Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-04-09
Entered at the Newport Nows Va. Poatoff1ce
&C second .olass matter.
TUESDAY. APRIL ., 1907.
PREslpENr,s POSITION.

Almost the sole topic of converse.
ton in Washington recently has been
the Presidents disclosure of the ut,
tempt to repudiate him by securing
the nomination Of some one not In ac-
4 cord with his policies, ut the next
Republican convention With chnrac.
; terlstic frankness the President took
the public into his confidence at the
! must favorable opportunity. No soon.
or had the Hartman letter been made
public property than the President
handed out the correspondence which
tended to show that for some reason
MI. Hartman desired to eliminate
Senator Depew from the Senatorial
contest, Some ascrlbe Mr., Harr-
--alap's interest to a desire to succeed
Mr.. Depew In the Senate, and the
President is said to have suspected
such to be the predouinating thought
with the railroad magnato. However
that may be, the President followed
( this sledge.hammer blow with long
talk with the newspaper mel H4
called n rumber to the White House
and discussed with the greatest fires.
dom tho combination which was oi.
ganlzed to defeat him for the Presl.
dental nomination in 1904. At that
time the interests would have raj.
lied around the late Senator Hanna.
His death left them without an avail
able candidate and the renegades re-
turned to the reservation and prom
ised to she good" This made people
sit up and take notice and the next
day tho President went at 1t again.
I This time he gave out the informa-
tion that a cabal was now being
formed 10 trot ont favorIte sons, the
4 delegations to be swung in line at
the proper time for an anti-Roosevelt
candidate. lnaH an
The President has thus squarely
outlined the issue between himself
and his policies on one side, and
trusts and corporate interests on the
other. ~ think ! will have the peo.
pie with me-" he said, and he has
some grounds for the belief. The dan.
ger lies in his announced determination
to retire from the field and leave his
mantle to his successor, whom he
frankly desires to select. No one but
Secretary Taft appears to fill the bill
and not all the specification fit the
genial Secretary of War; Mr.. Taft
is great man; If his capacity for
work, of his ability, his fairness, as
tnteness, incorruptibilty and his gen
< eral fitness for the highest office, no
I one can speak too highly. But Mr..
Taft lacks one quality predominant
In Mr. Roosevelt, namely, aggressive.
ness. His bent of mind is not in that
direction and yet it is that quality In
Roosevelt which appeals most strong
~ to the American people, They real.
lie that with the handicaps he has
had 1t has been tremendous task
4 to accomplish what he has and that
the results have been due almost en-.
firely to his restless, relentless activ-
tiles. He has infused the officials
OF his administration from top to bot.
tom with a resistless desire to prose.
cute offenders against the existing
laws, and to design other laws and
write them in the statute books to
further restrain the encroachments
Of aggregated and predatory wealth
Now, with his task only fairly well
n begun, he sincerely wishes to relin
9pish the reins to newcomer and
retire to well-earned rest. All indi
cations point, however. to such an