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Newspaper Page Text
CANDIDATE HUGHES' "SWAT THE FLY" POLICY STIRS WRATH OF TEDDY ROOSEVELT his Old Guard backing had accepted the issue in the nominal and tech nical manner only, and had not in tended to carry out its spirit So Roosevelt decided to show Hughes and the Republican cam paign managers what he thinks a candidate ought to talk about. He thereupon sat down and wrote his Maine speech, which was delivered in Lewiston, Aug. 31, in which he did not mention the Durand case or the appointment of E. Lester Jones, or talk about Myron T. Herrick and the embassy at Paris. Instead, he repeated all the most savage things he had ever side about hyphenates and the foreign policy of Pres. Wilson, specifically mentioning the German-American alliance "by name, the Lusitania affair, the kill ing of Edith Cavell, the invasion of Belgium and the "murders" in Mex ico. The speech contains 10,000 words all words on subjects not alluded to by Charles E. Hughes on his west ern trip. The success of Hughes depends on the extent to whch he gets the Roosevelt following. Roosevelt could have beaten Hughes by accepting the Progressive nomination. He could beat him now by denouncing Hughes and his following as un worthy of confidence. It is not like ly Roosevelt will do this; having made his decision between Wilson and Hughes he will probably stand by it. But his standing by it does not al ter the fact as to his disappointment and the disappointment of his follow ing. Nothing can hide the fact that Hughes has chosen to steer clear of giving offense to the German-Americans and is determined to make a" "safe and sane" campaign on incon sequential issues, rather than make .a- filangjanfeadminjstiatipji cam-i BY GILSON GARDNER New York, Sept 6. All the pro gresses, from Roosevelt down, are disappointed with Hughes' perform ance in the west Nothing, they think, could be worse! Instead of talking "Americanism" Hughes has talked civil service re form. Instead of denouncing the German-American alliance, as- they expected he would, he has denounced "extravagance." Roosevelt is all but ready to throw up his hands and let Hughes and his managers go the rest of the way alone. Roosevelt feels though he may not admit it publicly that he has been tricked. He probably will not say so openly, but he is not good at hiding his feelings, and I find that Roosevelt's disappointment in Hughes is an open secret at both party headquarters here. Roosevelt feels that he did not step aside for Hughes in order that the ex-justice might inaugurate a "swat-the-fly" campaign. He stepped aside because Hughes agreed to accept the issue Roosevelt had made for him the issue of Americanism and be cause Roosevelt believed a candidate standing for this issue could defeat Wilson. He considered the defeat of Wilson a patriotic duty. Now the Roosevelt following feel that their sacrifice has been in vain and that Wilson probably will be re elected anyhow. Naturally, Roosevelt is bitterly disappointed. He took the Hughes statement made after the Republi can nomination, at its face value. The repetition of it in a milder form in Hughes' letter of acceptance he made the most of, but when Hughes had traveled from New York to San Francisco without a mention of the Roosevelt issues or an allusion to the German-American alliance, the colo jiel began to -realize. that-Hughes-and,