The National tribune., 1906-11-15


veterans and their friends. The situa-
| ton is far more favorable ts all this
legislation than it would have been ifI
the opposition had gained the ascend
ancy in Congress.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND POssIBILI-
TIES.
Mr.. Chas. F. Hughes. Governor-electI
of New York. is now in the limelight.
No man in the country more So except
President Roosevelt. He has opportuni-I
ties and possibilities second only tol
those of our present Chief Executive.
This is not simply because he has
been elected Governor of New York.
1t is because he has manifested i'll the
most unmistakable way qualities which
are dear to the American people ana
which are just now very much i'll de-
mand by them. His sudden rise toi
National prominence is something phe-
nomenal even in our Kaleidoscope toli-
tics.
Two years ago Charles - hughes
was absolutely unlino%n outside of a
very small SGT Of leading New York
lawyers and his hone and church cir
cles. He suddenly leapt into wide rapu-
tation by his conduct os the invcstiga-
tions of the great insurance companies
Every step that he sooi in those cases
commanded public applause. There
was absolutely nothing of the sensa-
tionalist or the notorety-seeker in hi
course. He wiIfuIiy neglected or alb
solutely repressed opportunities that Il
smaller man would have eagerly seized
upon to make sensational points and
draw public attention to himself He was
simply and obstinately bent upon OBJ
tanning the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth without regard
to whom it affected or it's consequences
to himself. 1t was an impersonal but
as unrelenting and exact as a chemical
analysis. There was not thought of
making capital for or against any party
for or against any man. and least of all
Tor himself. The facts were pursued
with consummate legal skill. and the
whole proceeding was so novel in in
Vest!gations and so rich in exact, in
disputable results that it fascinated the
people. President Roosevelt showed
himself to be the consummate politician
that he is by brushing aside all of the
aspirations, the enmities and revcnses
of the New York politicians and die
tating the nomination of this man who
was absolutely free from political OBJ
legations and antagonisms and so ca
pable of maintaining himself under the
fierce fire which the campaign would
direct upon him. The selection emil
nently justified the President Prob
ably any other man that the Repub-
licans of New York would have put up
would have been hopeIessly beaten. nj
District Attorney Jerome had taken the
Democratic nomination New York
would have gone overwhelmingly Dem
ocratic. Added to the abominabIe dis
sensiOns and incurable jealousies wasl
an immense accumulation of scandals
corruptions and malpractices, official
and private, for all of which the Re-
publican Party was naturally held re-
sponsible. Hearst, the political quack
was offering nostrums to cure all these
evils and advertising them with the
skill of a patent medicine publishing
agent. His specious proclamations took
hold of the more ignorant and unthinil-
ing, like a circus poster. and he also
drew to him many thousand voters who
felt that, little as they liked him, his
election would be such a stinging rebuke
TO the Republicans that it was worth
while administering. Mr.. Hughes en-
! tered the campaign against all these
adverse influences. He was not a poll
| tical speaker; he had none of the the
atric arts of the spellbinder; he is not
particularly prepossesslng man in ap-
pearance and has never cultivated those
valuable qualities of a politician, gen
iality and magnetism" All the same
he met with astonishing success wher-
ever he appeared. His solid, unflinch-
| ing common sense, his evident honest
of purpose, the directness and clear
ness of what he said fascinated the
| people, who had become aweary of the
glittering periods and the cheer-raising
| rhetoric of the professional speIlbinder
When the canvass ended his straight
| forward sincerity was more than al
! i.idt'u Ioi all tIt llul representations
| of Hearst and his supporters. He had
| the sovereign virtue Of inspiring conf
dence in the people, who felt that he
could be trusted, while no one can con-
vince himself that Mr.. Hearst can be.
The end of the campaign, therefore,
| has lifted Mr.. Hughes into prominence
as one of the men whom the people
can reasonably expect to become one
| of the country's actual leaders Of
course, he has before him two years of
most trying experience as Governor Of
| New York, and there is no certainty as
to how he will meet all that he has to
/ encounter in his new position. He may
| fall as fiat as other men who have
| suddenly leapt into prominence. on
| the other hand, by successfully meet
ing every problem he may become as
foremost as Theodore Roosevelt has
made himself. In his speech upon be-
4 ing notified of his election, Mr.. Hughes
/ showed that he felt more than any
thing else the responsibilities of his po-
sition. He said as much, and he might