The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-06-24
A COMING MAN

Harry Walker, In the New Yorker
 Believing there is another Presidency in the affirmative end Of the protective tariff, Senator Stephen B. Elkins of West Virginia, Washington and New York has started after 1t. He has bad case of "bee in the bonnet" and cannot rest day or night for It's buzzing. He Is pos ing as an apostle of high protection and as the logical representative of con servative Americanism. His enormous wealth puts him in touch with the cap .talistic class. which he discovers Is lin- ing up against Roosevelt and he is pos ing as safe man on issues affecting ma teral intersts.
 His recent move for the annexation of Cuba, according to the plan carried out in the case of Texas, is a distinct gall lery play and obvious anti-Roosevelt. His many recent utterances, private and public, arc designed as much to call pointed attention of the protected class es to the wobbly and uncertain attitude of the President on the tariff, as to his own loyalty to that beautiful grab-all principle In addition to his own vast wealth and financial connections among the money powers behind the political scene Senator Elkins can command the millions and the pull of his father-in- law, former Senator Davis, of West Vir- glnia. Senator Davis might be worried if forced to choose between son-in-law nd h f1o rta bttci associate, Senator German. but with either in the White House the latch string would always be out for him. It would not be necessary for him to send a delegate ahead to secure for him an audience.
 Senator ElKins is much misunder- stood man. As a means to an end he amassed fortune first. and was not over particular how he got money so that be got it. Audacious land piracy in New Mexico and partnership with Steve Dorsey and others ir star mail routes made him a millionaire many times over before he was fifty. A part of ais accumulations he invested in West Virginia coal and lumber land, and he is now worth s15,OOo,OOO to s2o,OOo.oOO. As a
 
 studious and thorough student in Co., lumba College, Missouri. The ludicrous termination of a wild prank the night before the college commencement dim med somewhat the briliancy of his vale dictory, but the incident, though laugh able and a sore spot in the Elkins cuticle was not important In latter years Sen ator Elkins has profted much by the habits of study formed in those Missouri college days. He Is an incessant reader and has one of the finest private H. braries in the United States. He is sin gularly endowed for the career of a politician. having the brains for intrigue, the genius for organization, the nerve to execute, the money to equip and a species of cold-blooded calculation akin to cruelty. At his right hand is Dick Kerens, one of the most influential poli- ticians in the West, who, by the way, has beer turned down by President Roosevelt and has therefore a deep per sonal reason for plotting the downfall of the White House incumbent, quite aside from his wish for the elevation of his next best friend Steve" Elkins Yet with all these anc other advantages I rise to predict that even though Steve Elkns succeeds in killing Roosevelt's chances, the nomination will not be for hln, but for Hanna.