Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-05-31
Especial Washington Letter

presidential aEpirantS feel un-
comfortable every time they
think of Mr.. Speaker Cannon or
see his name or picture in a paper or
magazine and they have good cause
for alarm. The presidential stock of
Uncle Joe goes higher every day He
capers about as nimbly as two-year-
old thoroughbred, attends to his oner-
GUS duties with great regularity, is
present at all public functions OF note,
and his popularity grows apace. The
dinner which he gave at Wizards 8,
which brought together more notables
than ever before ate speakers din
ner, and the birthday party which the
house of representatives gave him
without reference to party lines and
which brought the entire Washington
political world together. We're amazing
testimonials to the esteem in which
Uncle Joe is held.
Once in the last congress William Al
den Smith of Michigan in an outburst
of eloquence suggested that the speak
err might be president. and the house
went wild. That was before Colonel
Roosevelt was nominated in 1904.
Jan. s in three hours speech on the
tariff / was paying my respects to the
stand patters in general and to Secre-
tary Shaw in particular. Among other
things, / declared that if the stand
patters controlled the convention Sec
rotary Shaw would be nominated. See
ing the speaker in front of me, / added
as a s.feeler'' unless there should ride
into the presidential lists that grim
and grizzled warrior, Joseph G. Can
non of illinois," which brought out
wild applause OF course it is not my
business to be nominating Republican
presidential candidates, but / thought
there was no harm in feeling the pulse
of the house.
That personally he is the most popu-
lar man among the Republicans promi-
nently mentioned for the highest place
there can be no question. His rugged
character, his unquestioned honesty, bis
long experience, his bonhomme, bis free,
offhand manner, his large capacity, all
contribute to his remarkable status.
Talk to his admirers about his seventy
years and they grin in your face. The
invariable reply is that he's good for
twenty years of service yet, and, truth
to tell be acts more like man of fifty
than one Of threescore and ten. Sug-
gest to the Cannon enthusiasts that out
of the multitude of sneakers who have
aspired to the presidency only one
James Knox Polk reached the goal.
and they reply that Uncle Joe will
break the hoodoo. So it goes.
It is reported that some representa-
tive, name unknown, is carefully pre-
pairing an elaborate speech to deliver in
the house nominating Uncle Joe for the
presidency. That will be a red letter
day for the house and the newspapers,
but it will be largely a waste of breath
ON the orators part. Uncle Joe is al
ready in the running nolens volens. If
the convention of 1904 had not been
securely nailed down he would have
been nominated then.
Of course I'm out to see Democrat
elected; but. If Providence for some in
scrutable reason intends to give US an
other Republican president, Uncle Joe
will do as well as any Republican and
far better than most Of them. He's
genuine American Most Of his po-
litical ideas are wrong, but his heart
beats true.