Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-12-20
WASHINGTON LETTER.


his party by the reiteration of bis
Election Night declaration that he
will not again be candidate for the
presidency by his declaration and
his subsequent talks with leaders of
his party he has made split in the
party inevitable, a split which may
20 far toward Democratic success. 1t
is the purpose of the President-and
within his own party his purposes are
usually ,successful-to draw sharp
line between that faction of the party
which supports his policies, most of
which be has borrowed from Mr..
Bryan, and that faction OF the party
which opposes them. Those who
espouse his policies be will line up
solidly behind William H Taft, while
those who oppose bis policies will be
compelled to choose one of the other
possible candidates for their standard
bearer. The man who now seems TO
stand the best chance of being chosen
by the 'reactionar,es" as the President
calls them. is Governor Hughes of
New York, with George B. Cortelyou.
Secretary of the Treasury, the second
choice of the Old Hanna Guard. Mr..
Roosevelt does not hesitate to tell bis
friends that Taft ia the logical choice
of those who support his style of Re
publicanism, who wish continue.
tion of bis policies, and the men who
are sincerely in sympa.h by with Roose-
welt are entirely ready to support Taft.
The weak point in Mr. RoOsevelt's
political calculations, h0wever-and
In the opinion of some of the abest
Democrats here it is fatal one-is he
does not realizs that bis policies are
not Republican: that they have no
place in the party which has always
stood for the special interest, the high
| Iy protected manufacturer, the Stand
ard Oil, the trusts and all that galaxy
of pIutocratIc inst buttons Of which
the late Senator Hanna Was the arch
champion. By the force of his own
dominant personality, Mr.. Roosevelt
was able to engraft on the Repu olican
party policies which were essentially
| Democratic In their essence. How
repugnant these policies are to typical.
l., old line Republicans may be easily seen
from the covert but not the less in
tense opposition which The Old Guard
is display ing toward TAFT. Purity In
politics and the interests of the plain
people are stenches in the nostrils of
such men as Senator Scott, Foraker,
Crane. Hale, Gallinger aud others in
the upper house of Congress, and to
the men who compose the Republican
National Committee, from Chairman
Harry New down through the list
The oily Fairbanks, the ba5ant For.
aker, the secretive CorteIynu, the
stealthy Hughes are the type of mer
whom the O;d Gusrd worships and
there seems to be little doubt that the
President has backed losing game ir
, Withdrawing his own name from con.
} sideration aud casting his fortunes II
with Taft aud the Taft Roosevelt
policies.
The Democrats in Washington be
lieve that Taft won make the hard
: est candidate to beat at the polls, bu
r %bau daojaro In MI no tho noct ooeil,
r beaten in the Republican convention
where there will be no sympathy will
3 his policies or with bis frank ant
fearless style of politics. Moreover
there is every reason to believe tina
! the corporations which have always
3 contributed so literally In the past t.
I Republican campaign funds would re
t fuse to give dollar toward the cleo
ton of a man of the Roosevelt Tai
!; stamp, and Republican politician
have no predispositlon to engage In {
campaign which is not to be wei
larded with funds. 1t was, in fact
} the promise of COrtelyou friends
: that the bankers whom he had favored
would contribute literally which gain
ed for him such temporary strength
with the ''colored brothers" who make
up the Southern delegations to Re.
publican national conventions. Mr..
Roosevelt seems destined to find that
he can talk of the purity and high
character of bis friend Taft and all his
eloquence will not 60 one tenth as far
With the practical Republican polite
ian as single dollar of good Hughes
or Cortelyou money.
The nomination of MIR. Bryan by
the Democrats is conceded by the vast
majority of the mem bers of the Demo
cratic National committee which met
In Washington this week and decided
on Denver as the place and July as
che date of the Democratic National
Convention. Denver is in the heart Of
the Bryan country and there Is no
doubt that the great auditorium at
that city will be packed with men who
will shout the name of the Peerless
Leader on every possible occasion.
Mayor johnson of Cleveland, who has
just won such a signal victory oyer
Rep. Theodore Burton In the Cleve'
land municipal campaign, attended
the meeting Of the committee and
talked Bryan to everyone he met.
Mayor Johnson, who possesses
charming personality besides being a
man of great force. made many con-
verts to his belief that Mr.. Bryan will
at last attain his ambition and will
succeed Theodore Roosevelt in the
White House. Mr.. johnson would
not admit that he was to be Mr..
Bryan g campaign leader but he did
not deny it and there is reason to be-