Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-22
WATTERsoN ON POLITICS
THINKS ROOSEVELT COULD NOT
BE RENoMINATED.
Can See Nothing in Democratic Situa
ton That Threatens the Leader
ship of Mr.. Bryan.

NEW YORK April 22.-Henry Waiter
son, the veteran editor of the Louisville
| Courier Journal, got in yesterday on the
| Hamburg line steamship Amerika. AL
though he had been abroad since early In
| December he had managed to keep TABS
pretty we'll on events in the United States
| He had heard a good deal about this talk
| in the United States of a third term for
Mr. Roosevelt but he didn't believe that
the President would accept the nomination
again. He was willing to take Mr.. Roose-
welt at his word.
1T is my understanding" said Col. Wat
terson,' that Mr.. Roosevelt said last win
ter TO a group of journalists that II the
republican national convention met and
nominated him and adjourned 1t would
have to reconvene. l know that hap
pened and l have accepted the President
word in good faith.
Even if Mr.. Roosevelt did want third
term it was the colonel'S opinion that
he couldn't get It, A reelection for Roose-
welt would be too much Ike Mexicanizing
the country the colonel said.
1T would" said Col. Watterson ike
wise, be lust as much of Naturalization
as the adoption of 16 to /.
Col. Watterson coldn't THROW any light
on the rich mems conspiracy, but he was
pretty certain that the lines of battle were
already being drawn pretty sharply pc
tween the administration and the field.
The colonel was interested in the news
that Assistant Postmaster General Hltcn-
cock was in the south searching out the
unfaithful republican federal office hold
ers.
1T goes without saying he commented,
that The Vice President is not in the held
for fun and the Vice President has plenty
of means with which to pay the freight
and there is good deal of freight lying
around loose in the south.
The Chic Situation.
Col Watterson thought that the defeat
of Taft in the primaries in Ohio wouldn't
necessarily mean his withdrawal as the
| admins tration's candidate. The colonel
recalled the nomination of Grover Cleve-
| land in 1892 after the New York delegation
| had refused TO support him and had de-
| clared that he couldn't carry the state
| He thought Mr.. Roosevelt might be ma
neuverng to put New York state safely
! behind TAFT
THE President said Col. Watterson, lis
| a very good machine politician. Isn't 1t
| true that he threw the civil service Sys-
tenn out of the window after he entered
| the White House, and that he has been
playing politics ever since? By the way
he seems to have played Mr. Hartman
| pretty effectively" The colCnels view OF
| the democratic situation wasn't rosy He
| thought the party might have q glorious
| chance of winning if there happened to be
| cholera in the Philippines, yellow fever IN
| bushel and corn to 10. Then again there
might be something doing for the demo-
Gratis if the split in the republican party
was big enough. In regard to Mr.. Bryan s
latest fetch, the initiative and referendum,
the colonel said:
"Mr Bryan is fond of speculation. and l
shouldn't be surprised at any novelty he
might trot out. Mr. Bryan is public
speaker, and he has to be both entertaining
and attractive if he is to hold out The
colonel didn't doubt Mr.. Bryans ability to
carry out his threat to drive everybody out
Of the democratic party who didn't &C
cept the initiative and the referendum.
The Possibilities.
able to accomplish anything depends, in
the colonel's opinion, on whether the frag
ments that lying around loose can be
| collected and united At present it seems
| to him that there are in the north at least
| two factions of the democracy which de-
| test each other more than they detest the
| republicans. In the south the democrats
| wear the label only and are held together
| by the race question. Besides, the demo-
| cratic party lacks executive leaders. The
stock has run down through disuse. The
party seems 10 have exhausted all Its re-
| sources in finding out the wrong way to do
| things. The republicans, on the other hand,
| have developed in recent years three or
| four frst-class crops of political managers.
The only thing for the democrats to do Is
and quit kicking the stuffing out of each
other.
The only chance that the colonel can see
now, though, is Bryan in 1908. But he
doubts whether Bryan cares a fig about
the nomination.