The Hawaiian gazette., 1907-08-16


hand in electing his successor; il /:
an unusual thing for President 10 do
The enemies Of Vice President Fair
banks gradually became busy and they
have been asSailing him with some effect
Other candidates-Gov. Hughes of New
York. Senator Knox Of Pennsylvania
and Speaker Cannon Of Illinois-have
come forward and each has s strong
following. The more candidates come
into the field the poorer are the
chances Of any candidate who has pre-
( cedei them. And so Vice President
Fairbanks candidacy has apparently
been on the wane for weeks. He has
lot Of strength-how much no one
knows exactly But the good judges
7 doubt whether he is any longer a caR-
didate of the first order. It is likely
/ that his name Will so before the con-
I vention. Il is not beyond the pcssi-
! bilities that he will develop unexpect-
/ ed strength and that six months from
now his name will be among the fore
most OF the candidates.
THE LEADING TRIO.
Taft. Knox and Hughes are now
most in the public mind. II one were
I trying TO name them in the order of
Z their prospects, the arrangement would
be difficult. II seems that Taft IS
growing in strength, but appearances
may be deceptive. No states have de-
clared for him and there is no lively
prospect OF any such declarations from
states east Of the Allegheny noun
tains. Knox has preempted Pennsyl-
vania and probably will have New
Jersey and West Virginia. Maryland
viii probably be for Taft. through the
influence Of Attorney General Bona
parte. It is 3 problem whether Pres
ident Roosevelt is going 10 be able to
deliver any votes from his home state
OF New York 10 his favorite. He will
make a desperate fight 10 do so and
he may succeed. II is uncertain Just
how potent the President now is in
controlling Republican convention in
New York.
New England is not given to in
structing her delegates TO a National
convention and Secretary Taft will
have hard time getting pledged dele
gates from that section. However. the
President has enlissartes at work IN
Wv A--A-4S-2-N ANL Gil o44O lI4CIS may
be results. The President has been
smashing political precedents ever
since he entered the White House and
he may be able 10 smash few pre-
cedents in conservative New England
He has requested Winston Churchill,
the novelist and reformer in politics,
20 deliver New Hampshire's eight
votes 10 Taft and Mr.. Churchill is do
ing his best TO comply. He has asked
Senator Lodge ito deliver the thirty
two votes of that state to Taft and
Mr.. Lodge is laying pipe" He has
encountered the determined opposition
of his colleague. Senator Crane. who
is not Taft man. Senator Crane is
generally counted as a much stronger
politician in Massachusetts, than his
colleague, Mr.. Lodge. They will not
make the test, however. for some
months. The Massachusetts Republi-
cans have hard campaign on this |
year to reelect their governor, Hon !
Curtis Guild For reasons of expedi- !
ency presidential politics will be elimin-
ated from the gubernatorial campaign. |
Perhaps, the entire eastern situation |
may change by the time the snow flies |
in the northern tier of states, but as |
ii looks now Secretary Taft is not |
likely TO be strong in the East. His |
backing must come from the West
from states where the name of Roos- |
evelt is something TO conjure with. |
What the south is going TO do can !
not yet be told. The allegiance of |
the Office-holding class, which dcmi- |
mates the Republican party in the
South, is very tickle The President
started work there early, but his op-
ponents. whose cry is NO dictatioh
from the White House." were also IN
the field early. There has been clash
ing in several states of the South for
advantage in gaining presidential DEL
agates.
KNOX BOOM SOLID.
But while Secretary Taft is striving
against odds for support in the East
other candidates appear 10 be making
leadway there. The Knox boom has
1een staunch and solid ever since the
Pennsylvania state convention en-
1orsed him. He remains to date the
1nly candidate for whom any state
has declared. That is some
thing Of great Importance for a can
iidate. a state committee may vote
10 endorse but Senator Foraker has
made the strong point that endorse
nent of presidential candidates is not
he function of state committees. That L
belongs to state conventions and no
state committee can authoritatively
assume Il.
If Secretary Taft could have had the
of an Ohio state conven-
ton two months ago, he would be
much stronger as candidate than he
s at present. His workers could have
aid in other states: "See what Ohio
mas done. Our man will so into the
National convention with the backing
IF his own home people,
NEEDS SUPPORT OF STATE.
As it is one of the political traditions
1f National conventions, which has
rarely been violated, that a successful
candidate must have the solid sup
port of his own state, Secretary Taft
has been handicapped. Even if the
Ohio state committee endorses Secre-
-ary Taft's candidacy this week, as
there are prospects of its doing, this
will not help him materially. The
country knows Senator Foraker quite
IS well as it knows Secretary Taft and
The politicians are well aware that
Senator Foraker has his war paint on
and will fight the nomination of Sec
retary Taft TO the very last ditch. He
will not forget that President Roos-
eVelt has decreed that he should be