296 FAMOUS LIVING AMERICANS porarily vacant may be permanently vacated by those who have the right to occupy them at this time I ' ' ' * Time has vindicated Senator LaFoUette. Within less than a decade he has reached a position of recognized leadership and commanding influence. Most of the senators who sought to rebuke and discipline him have been retired from public life and many of his opponents in other fields of national pol- itics have been hurled from the seats of the mighty. Every legislative advance, either in the regulation of railroad rates or in the revision of the tariff, has been a practical recogni- tion of the poUtical ideals of Senator LaFoUette. The growth of the progressive movement within the Republican party is the concrete result of the Wisconsin idea transferred to the arena of national politics. Whatever part this movement may play in the future drama of American politics it will be com- pelled to reckon with the leadership of Robert M. LaFoUette. That Senator LaFoUette was the ** logical candidate of the Republican party for president in 1912 is quite generally ad- mitted by impartial students of contemporary poUtics. Also that he was the first choice of the rank and file of the party is undoubtedly true. The circumstances leading to his defeat in the convention are not a matter for discussion in this place. However, it is only fair to say that he was generally regarded at the close of the campaign of 1912 as stronger than ever in the confidence of the people who beUeve that he wiU continue for many years as a leader in the cause of democracy and rep- resentative government. Modem civilization is complex, its problems are intricate. The conditions of present-day Uf e reveal the utter uselessness of the old method of political diplomacy with its poUcy of evasion and compromise. The new statesmanship is con- cerned with the estabUshment of economic and social condi- tions congenial to the development of better and happier living. The subject of this sketch typifies the essential honesty of this new school of statesmanship. Honesty has always been
- A Personal Narrative of Political Experience, pp. 411-412.
