Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-06-05
Situation This Year Remark
able and Long Campaign isl
in Prospect
FAIRBANKS BOOM ON WAIVE
Indianan Has Best Organized Machine
But Looked Upon as a Losing Prop
osition - Cannon Boom Becomes
Stronger But Taft is Still Supreme
With Administrations Guarantee.

/ washington, June o.--ExperleHceu
politicians do not recall time in the
history OF American politics when SO
much interest was manifested IN the
nomination for president year In ad-
vance of the meeting of the, convention.
THE interest shown is not only reflected
geherally in the press of the country,
but is shown in the very active work
that is going on for the various candl-
] dates for the republican nomination. 1t
would seem that just now Secretary
I Taft and Vice President Fairbanks are
more In the public eye than any other
twp men whose names have been sug-
gested as possibilities. Ii President
Roosevelt Is to be eliminated from the
consideration of the convention, as a
result of his own irrevocable decree.
then Secretary Taft would seem to be
the logical heir Of the Roosevelt sup
port The president has taken occa-
sion to reiterate with great emphasis
TO one of his callers his determination
not to be candidate, or TO accept the
nomination At the same time, while
not opposing Knox and one or two
other possibilities, he said that he re-
garded Secretary Taft as the best
equippedsman to succeed him and to
carry out his policies.
Il Vice President Fairbanks of Indiana
has by far the most complete and in
dustrious organizations. The weakness
Of Secretary Taft's candidacy. admit
ted by his friends, is that up to this
time he has had practically no organ
ization. AS soon as the Ohio situation
has been cleared by declaration In
favor of the big war secretary, which
Is expected, to happen very soon, his
organization will be extended to other
states, and his campaign will take on
a more systematic and businesslike
aspect.
Up TO this time the vice president
has been the promising candidate OF
the reactionaries-the rallying point
for the safe and sane" But this may
be changed very soon. There are indi-
cations that the Fairbanks forces are
disintegrating, and that his campaign
lis already on the wane. An eastern
senator. in explaining this tendency.
said:
In my judgment; you will see the
candidates. of Speaker Cannon and
! Senator Knox increase lin Importance
! from now on, and that of Vice Presi-
/ dent Fairbanks dwindle. The trouble
with the vice presidents candidacy
is that it lacks vitality. He cannot be
nominated. His candidacy does not
l n IN tnn az. yV,f,, anVWhara
and the business men and moneyed in
/ terests, which have been behind him up
to this time. have reached the conclu-
not feasible The Pennsylvania state
convention on June will declare for
Senator Knox with great show Of
enthusiasm that will be purely spon-
! taneous. AT the same time, the con-
vention will adopt ringing resolutions
/ indorsing the Roosevelt policies. This
will launch the Knox boom under very
| favorable conditions. No man in the
country can lay claim with more pro-
priety to begin In accord with the
| Roosevelt policies than can Senator
Knox. I believe that he will imme-
! diately take rank as the strongest con-
sentative candidate before the people
II think he will fall heir to much of the
strength which has heretofore been be-
hind the Fairbanks candidacy"
! Another evidence of the disintegra-
i ton Of the Fairbanks movement is the
sudden vitality displayed by Speaker
Cannon's boom. Some of the most i'm
portant factors in the Fairbanks move
ment are Cannon men at heart. SEN
| ator Hemenway of Indiana and Repre-
1 sentative James E. Watson, whip Of
!! the house, are nominally committed to
! the vice president but are closer to the
I speaker than any other two men in
American politics. Speaker Cannon
:; and Senator Hemenway have been
together in the east the past week, and
simultaneously very exuberant feeling
has grown up among the followers of
Mr.. Cannon.
Senator Knox's candidacy will be
launched with assurances Of three state
Es-Pennsylvania, New Jersey
and Delaware. 1t will have consider
able strength in New England, where
| Senator Murray Crane is said to be at
Work building up the Knox organiza-
| ton. The friends of the Pennsylvania
senator expect to get some assistance
/ from Minnesota, and from other states
| in the west and northwest which were
affected by the Northern Securities
lease, with which Mr.. Knox, as attor-
iney general, was officially identified.
/ Frank B. Kellogg of Minnesota, mem
/ Der of the national committee, is
close friend Of Senator Knox.
Milton D. Purdy of the same state,
| the official trust buster of the depart
ment of Justice. is a prosege of the
former attorney general. Francis j..
Heney, who developed the land frauds
! in Oregon. and who has been prosecut-
/ ing the grafters in San Francisco, was
discovered and put into official motion
by Mr. Knox when he was attorney
general.
| Meanwhile, Secretary Taft's candt-
dacy goes forward as the official, ad-
ministration, blownin the bottle, in
| spected and guaranteed article. Wher-'
ever the Roosevelt third-term idea
dominates and in most sections where
the determination to keep alive the
Roosevelt policies obtains, the senti-
ment for Secretary Taft will be found
keeping pace. At the present time
the wisest politicians in Washington
predict that Taft will have easy sail
ing.