professional men and
others. The antithird-term pledge, which
is as good for other parts of the country
as it is. for Missouri, reads:—
■ Whereas, we firmly believe that “the wiss
custom which limits the president to two
terms regards the substance and not the
form," and means that no person should
hold that high office for more than two
terms, whether such terms are . consecutive
or not; and.
Whereas. Theodore Roosevelt. In violation
ot said custom, in violation of bis former
declarations and promises, seeks by means
heretofore unprecedented. To become the nom
inee ot the republican party for the presi
dency ;
Now. therefore, we. the undersigned, mem
bers of the republican party of the United
States of America, hereby pledge ourselves
that, even in case he should become such
nominee, we will not support him, hut use
such honorable means ns we deem most ef
fective to defeat his election.
THE NEW CRUSADE.
[From rhe New York Herald.]
We repeat, the only way in which the
colonel can proceed at Chicago is to go on
the principle that he is dealing with the
forces of unrighteousness and make no
compromise.
His attitude in this campaign has been
too high, his motives have been too pure,
his methods have been too lofty for him
to ever consent to any delegate who was
for Mr Taft being allowed to vote for him.
The colonel must refuse to recognize the
national committee, even if, headed by
Harry New, it should go to him and kow
tow in a body.
He that bandleth pitch will he defiled.
The colonel is too honest, too high toned a
man to have anything to do with mere poli
ticians.
He must make a real housecleaning.
Tho “real thing” in a reform whiter than
snow' and more innocent than childhood,
he must march along with Mr Flinn of
Pittsburg, Mr Ward of Winchester and Mr
Perkins of Harvestertown to the highest
plains of AutruHa.
THE GREAT NEED NOW.
[From Puck.l
The Politician—What is the next, ques
tion to bring before the American peo
ple?
The Voter—They have had questions
cjjotißli. What they’want is a few an
swers.
Columbia university in New York city
recognizes the labors of Congressman Os
car W. Underwood of Alabama, as “parlia
mentarian and publicist,” by conferring on
him the degree of doctor of laws—an honor
fitly'bestowed.