He can find fault with
everybody and every party, but he can be loyal to none. He is
strong on leaving a party for the smallest excuse; never on
staying with it. It is as if a member of a football team, half an
hour before the game, should refuse to play, because some other
member of the team had once cheated in an examination. He
satisfies his own conscience, but he fails in the loyalty he owes
to the team and its friends.
At the convention in 1884 Roosevelt took an important part for so
young a man. He made speeches and worked for Senator Edmunds, but
Mr. Blaine was nominated. This caused a split in the party, and
many of its members joined the Democrats. They were called by
their opponents "Mugwumps," and since they believed they were
acting for the best, they did not mind being called that or any
other name.
So many prominent and able Republicans joined the Mugwumps it is
sometimes forgotten that many more equally good and wise
Republicans refused to "bolt," but stayed with the party and voted
for Mr. Blaine. Either they did not at all believe the charges
which had been made against him--and it is as impossible now as it
was then to prove the charges--or else they thought that the
country would be far worse off with the Democratic party in power
than with the Republicans successful.
Mr. Roosevelt was disgusted with the result of the convention, but
did not believe that he was justified in leaving the party.
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