''That  is  the  whole  story  of  the  larger  number
of  southern  contests  that  were  started  early
in  the  game.  It  was  never  expected  that  they
would  be  taken  very  seriously;  they  served  a
useful  purpose^  and  now  the  National  Commit-


668  THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1912

tee  is  deciding  them  in  favor  of  Taft;  in  most
cases  without  any  real  division."


Beyond  any  question  it  is  true  that
the  last  few  weeks  preceding  the  convention
many  delegates  were  elected  for  Roosevelt
because  of  the  false  claims  put  forth  by  his
managers  that  he  had  a  large  lead  in  the  contest
—  claims  which  they  well  knew  to  be  false  —  to
the  number  of  at  least  150  delegates  represented
by  "fake"  contests.
The  true  psychology  of  the  Roosevelt  pro-
ceedings at  Chicago  became  perfectly  plain.
