The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-12-04


likely to be tower OF strength 20 Vice
President Fairbanks. The Southern
Republicans seem TO be coming tho
Vice Presidents way. He had a tri-
umphal trip to Alabama a few month.
ago. The Southerners like him. Now
he is going again to the South-this
time TO open "A mid-winter fair i'm
} Florida. 1t appears that his popularity
extends to several Southern states and
apparently there is little doubt that he
will have large bunch of Southern
delegates.
, At this time the Vice President and
the Secretary Of War appear as the two
. leading contestants. The other as
: pirants seem to have small chance.
/ Perhaps the situation will change very
materially. President Roosevelt's atti-
tude may affect IT. although politicians
are coming gradually to the conviction
that Roosevelt will not have a renomi-
nation and that It is useless to urge IT.
). A year from now the two National
Committees will meet in Washington To
fix dates for the nominating conven.
tions. That is always the formal open-
Ing of the presidential campaign. 1t
quicRens the popular interest to the
fact that the great quadrennal struggle
is coming.
No one expects now that any new
man will figure among the candidates
OF the Republican party. Events will
not likely develop new presidential ma
terial. Governors of states have oc-
casionally grown to presidential size.
There are no Republican governors or
governors-elect who can be counted
upon to qualify within the next
| eighteen months Governor elect Chas.
p. Hughes of New York? Possibly. but
| 1t Is not probable. The enthusiastic
campaign talk of his availability will
be forgotten in few weeks Odell
was doomed for the presidency after
his reelection as Governor. So have
other New York governors been SINH
larly doomed and forgotten. 1t is al
most certain that the nominee will be
from out of the West-where Fairbanks
and Taft are now strenuously groom
ing.
ROOSEVELT IN THE RAIN.
The President has had rainy days in
Panama. Heavy rains have often at
tended the President on important oc-
casions. They never embarrass him in
carrying out his program. He does
not mind getting wet to the skin.
when Prince Henry, brother of Kaiser
Wilhelm, visited Washington the Pres
ldent took him out on a horseback
ride in the midst of a great downpour-
ing. The President seemed to like the
weather. Prince Henry was too court
eous to express his disapproval of the
torrents.
"Wadding through the mud of Pan
ANA" made q fine headline. To most
mortals II would have been far more
disagreeable task than sitting under
a tight roof. 1t is probably no exag-
geration that the President found wad\-
ing in the mud personally preferable
to remaining in his hotel and enduring-\
the official courtesies which were of |
Tar less interest to him than finding
out something about the construction
of the isthmian canal. One can not
secure much detailed information about
such gigantic project in so short a
time as the President was on the
isthmus. Nevertheless he has learned
enough to help him materially here
after in dealing with canal questions.
1t will have some effect with the
country and with Congress that the su-
pervision over the canal is exercised
by men who have at least a little per-
sonal knowledge gained on the ground.
Both the President and Secretary Taft
can now discuss canal matters with
little more authority because both of
them have been to Panama.
INAUGURATING PANAMA.
One of the Presidents ambitions is
to have the construction work well ad-
Vanced and all the troublesome pre-
liminary problems out of the way be-
fore he leaves the White House. 1t
VIII be a long time after that, of
course, before the two oceans are act
ually welded and big ships are float
ing through, but he wants his admin
1stration to have the credit for fully
the work and for having
pushed II to such a stage that it's COM
pletion is assured. More than two
years remain for him to direct the big
undertaking. Inside of eight or ten
months he hopes to have extensive con-
tracts awarded. If his plans succeed
the dirt will be flying in enormous
volume within year and before March
4, 1909, enough will have been accom-
pltshed in the digging to assure the
linking of Roosevelt's name to the
project beyond that of any President
who comes after him.
THE NEGRO IN POLITICS.
BY far the biggest furry of recent
days grows out of the discharge of
negro soldiers of the 25th Infantry for
the participation of some twenty of
their number in the shooting up' of
Brownsville, Tex. 1t threatens to be-
come important politically. 1t is al
ready wrenching the Presidents popu-
larity with the negro race. Indigna-
tion meetings have been held in New
York and Boston. The New York
County Republican organization has
been prompt to intercede, in the hope
that the President will modify the
order he issued for the discharge OF
those soldiers without honor. In Bos-
ton the negroes met in Faneuil Hall,
the cradle of liberty, and passed con-
demnatory resolutions. Mayor Fitzger-
aid was present, the Democrats ap-
parently being willing to gain a little
party advantage out OF the embarrass-
ment Of the Republicans.
1t should be noted that the order
was issued by the President. who ap-