Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-19
FAvORITE SONS FOR 1903
rrom ChIcneo Record-IIeraId

RecOrd-HeraId
stances such as exist at the present
Ohio will send either q Taft or a
Foraker delegation, and even should
it be Foraker that will not eliminate
Secretary Taft from consideration, for
taking action favorable to the secre-
tary of war and he cannot be turned
down by politicians in the state where
he happens to reside. Taft, i'm short,
is bigger than a mere favorite SON.
and the fact that he Is believed to be
the man favored by President Roose-
welt will operate to give him great
strength among the masses of Roose-
welt admirers who take the president
question TO persuade him to run again.
Indiana, of course, will back Fair
banks, although a good many of the
Hoosier political leaders may cross
their fingers when his name is pre-
sented Illinois, according to expecta-
tion in Washington and in the light
of action by conventions in the state
last summer, will honor Speaker Cam
non.
Wisconsin, it is expected, will present
a candidate, even If fight be necessary
to decide who he shall be. The La Fol
lette men will endeavor to select dele
cation committed to him-one that the
senator can handle as he pleases when
the time arrives to change the vote, II
a change be necessary.
on the other hand, the Spooner people
think that by next year events VIII
create new wave of enthusiasm III
favor of the brilliant senator who mas
just resigned his seat to practice law
Iowa will undoubtedly present either
Governor Cummins or former Secretary
of the Treasury Shaw
In the last free-for-all convention
fight--in 1SSS-there were seventeen ia
vorite sons and dark horses who re-
ceived substantial support or scattering
votes. The favorite sons who cut
real figure were John Sherman OF ONO,
Chauncey M. Depew of New York. Rus
sell A. Alger of Michigan, Benjamin
Harrison of Indiana, Senator Allison of
Iowa, James G. Blaine of Maine, John
J. ingalls, of Kansas Governor Jere- |
mah M. Rusk of Wisconsin and Will
liam Walter Phelps of New Jersey.
Walter @. Gresham of Indiana was sec
ond on the list on the second ballot, al
though his state was for Harrison.
Mayor E. H. Fitler Of Philadelphia had
the Philadelphia delegation behind him,
and scattering votes were received by
William Mckinley, Robert T. Lincoln,
j. B. Foraker and others.
Fairbanks occupies a good deal the
same position today that Sherman did
in advance of the 1888 convention. Sher-
man led at the start with 229 votes. |
more than double the number for any |
other candidate, and most of them were
colored delegates from the south.
Those who look for precedents to de-
termine prospective political contests
think that Taft, if he carries Ohio, will
occupy the position that Harrison and
Gresham combined occupied the last |
time there was a fight for the nomina- |
tion, nineteen years ago. He would |
have his own state delegation and prob
ably would not have an opponent from
his own state playing for outside votes
in the north. Foraker, of course, might |
have some southern delegates. Taking |
everything together the situation right |
now is decidedly pleasing to the friends
of the secretary The continued eX-
posures of corporation evils. such as
developed by the Hartman investiga-
ton, are Strengthening the progressive
and the Roosevelt idea, and
as Secretary Taft seems to be its IA
vorite representative, with Roosevelt |
out of consideration, his strength is be-
ginning to worry the other candidates
who are not mere favorite sons.
In 1SS4-the Blaine-Cleveland year
there were several candidates before
the Republican national convention, al
though Blaine led from the start and
was clearly the party choice. There
were exciting contests in 1880, and back
of that in 1876. After the 1888 conVen-
ton, however, the contest was decided
In advance of the convention, with the
of 1892, and then the contest
was between Harrison and Blaine only.
was winner in 1896 before
the first ballot was taken. His renom-
form, and Roosevelt's naming in 1904
was as unanimous.
The impression here is that Chicago
will get both the big party conventions
next year without any particular effort,
and If the Republican hosts do assem-
BILE there the city will witness the most
spectacular party gathering in two
decades.