The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1907-06-25
BROWNSVILLE
THE ISSUE
Negro Republicans Trying to
Defeat Taft
In the Border States. Kentucky Maryland
and West Virginia Negroes are Solid
for Foraker and Have Consider
able Power.

yeIopments that the negro revolt
against President Roosevelt for his
attitude in the Brownsville matter
is going to cut more of a figure in
politics than has been expected. In
Iexplanation of the failure of the
Kentucky republican State conven-
ton to indorse Secretary Taft, 1t
is said here today that fear of ne
groes boiling the ticket this fall
prevented this action.
A letter written by Charles
Gerrish, a we'll known Foraker
lieutenant, advising Ohio negroes to
bolt republican tickets this fall in
localities where the county COM
mittees have declared for Taft has
already been published.
It is now clear that Foraker
bases his strongest hopes of COM
polling the Taft camp to come,to
terms on this club of the negro
vote. There is no doubt as to the
negroes of Ohio and the country
at large being with Foraker. What
effect this attitude of the negro
will have On the white voters
remains to be seen.
This is interesting in view of the
fact that Senator Foraker is rally
ing Ohio negroes to his standard
with the Brownsville riot for an
issue. 1t is interesting, too. because
the republican state convention of
Kentucky was the first to be held
after the announcement that the
Taft managers had started out
from Ohio after other States. They
went after Kentucky first, and
there is no doubt that they expec-
ted an Endorsement there 1t would
have been a big help at this time.
The Taft men declare that they |
have Kentucky, and the newspaper
of that convention credit |
them viii passing resolution
which declared for the selection
by the next National convention
for president of one in full accord
with these (Roosevelt) policies"
over the determined opposition of
the anti-Taft men.
The latter were able to secure
the insertion of the phrase with
out expressing a preference for
anycandidate, where the Taft men
had hoped for a specific declaration
in his favor But the resolution de-
a Roosevelt type of presi-
dent is the one drawn up in the
White House itself for conventions
Of Roosevelt republicans to pass
his year, and there is no doubr
out that the Knox-Canuon-Fair-
banks combination would have
stopped it if they could.
There is that much evidence,
han, for the claim of the Taft
men that they controlled the Ken
.uky convention. But controlling
It, they could not obtain a specific
Taft Endorsement, because their
Kentucky republican friends feared
the effect on the negro republican
vote Kentucky, unlike most of
the Southern States, has negro
vote.
So have her border sisters,
and West Virginia. The
negroes of Baltimore were said in
1 Baltimore dispatch to have con-
tributed to the recent defeat of the
candidate for mayor of
Baltimore, for whose success At
:orney General Bonaparte had
made himself personally respon-
;ible.
Here, too. it was the Browns
vile issue. Such are the political /
first fruits of this purely race issue
in the preconvention presidential
campaign of 1908. Keenly inter
ested politicians are pricking up
heir ears and asking how firmly
and how far the BLACK battalion"
IS Foraker and his negro sup
oorters themselves call it, will
march through this campaign.
For BURNs.-An excellent re-