The age-herald., 1900-03-25
MUCH INTEREST IN NEW YORK POLITICS That State Conceded ViCe-Presi-
 dentiaI Candidate, WOODRUFF AND ROOSEVELT One of These May be Chosen-David B Hill is Again Coming to the
 Front in Democratic
 Circles

l Washington, March A.-CSpecial)-T l political situation in New York is attract l ing attention in Washington. One hears | considerable gossip on condition there. De- l spite the desire of many western men for 1 the nomination of a western republican | for vice president, 1t is generally conceded 1 that New York will name the vice presi- l dential candidate The latest gossip has 1t | that Senator Platt is against the nomina- l tion of Lieutenant Governor Timothy l.. | Woodruff for that office It Is asserted on l the authority of New York congressman 1 who Is very close to the Easy Boss" that l MT. Platt has informed Woodruff of this unwilingness to stand for his nomination. No name is mentioned as being Mr. Platt's | choice. But if MT. Platt is not now friend | ly to MT. Woodruffs candidacy, he is cer- | tainly embarrassed by the strength 1t has | developed in New York state, and by the | fact that so many of the republican lead
 CTS in the state are really committed to the | Brooklyn man. MT. Patt does not like to
 have his lieutenants against him. He wants | to avoid friction, but if he takes an open | attitude of opposition to Woodruff he will 1 have some difficulties to meet.
 | Personally he would prefer to have Gov l ernor Roosevelt nominated, but he knows | that Roosevelt does not care for that hon. | or, and Is fully aware that Roosevelts un- willingness to accept is so strong as to
 make a refusal certain If it should be | forced upon him. Roosevelt feels that his l course as governor must be indorsed by l renomination, and there does not appear to | be any doubt that he will receive it, though 1 some of the republican leaders would be | very glad to see him taken out of state | politics.
 Roosevelt Not So Popular
 l It appears to be the opinion in Washing l ton that Governor Roosevelt will have a | much harder time to carry New York for 1 the governorship than MT. Mckinley will | for the presidency Roosevelt, nominated l just after the war with Spain, with the | people stirred up by his military record, | carried New York by thirteen thousand 1 only. Roosevelt is no more popular, it is | argued, than when he was elected. He has
 made some enemies and the people are not | so fervently patriotic or warlike as they | were in 1898. MT. Mckinley may not be as popular he was when elected in 1896. | but the Issues upon which he must run will ] be purely national, while those upon which 1 Roosevelt must stand will be largely local. | A democrat who believes in gold may easily | feel he can vote against Roosevelt with | out doing any injury to gold, but vote l against Mckinley would naturally be one l against gold.
 The New York democratic organization | argues this way, at any rate, and feels | that 1t has far better chance to defeat | Roosevelt than 1t has to carry the state | for Bryan; and notwithstanding the appar- | ent devotion of New York democratic lead | CTS to Bryan, they will not take as much i, interest in his election as they will in ! purely local fight That local matters are | considered far more important in New | York state among democrats than national l ones has been proved several times in the | past. It is understood to be the present | determine tion of the New York democracy | to nominate the strongest man they can l find for governor, and to concentrate their | efforts In electing him. It can be seen, then. | that no matter how popular Roosevelt may | be his fight for reelection must be harder | than that of the republican national tick | ct in New York state.
 l The Democratic Candidate
 | The question naturally arises, in this
 connection, as to the candidate the New | York democracy will choose. David Ben | net Hill in spite of the unfriendliness of | Richard Croker. seems to have control of | the New York democratic machine. While | Croker has been engrossed in New York | City, affairs and racing horses in England, | Hill has been practicing law in Albany, | saving nothing, and seemingly forgotten by | the people of that state. While practicing | law he has not been idle. He is one of the l best organizers in the country, and quiet | ly and unobstrusively he has been organ | izing the upstate democracy. Then, too, | fortune has been friendly to him. Tam | many's rule in New York City has devel- 1 oped another scandal.
 The present forced spasm of virtue of the | police department of that city and the | events which caused 1t have weakened | Tammany's hold. and the upstate democ | racy are less inclined than ever to bow to l Tammany's yoke.
 Hill, if he wants 1t, can have the nomin- | ation for governor. and many New York democrats regard him the strongest pos | sfble candidate. His nomination would sur | prise no close observer of the New York | situation It would offer him an opportun- | ity to enter the political field openly as a | power again, and his defeat of Roosevelt, | should that result from his candidacy, | would place him in line for the presidential l nomination in 1904, should MT. Bryan be de- | feated this year and a reorganization of the | party be necessary.
 Democratic vice-Presidency
 There is very little gossip in Washing | ton regarding the democratic party, and the | vice presidency It seems to be the desire of the leaders to be silent on this point ] One hears. however that New York state | man is not unlikely to be chosen. Of course it will not be William Sulzer. The national | democrats have taken his measure too ac- | curately. Yet 1t might be one of Sulzer's | colleagues. Colonel George B. Mcclellan | carries historic name and a good record | in congress. There Is another New York City man, who is now receiving attention, and according to a report reaching here, seriously considered at work in New York. | That is Amos Cummings, who has been | in congress for a number of years, and was
 chairman of the committee on naval af- | fairs in the two congresses over which | Judge Crisp of Georgia, one of the best l democrats who ever came from the south, | whose loss was heavy blow to the nation- | al democracy. Cummings has splendid | war record, and is a regular democrat, to | whom MT. Bryan is not unfriendly.
 | Country Stirred Up
 It is really surprising how much the coun- ty has been stirred up by the Porto Rican | tariff. Every visitor to Washington brings | reports of popular opposition to the Porto | Rican tariff, and when closely questioned | remarks that the opposition Is largely sen | timental, but very strong nevertheless.