Today -100: March 20, 1912: Of warships and primaries

First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill gives a speech in Parliament saying that Britain plans to keep building warships at a faster rate than any of its competitors, and this means you, Germany (specifically, he wants to build 60% more ships than Germany does).

A couple of days ago, President Taft claimed to support presidential primaries, such as those just set up by the Massachusetts Legislature (only 6 states had provisions for them at the start of the year), but with lots of caveats and, as Roosevelt points out, only several days after Massachusetts had already enacted them. But what about Maryland, Michigan and elsewhere, TR asks, where Taft’s people are fighting primary legislation tooth and nail?