The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-12-22
5iiP At WHITE HOUSE
Selection of Chicago For Rer.7
Iican Convention.
CANNON ! AND THE TARIFF.

CANNON ! AND THE TARIFF.
Speaker Strongly Opposed to Revision
Except For Purpose of Increasing
Duties-Free Silver as Possible
Remedy For Financial iIls-The Gug-
genheim idea-Loss on Gold Coinage.
By WILLIS J. ABBOT
The action of the Republican nation
NJ committee in selecting as the con
yertion city Chicago was a direct slap
at the administration and at Mr.. Taft
The Kansas City boomers, more than
a score in number, prosperous. glib of
tongue and perfectly confident felt
that they had the convention within
their grasp until the day before the
! decision. Then somebody suggested
that Kansas City was in the Roosevelt
: Taft territory. Up to that time chi
cago had done nothing. It had no dele
CATION here; it had made no prOiTcr OF
funds: it had distributed no picture
books showing the beauties of the city;
/ it had distributed no cigars nor opened
4 any headquarters When this sugges-
| ton was made. however, Representa-
4 tive Frank O. Lowden, himself
| strong Cannon man. called up Chicago
and shortly appeared with a telegram
! signed by two we'll known business
! men of that city asking for the con
vention and guaranteeing 1.-The neces-
sary expenses of the subcommittee.
Probably never so half hearted bid
for convention was, ever made. |
have attended the meetings of the ma
| tional committees of both parties for
twelve years past and never knew
noncommittal proposition of this sort
to be accepted, yet when the commit
! tee came to vote it selected Chicago by
vote Of thirty-two to Kansas City's
seventeen. The reason? The reason
is simply that Il swinging majority OF
the Republican national committee is
opposed to Mr.. Roosevelt and all his
! works, opposed to Taft as Roose-
velt's legatea, opposed to Kansas
City because there resides Senator
Warner. the chief Taft spokesman in
the west and because about that city is
great population largely given over to
the goosevelt fantasy. Chicago wins
not Because the committee desired to
hold the convention there, but because
it desired to show President Roosevelt
that it was independent of him and of
his plan for the presidential successor.
There are sore hearts and, to use a
slang phrase, sore heads about this de-
feat of Kansas City for political pur-
poses only. / talked with Hon. John
| NJ. Blodgett. the Republican national
. committeeman for Michigan. AS :
, matter of convenience, Of course, Chi
him. as he lives in Grand Rapids, di-
rectIy across Lake Michigan from the
convention city, but he deplored the
action of the committee. Said he.
kansas City and Denver were rep
resented before the committee by dele
cations of their business men. They
came provided With the necessary evi
dence to show that they would tax
care of the financial needs of the con
vention. yet they were set aside upon
nothing more definite than a telegram
10 h
convention would be properly taken
care of there. In other words, the Re
:. publican national committee has serv.
ed notice upon the smaller cities that
whatever may be their efforts, how
ever liberal their promises of support
they stand no chance if Chicago or the
other great cities of the country shall
enter the competition
New York In Politics.
! After all. cities outgrow the desire
for national conventions. l don't be
, lieve that Chicago cares a bit about
, its victory over Kansas City, while
! Kansas City. being still in the growing
|
has never bothered about conventions
, though in Madison Square Garden il
has an ideal convention hall. This
year the New York Democracy is mucl
puzzled as to what it shall do when i
gets to the national convention. Mr.
COnners chairman of the state com
mittee and owner of two very pros
porous papers in Buffalo, has been fol
t some reason known only to himsel1
!. rather openly opposed to Mr. Bryan
4 Perchance this may be due to the fac
that his chief newspaper rival il Buff
, falo. Norman L. Mack, national com
mitteeman. has been quite as openly il
favor of Mr.. Bryan. Sometimes jour
nalistic rivalries lead to curious pOlit
!, zeal conditions. Be that as it may, Mr.
+ Corners planned for January a grea
gathering of Democrats from all ovel
t the United States at the Waldorf AS
: toria. surely an ideal spot for Demo
cratic conference. He was to have al