The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-08-07
h WILL BE PITTED
AGAINST WIN. J. BRYAN,

l. N'NA II" III =
ne becomes the Genius 81 Our Institu-
ions n with his hayward Whit
loIAs. ms eagle eEe. MS fighting Rome
nose M his firm jaw covered win
an uhderbrush OF beard. he is p livino
of 70" We spirit
1t might be understood by the stranp-
er tnat Uncle joe is something Of the
olzarie, II not sometimes almost q buf-
looh. Nothing could be further from,
me truth. He never INDUCES in horse
pay and has never been accused Of
posing or taking advantage of his owa
pecdllarltles in order to impress the
CROWD. What he say is usually the
essence OF hard sense. He does not
spread the eagles wing, nor trv II
tlckle the crowd with epigram.
Uncle Joe" comes from Illinois. .
fairly good habitat of presidential ma
terlal. he knows the workings of the
government course. as we'll as any
other man. HIS popularity both in
congress and among the people is very
great. He is now in demand more than
any other American as a campaign
speaker. A few months ago Uncle
Joe" declared that he would rather re-
main speaker than be president. Whtn
asked II he was a candidate for Dresi-
Gent he replied Significantly: Scat
But 1t would not be strange if his name
should lead all the rest in 1908.
Leslie NJ. Shaw, Secretary of the
treasury is an an~defatigable campaign
er and q starwart standpatter. He
shares with Vice President Fairbanks
the unusua honor Of being an Out-and-
out candidate for the presidency. 4
lew month ago he was regarded with
apprehension by other candidates. and
he is by no means out of the race. If
the st2ndpatters and tariff revisiOnists
should begin to pull and haul, for eX-
ample. and the tariff should be the
issue, it is possible that Secretary Shaw
might be chosen by the stand-pat ele-
ments of the republican party as the
ideal candidate.' His standpatism is
of the deepest dye, and his ability to
make his meaning clear is not excellad
by any speaker of either party. When
the tariff question is left out OF the
equation, however Secretary Shaw must
also be left out. He is not especially
other question.
prominent in connection with anv
President Roosevelt said to a friend
last winter: IF by walking on my
hands and knees from here t the cap
itOl | could secure the election Of Elihu
Root as president, | would gladly dr.
it. He added, however, that he realiz-
ed the impOssibility of Mr.. Roots
nomination. The secretary of state
himself is we'll aware Of the handicap
under which he labOrs in the minds OF
the people, as being too closely allied
J to the money power of New York
Mr.. Root is undeniably the ablest man
in the Cabinet. and under other cOndi-
tons his elevation to the presidency
would be almost a fOrgOne conclusion.
In Washington he is rearded merely as
a remote possibility-an honest, patrio-
tic, and gifted man whose environment
is u~nfavOrable.
Senator Foraker, Of Ohio. said last
winter that he was not to be consider
ed in connection with the presidency,
that in years he had cherished h
hope of becoming president, but that
he perceived o the impossibility OF
realizing that great ambition. Mr.. For
aker's dashing personality, his superb
courage. as displayed in the railroad
rate debate, and a hundred other en-
counters; his keen intellect as a law
yer and statesman, and his clean-cut
AL1eI1CdulS1u poSSSS IL liz III many
republicans who have chung to the hope
that he would yet be elected president.
The fates appear to have been against
"Fighting ice" Foraker. He has won
fortune, fame, and influence. but he
has never yet been within sight OF the
portico of the White House. If any
one Of a thousand ifs" had happened,
his brilliant and audaciOus OhiOan
,-o,,l1 hora rcocl,pA the nmml He
may be placed there yet; but the
chances are as n in a thousand az
cording to the present aspect OF the
stars.
In those great crowds which thrih
under the thunders of ''%eloquence" and
form their opinions Of government by
the teachings of Chautauqua lecturers,
the name of Robert Marion LaFollette
is fondly cherished. His admirers ara
not lukewarm in their praise Of his
leonine courage. They think they see
in him a political Moses whose rugged
honesty and high fOrtitude will lead
them out of the wilderness into q
political paradise.
Senator La FOllette's peculiar man.
ner of speaking has a great charm tor
n large class of people. The semblance
of intense earneStneSS. the almost
threatening visage, the enormous vol
ume of voice coming from a small but
muscular body, seem TO carry conv.c-
ton straight to the hearts Of his ad-
mirers. In the senate this style OF
oratory is u of place, and naturally
it had little effect. The senate, in fact.
is a lethal chamber for mere "oratory.
But it would be foolish TO estimate a
mans strength by his standing in the
senate. The senate is not a pet If
the people, and never was. If the
current of popular feeling should set
in strongly for Mountaineering
ANYTHING under the sun that promises
q new dealt is easy 10 imagine Sem
ator LaFollette as the champion, the
martyr. and the c%onqueror. He is a