The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-08-12

cans nave nara campaign on LRl
year to reflect their governor, Hon
: Curtis Guild. For reasons of expedi
ency presidential politics will be elimin
ated from the gubernatorial campaign
Perhaps, the entire eastern situation
may change by the time the snow file
!. in the northern tier of states, but a.
it looks now Secretary Taft is no
likely to be strong in the East. Hi
backing must come from the West
from states where the name of Roos
evelt is something to conjure with
What the south is going to do car
4 not yet be told. The allegiance OF
7 the office-holding class, which dcmf
mates the Republican party in thu
| South, is very tickle. The president
started work there early, but his op.
ponents, whose cry is mo dictatIor
from the White House." We're also In
the field early There has been clash
ing in several states of the South fol
| advantage in gaining presidential del
egates.
KNOX BOOM SOLID.
But while Secretary Taft is striving
against odds for support in the East
other candidates appear to be making
| Roadway there. The Knox boom has
/ been staunch and solid ever since the
/ Pennsylvania state convention en-
dorsed him. He remains to date the
only candidate for whom any state
convention has declared. That is some
thing of great Importance for a can
didate. A state committee may vote
| to endorse but Senator Foraker has
made the strong point that endorse
| ment of presidential candidates is not
the function of state committees. That
belongs to state conventions and no
state committee can authoritatively
| assume it.
If Secretary Taft could have had the
endorsement of an Ohio state conven-
ton two months ago, he would be
much stronger as a candidate than he
is at present His workers could have
said in other states: "See what Ohio
has done. Our man will go into the
National convention with the backing
of his own home people,
NEEDS SUPPORT OF STATE.
AS it is one of the political traditions
of National conventions, which has
rarely been violated, that a successful
candidate must have the solid sup
port of his own state, Secretary Taft
Ohio state committee endorses Secre-
tary Taft's candidacy this week, as
there are prospects of its doing, this
will not help him materially. The
country knows Senator Foraker quite
as well as it knows Secretary Taft and
the politicians are well aware that
Senator Foraker has his war paint on
and will fight the nomination of Sec
TOW To "a 70 aSf q
will not forget that President Roos-
evelt has decreed that he should be
driven out of public life and that Sec
rotary Taft acquiesced in that decree.
1t is all very well for the Secretary
and his immediate friends to say that
they are neither for nor against the
Senator's reelection. The Senator's
supporters will accept no such neutral
declaration now. He promised to
make all the trouble he could for those
who decided upon his political death
and can be depended upon to keep his
word.
Senator Foraker has some very
staunch and influential friends outside
of Ohio. For sentimental as well as
other reasons they will resent any in
justice to him. The character of cam
paign that has been waged against
Senator Foraker, because of his stand
on the Brownsville embroglio. will hurt
Secretary Taft quite as much outside
of Ohio as in Ohio. It will be an OBJ
stacle to winning delegates for him.
HUGHES OF NEW YORK.
An opinion prevails that sooner or
later Senator Foraker may take up the
cudgels for the nomination of Governor
Hughes of New York. Just now Gov
ernor Hughes candidacy seems to be
more popular in the West than that of
any other aspirant, unless 1t be Secre-
tary Taft. The Knox boom at the start
has not seemed very attractive to
Westerners. The newspapers in that
section have been pummeling him as a |
lawyer and as not likely to |
be strong vote getter for that rea- |
son. It is recognized that he is prob |
ABLY the ablest of all the Republicans |
who have been mentioned for the Pres |
dency He is conceded to be of Presi- |
Dental size. But in enthusiastic Roose-
yelt communities the fact that he has
served in President Roosevelt's cabinet |
and was the ablest attorney general to
hold that cabinet portfolio in many
years does not outweigh an impression
hat the President is not heartily for |
him. The Western people know that
Mr. Knox is identified with the COM
oination that is resisting the dictation
If the nominee by Mr.. Roosevelt. And
While the dictation from the White
House of a nominee for the Presidency
would be unpopular in normal times,
Mr.. Roosevelt has aroused such a tre-
nendous popular enthusiasm that the
people are apparently willing to stand
or anything from him. 1t will be re-
rendered that the late President Nc
Iinley was very popular, but he could
lot even name his running mate in
9OO If he could have, John D. Long
# Massachusetts, then Secretary of
he Navy, and now engaged in the
Practise of law at Boston, would have
become President after the terrible
ragedy at Buffalo and probably would
AVE been in the White House today.
NAMES ILL LUCK.
In that connection it may be worth
While to digress to the i'll luck that
daine men have in attaining the Pres
dency. John d. Long. although many