The evening times., 1900-06-15

4
be proven to be correct. That is to say,
| there can be no doubt at all now that The
| Odore Roosevelt is again uppermost in the
minds of the Republican bosses. OF
course it make no difference at all what
Roosevelt thinks or desires to do. The
! plain fact is the party needs Roosevelt to
strengthen Mr. McKinley's chances for re-
election. With such tremendous responsi-
/ bility as this placed squarely upon Roose-
velt's boasted party loyalty, it cannot be
understood how. when the crucial test
comes, he can decline the nomination for
/ the Vice Presidency.
Your correspondent is aware that this Is
| considerably at variance with the tenor of
/ dispatches on the subject during the past
forty eight hours. But the developments of
the last eight or ten hours make this view
OF the situation not only entirely reason
| able, but absolutely correct FROM present
| lights. The foregoing statements are
| based upon information, the reliability Of
| which cannot be questionei 10 the effect
that Mr.. Hanna, late last night received q
! personal telegram FROM the Hon. Cornelius
N Bliss. stating in terms that are ineapa-
BILE OF ambiguous Interpretation that he
could not consent to have his name voted
on for the Vice Presidency il the Coaven-
| tion.
This positive declination OF Mr. Bliss
/ at this time undoubtedly was caused by
! the strong importunites of Senator AIIi-
son. who. as stated by The Times this
| morning. went to New York wednesday
III
and Mr.. Mckinley to prevail upon Mr..
Bliss to accept the nomination. ROOse-
| Welt, it is confidently expected, will pro-
! ceed 10 kick vigorously against being
/ drafted, as is well known he has been
( doing for months. But il IS believed tie
/ coils are being drawn so tightly around
| him that either be will be compelled, IN
/ der the first law OF nature. that Of self
| preservation, TO yield TO the demands of
the party's masters, or suffer political an
| Inhalation.
| The Means of Coercion
1t is broadly intimated. by men very
close 10 Mr. Hanna that If Roosevelt at this
/ critical iuneture of party affairs shirks the
| obligation which now presses heavily upon
/ him. the stupendous powers OF the National
Administration will be turned against him
/ in New York and, with the aid Of the
/ PIatt machine in that State, Roosevelt VIII
/ be defeated for the gubernatoriai nomina-
tion. This threat. bold as it is, has been
communicated to Roosevelt since midnight
in manner that he cannot mislnterpret
! One little feature Of the deliberations Of
/ the Republican leaders. which may be OF
| consequence later on, If things go wrong.
| is induced by the settled conviction that
the Hon. Tom Taggart, OF Indianapolis. is
very apt to be the chief campaign manager
| for the Democrats. II is not known among
\ the Republican leaders here that Senator
4 Jones is TO retire. but it is understood that
whether he does or not, Mr.. Taggart viii
! be the head Of the Campaign Committee,
if not Chairman Of the National Commit
| tee. The general significance of this lies
in the fact that giving Mr.. Taggart this
post would be to place him in a position
where he could do more good to the politi-
clans of Indiana, if the Democrats should
win, than would be done for them if they
had candidate for the Vice Presidency.
Indiana is a doubtful State
| Aside from the great efficiency of A.r
! Taggart, his being the working head of
| the Committee would be great stimulus
to the Democratic workers Of that State
/ They would see great reward in sight and
would work for all that Is In them. The
! arousing of these politicians could not help
| but have an important effect in a Doubt
| full State
To counteract this there is some talk
l 20 y,ra IT,
| The Republican politicians from Indiana,
strange to say, are not particularly enam-
| ored of the Idea. They say that Fairbanks
strength in Indiana depends entirely upon
the fact that he is a staneh supporter of
! the Administration. Therefore his addi-
ton to the ticket would not help out a
/ bit
Winfield T. Durbin. the Indiana Repub-
| Iican candidate for Governor. is here and
admits to his friends that he has a hard
fight on his hands He says that he would
like TO be helped out if possible, although
he is making no suggestions. II cannot be
learned that he is willing to advise that
Fairbanks be placed on the ticket
Mr. Hanna's PoIiteness.
It was certainly very polite of Mr.. Han
ma to call meeting of the National Com
mittee week before the Convention had
its first meeting. This was distinctly
part of the obligation Of the Republican
party toward the City of Philadelphia for
the 100000 subscription. Even so, very
few chairmen would have been so obliging
in carrying out contract which was only
understood by the gentlemen representing
the city and of no consequence to the Re-
! publicans in general.
But MI Hanna is a very polite and OBJ
| liging gentleman when he sets himself cut
to be so, and in this case Philadelphia Is
Pronting- For it is the understanding here
that the country is in the throes Of great
political excitement, and philadelphia
thinks it is about to deliver something Of
vast importance to the whole word. 1t
Philadelphia and Return via ID. &
o. S4.OO.