The Hawaiian gazette., 1907-04-19

Ri. 20. ioo- SEA
vhy Secretary TAFT went into ont,
I tNu years aKu and mNiD his hkfof
/ sreern which. q ~ generally cuuced'
I pi, resulted lu tie defeat Vt Cos iiet'
fieA t0r reelection
Thu other candidates welcome ih,
ohio strife Nnturluy thet will sId,
with senator FoinkU tHr bio ulaWph
would kcrr tnc presidential rAec unou
ana make thDif own prospects better
Vice President Fairbanks. fof Instance,
an Ohiuau by birth. b. carefully hold
Ing niu1t but his Friends are immense
~ pleased at this turn ot affairs. BE
ing a former Ohioan he wou1 prch-
ably be the second cnoico OF the state
Tor president But IL TAFT wins the
ohio primaries, he will have a SPLEEN
did start FOR the nomination. His vic
tory would be regarded as a victory
for the President also. And the pres
ident and his Secretary would probably
have things their own way--provided.
of course. nothing happens to shake
the Presidents popularity.
President Roosevelt welcomes the
test In Ohio. lie likes fight just as
well as Senator Foraker ever did. lie
Is thoroughly confident that IL it were
a test between Taft and Foraker. with
no complications. TAFT would win cas-
fly. The President is not afraid of the
ohio machine. He thinks its strength
has always been overestimated. that
it was in its heydey in 1903. But in
that year Senator Hanna did not dare
raSiSf anHnreapNont - DAngaxralt At
the state convention for the presiden-
tial nomination the following year. 1t
was one of the dramatic incidents OF
the preliminary campaign that Sena-
tor Foraker, then fighting for the
President, brought Hanna to his knees.
The convention did endorse Roosevelt
and Ohio was one of the states that
led in demanding his continuance in
the presidential office. Although this
machine, of which Senator Dick is the
nominal head, includes committees
whose members number approximately
100000 Republican voters, quite one
fifth the voting strength of the state
and is well disciplined. President Roos-
evelt believes it can be easily STAN
peded.
1t Is rather unique that the men
Senator Foraker in this great
preliminary to the presidential strug-
gle, are the very ones whom Senator
Foraker has greatly befriended and
from whom he has never received any
notable favors. Mr. Foraker has never
received political reward even In the
form of rat patronage. He has had
but few offices from the White House
and in recent days the President has
taken the Ohio appointments into his
hands. He has undertaken to name
postmasters, "a federal judge, and
other officials without consulting Sem
ators Foraker and Dick. Of course
the Senator will hold up these APP
pointments in the Senate next winter
and on that the merry war will prob
ably continue.
When he was Governor of Ohio Mr..
Foraker appointed Mr.. Taft as judge
Of the Supreme Court of Cincinnati
and thus gave him his start in official
life. The two have remained personal
friends. Their differences at present
ire purely political.
Representative Burton, of Cleveland, |
chairman of the River and Harbor
committee, who is Secretary Taft's |
right bower in Ohio and who |
S now travelling with him on the PAN
una, Cuba, Porto Rico tour, has also |
been recipient of senator Foraker's |
'avor. After the death of Senator |
Hanna Mr.. Burton wanted to come to
he Senate He could not control the |
of the Legislature from his |
'wn home county of Cuyahoga, which
vas a sad state of affairs for a sem
Itorial candidate. The machine was
hen against Senator Foraker and Mr..
Burton appealed to him for help. The
Ippeal was not in vain. Senator For
Dker used his influence with members
# the legislature and secured more
'otes for Mr.. Burton than Mr.. Burton
vas able to secure for himslf. On the
'ther hand the old Republican organ
cation, which the late Senator Hanna
headed and which fought Senator For
ker and everything he wanted, has
low become his friend and is with him
trough thick and thin. Its very life
depends upon the outcome of the fight,
or ii Secretary Taft wins it will be
he doom of the old machine. Secre-
airy Taft will then be the recognized
BOSS of the state of Ohio and the poll
ticians will make pilgrimages to him.
1t is also interesting in that the pro-
'osed primary is the first in which
residential candidates as such have
Senator Foraker no longer makes
my concealment of his candidacy for
he presidency although he has made
10 direct statement for publication.
Much as he is regarded for his abll-
ty, few people in Washington have
hought he had much of a show for
he nomination. But If he can win the
of Ohio in the face of
uch an overwhelming fight he will
ind himself a powerful factor in the
ituation-more so than ever before.
md the nomination might not be be-
'ond his reach. Such victory for
lin would almost certainly put Sec
etary Taft out of the running.
ERNEST G. WALKER.