Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1908-02-14
TAFT OPPOSITION DISAPPEARING

TAFT OPPOSITION DISAPPEARING
Have the anti-administration forces
retired from the contest or are they
| concentrating their strength for de-
termined assault on the Taft camp?
This puzzle suggests itself in a dis
cussion of the present political situa-
| ton. One hears little else except
Taft" Taft" His friends are &C.
tive in every state in the union. Re-
publican organizations without num-
| Der are declaring for him in express
Difference to public sentiment. All
through the west Taft appears to have
(; the call. There are demands for him
from the south, while the entire Sec
lions of the east are swearing their
allegiance to the Ohioan's standard.
! 1t is not a boom in the sense that it
springs from the organized effort of
skilled politicians; rather is it the
spontaneous uprising of republicans
who, after an intelligent survey of the
field, have reached the conclusion that
the secretary of war is the man of the
hour-the one who is best equipped
to complete the work that was begun
and advanced by the Roosevelt stand
ard.
There have been spasmodic efforts
to check this movement by friends of
the other candidates. The availability
Of Taft and the weaknesses of him
nave been freely discussed. Enemies
of the president, men who have no I'M
kindly feeling for Taft himself, have
vehemently asserted that he is too
close to the administration, too much
welded to it's policies, but in spite of
all criticims, the popularity of Ohios
candidate continues to grow and the
strength of other candidates to cor
respondingly diminish.
The centre of hostility to the admin
istration is, in New York City, and it
is there, if anywhere, that trouble
might be brewed for the Taft cam
paign. Hartman has past grievances
and prospective dangers for goads to
his political activity, and he lives in
an atmosphere Of antagonism !. to
Roosevelt. Wall street and its. en-
virous, Including also most of the
financial groups, can see no good in
anything OF anyone that is champion
ed by the president, and there is very
little doubt that these interests are
straining every nerve to check the
Taft stampede. But at the very out
set they find themselves handicapped
for they dare not work in the open
Whenever they denounce the admin
instration the people become more in
sistant for a candidate of the Roose-
welt type and brand.
Nose than that these interests can
not agree on a candidate. Cannon is
too old, Fairbanks cold, Knox too
much of corporation lawyer, LaFoI-
lette impossible. and Hughes fnscrut-
able In fact the last mentioned is
the cmIy eligible one on the list, and
they are not sure that he would an-2
swer their purpose in the event that
what is quite as Important there is no.
reason to believe that Mr.. Hughes will
not consent to, be their candidate.
Carefully read his reply to the repub-
lican club and you will see that it is
most guarded as if the governor were
suspicious of the men who are foster
ing his candidacy. He cannot fail to-
see the drift Of things The republi-
cans whom he would personally wish
to advocate his cause are engaged in
another direction and as for Wall
streets support, he knows it is poison
to the man who commands it. 1t is adj,
mitted that Hughes, next to Roosevelt,
is the strongest republican In the
state of New York. II anything ist
certain in the present political horo-
scope, it is that the president and the
governor win be in perfect accord and
harmony before the republicans of
New York hold their convention and
that. the proceedings will determine.
William Howard Taft's nomination
for the presidency at Chicago. =
- }r
| The announcement that Fred Baker