Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1907-03-26

I'm the strictly ofacial seRse. but the
results d their ssrivIngs together this
session remain lnchoatr, The gov
complisA his purposes cannot be re- !
gaEaed ~ merely a state matter. u
he attalns his eads-"makes good.
M they say-his possibilities as o.
presidential candidate hex year
would need IN Dr. seriously considered.
and not even President RooseEsIts
desire 10 am some a else a. his
could thrust wholly into
the background the man who defeat
I'd Hearst. The name Of Gov, Hughes
for the present does not figure con'
spicuousiy In the discussions OF the
presidential succession. but that Ia
not because he 10 no longer a pOssibi-
lity. The country Ii merely waiting
for the governors power and quality
10 be- tested. In his state administra'
ton. as a political leader.
The New York situation Ii taking
time 10 develop. Conditions are a bit
peculiar. They are certainly very diff,
feFent from the conditions when Mr..
Roosevelt was governor directly after
the Spanish war. Although Mr.. Roose-
welt had been made governor In spite
Of the wishes of tho republican ma
chine. the republican bosses had very
early accepted him because OF his
popularity as "a war hero. As bosses
they remained completely In control
of the party organization. and Gov.
Roosevelt constantly dickered with
them In order 10 secure results from
the legislature. His frequent trips to
New York city to take breakfast with
Plat can not have been forgotten.
ptatt was sim supreme. and even o
dell was then In the kindergarten
The state had Ito bosses. In fact. clear
through the Roosevelt and odell i'd
Manifestations and part way through
that OF Higgins. Odeli overthrow
Plat andd ruled the party machine
until the scandals In insurance and
finance. which made 19O5-l906 sensa
tional. overwhelmed him. The legis,
lature In oil those years was greatly
influenced by the will of the boss oil
the period. although less SD than the
party organization. Gov, Higgins
even was able to control 1t largely b,
means of alliances which he contract
ed with certain minor politicians nj
ter 'Odeil's downfall.
There Is no boss In New York state
now. Higgins Is dead. Odell Is worse
than dead politically. And Plat ha'
~degenerated into u spectacle. Tim
othy Woodruff happens to be chair
mar of the republican state committee
but he has been abroad; and besides
what a you expect Of Timothy
There are left. on the republican side
a lot of politiCians--'leaders" som,
call them-who enjoy a local snpre
macy. Barnes Is supposed TO b.
master of Albany county; Raines IL
the overload Of up the state" as IA
up as one a get: Aldridge has hi;
HfIaN' - noVaAI,n ana ~n fFhnak
small men. however. are undoubtedt.
u power In the Legislature, as we'll n
In the party organization. provided
that they work together, They are
not In sympathy to any noticeable de-
gree with Gov. Hughes. whose nonli
nation was forced upon them, or wttf
his policies. The governors problem
therefore, amounts TO this. how to
master a group OF the smaller fry 81
politicians, In the absence Of a bi.,
boss, and make them contribute TO
the success OF his administration
While the problem is very different
from that which Gov. Roosevelt faced
In the halcyon days OF Plat, 1t is moi
without its special difficulties. par
ticularly for a man of Gov. Hughes
temperament.
Gov. Hughes has staked not a littla
on two issues. the determination o!
which will probably affect his pres
tige In the immediate future. One is
the removal of Mr.. Kelsey. for state
superintendent Of insurance. an In.
competent official; the other is the
~-so-called public utilities bill, designed
for the improvement Of the condi'
tons In rapid transit in New Yort
city. The case against Kesey is over
,-~helming, for the governor conv'"'
cingiy proved his. incompetence by
examining him concerning his duties