The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-08-18

dignity. He has the habit of making You
feel at home-a very human and delight
full habit
But there is more TO Mr.. Taft than his
amiable giving-in-to-all accidents and
occurrences. The whole American nation
IS beginning to appreciate this mans mar
velous capacity for steady. clear-brained,
untiTing work Adopting the old saying,
he has been called rightly "a steam en-
CINE IN trousers" He is by turns stOlid
and stern. tactful and patient. ample and
gOod-humored in his generosity. He Is
also cautious, as any number Of report
ers who have tried to interview him
can testify. He viii not talk about the
Presidential possibilities bottled up within
him
At banquet in Kentucky, toastmas-
ter manipulated this toast: Gentlemen.
We viii drink to the health Of our Pres
ident at Oyster Bay and TO our next
President, at our table"
Taft looked I'D With a smile: II will
drink 10 half OF that he said.
Which half?" asked a politician pres
ent. but there was no reply.
Not a "JOIiier" for Votes.
The best thing about him. as people will
admit after having studied him. IS that.
with politics seething all about him, he
IS no collier at all. no professional
demagogue. He does not play TO the gal
lery.
When M. Bryan, in Kansas. attempted
TO sret him to answer some Of the Com
moner's already prepared notes, Taft said.
simply: i VIII make my own speech as
1 see fit to make It,"
He does not cater or trim his state
ments lie talks directly and simply. as
he thinks. This doesn't mean that he is
unpleasant Far from Il The whole ef-
fleet on an audience with Mr.. Taft is
decidedly agreeable one. He is d we'll
grounded sane man, honest and clear
sighted in all he does
Here in Washington he is sometimes
called Cupid" Taft, probably because he
Is charming, social, and genial. and
graceful dancer
The keynote of Taft Is poise. He is an
all-round well-poised man, Of the most
substantial American type.
That the American people have not be-
taken themselves en- masse to the stand
ard of Taft. as they have done to that
of Roosevelt. and even Of Bryan, is a
thing not difficult TO understand. For one
thing, Mr.. Taft can scarcely be said 20
have waved his standard and asked peo-
| pie 10 flock to it.
How He Is Summed Up.
Recently. when he made a trip TO Gin
cinnati, no one except his brother knew
that he was coming: and. although his
brother is the proprietor of newspaper
| in that city, not a reporter met the pos
sible President at the train. Instead, the
two men, like Castor and Pollux, walked
of, arm in arm. down through the rail-
road yards without speaking to a single
person.
The sum of the Presidential business
is this:
Secretary Taft is not going around
asking people what their state is going &c
DO. He carries no agents with him 10 ask
the newspapers to whoop 'er up. His
/ trust is in himself, and correspOndingly
in the American people. He does not
think the Republic would be lost If he
should be. What he finds TO do he
| does with all his mind and with all his
strength. which is cOnAusive OF good
| conscience and wholesome conduct
/ He Is one Of the best natured men alive.
Taft is a jolly, good fellow. natur-
/ ally so, and he keeps up his end, afoot
or a-horseback. gracefully He for
gets dignity and preserves It; he puts
away pride and holds it fast. He knows
| himself and keeps good company. He
keeps his feet, and has no ambition 10
go I'D in a balloon. He is honest
with himself. and disposed to be honest
with other people. He does honest work.
| He takes up with all hts strength the re-
sponsibilities that come TO him; and he
has never yet lost a nights sleep from
fear that he would be out of a job"
| That is what the Sioux City Journal
said Of William Howard Taft while he
was on a recent Western inspection OF the
forts IN the Mississippi Valley. It is a
pretty good snapshot of our fifty-year-
old Secretary of War.
Holds Record for Travelling.
AS an index TO the indefatigable en-
ergy of the man himself. il is an inter
esting fact 10 know that since he has
been Secretary Of War, Mr. Taft has
| Travelled $4,000 miles in the interests OF
the government. and now, about to be-
come a possible candidate for the Presi-
! dency, ne Is deliberately setting off on
a new trip-the longest he has ever taken
"a trip around the world.
Leaving Washington to-day for Ohio,
! on September 10 he steams away from
Seattle, Wash, on the S. S. Minnesota
straight into the setting sun, headed for
our insular possessions of the coast of
| China
One would suppose that this trip is
very impolitic at the present time; a