The great struggle that is going on between Mr. Roosevelt
and President Taft remains, as we write, undecided. Friday's news seems to show, however, that Mr. Roose- velt's supporters will be beaten at the Convention. He will then have to decide whether to let hie delegates stop in the Convention and insist, as they probably could, upon a third candidate being chosen, in order to secure unanimity, or else to " bolt," that is, withdraw hie supporters, break up the unity of the Republican Party, and run as an Independent candidate. It is stated that negotiations in which these alternatives are being considered are now going on, but the result cannot be known before we go to press. For ourselves we trust that Mr. Roosevelt will stand as an Independent candidate and appeal to the American people as a whole rather than to one party. We are quite aware that representative government can in normal times be best worked under a party system, but though we hold this view we consider that, in order to prevent party tyranny or, if you will, party putrefaction, leading statesmen must be pre- pared on occasion to break away from party in the larger national interests and, in American political phraseology, to " bolt." The right to " bolt " and the will to " bolt " is indeed a necessary antiseptic of the party system, and prevents its decay.
