Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-06-16
Mistellaneuns 8eaaing.
A PRESIDENTIAL PREDICTION.
Well Known Writer Discusses the
Subject lnstruetively.

L
Subject lnstructively.
The making of election predictions Il
hazardous. First, there Is the mora
certainty that the prophecy will b.
found wrong at some point and a fai
chance that it will be wrong at al
points; second, the forecast Is bount
to offend all but the partisans Of tn,
man whose favorable horoscope is cast
In case it is also an ante convention
bit Of fortune telling the number Of th'
ldisgruntled will be measurably in
creased, for this will include not onl!
Everybody of the opposite party, bu
the friends of all other candidates II
the same party. For instance, il tht
luckless forecaster were to play up the
exclusive and advance information tha
Bryan is to be the next president the
prophet aforesaid would be withou
honor in any country except Nebraska
and there people would doubt his san
ity. He would gain the i'll will Of al
Republicans, Populists, Socialists, Pro
hibitions, Independence leaguers and
of the members Of such other parties
ds may spring up between now anC
election. Not only so, but he woulc
arouse the hostility Of all Democrats
except the rooters for the Nebraskan
Thus In gaining the friendship Of one
fourth Of the population the prophet oi
figures Is sure to make enemies Of the
other three fourths. Truly, it is any
thing but a pleasant outlook.
| If the reader doubts the hazardous
calling of the election forecaster the
sad fate that befell the foremost OF
the clan should be convincing. There
was day when General Charles H
IGrosvenor, otherwise known as "Old
Figgers," was one of the mightiest OF
the mighty. He was a member Of the
Ihouse machine, a debater whose tongue
was feared by all and a high priest OF
the stand patters. But in an evil houl
lhe gave way to temptation and began
making election forecasts. And look
at him now!
| - "OTO VI SduhiS"
| Nevertheless | propose to make ar
lelection forecast. Before doing so a
word OF caution. Don't blame the ed
itor for this. He can't help it. Blame
mt. ! am the only one responsible.
am sufficiently far away so that you
lcannot yet at me anyway, so it does
lnot matter.
OF candidates there Is no end.
Ihave been writing Of candidates till
the world seems filled only with office
Iseekers. Twenty-Five candidates-sc
the count stands to date-Taft, Hughes
Cannon, Shaw, Knox, Fairbanks, For
|aker, Cortelyou, LaFollette and Cum
minis on the Republican side, and
bryan, John A. Johnson, Tom L. John
son, Gray, Harmon, Folk, Hoke Smith
William L. Douglas, Woodrow Wilson
Senator Culberson, Lewis Stuyvesant
lChandler and Jesse Grant on the Dem
ocratic!
TWENTY-FIVE enthusiastically a.
! plenty!
lConvention days came along anC
knocked off twenty
Two little candidates running like fun
Election day came along, and ther
there was one.
But WHICH one? There's the rub
That single little question is scheduled
to give all Of us no little anxiety and
trouble for the next few months.
Which shall it be-which shall it be-
looked at John; John looked at me
And neither could come to a conclu-
sion. AS a consequence it was nobody
In this case, however, we simply
MUST have a victim. We cannot side
step the question by failure to make
choice. In that event the big stick
would wave for four years longer
which would throw a nervous fit into
Wall street and some other places.
| The next president of the United
States will be William Now, this Is
where you come in as a prognosticator
gentle reader-at least / assume you
are gentle How will you fill out the
name? g. Howard Taft" will shout
a legion OF Republicans. g Jen-
nings Bryant" will vociferate another
army of Democrats. So we are nc
nearer a solution than before. Yes, we
are a trifle nearer, for it probably will
be one Of these two. Why? Because
these are the two that will get the
nominations. They already have
ma jority of the delegates-at least In
sight. That Bryan would be named al
Denver has been plain for months
That Taft would be given the stand
ard to carry at Chicago has been ap-
parent ever since Theodore Roosevelt
threw his immense influence in that
direction.
An Unbiased Opinion.
| You understand that in giving my
idea of the winners in the two great
IcOnyentiOnS-and the successful man
lin the election, for we are coming to
Ithat-I am cutting out all my own
personal predictions, If l have any
I am looking at it as cold matter oi
figures, of probabilities in given sit
|uation. l asked the reader to take the
same unbiased and unimpassioned
view. In making the estimate l am
leaving out all minor parties, such as
the Populists, the Socialists, the Pro-
lhibitiomsts and the independence
II.eaguers not that 1 think they are un-
worthy of mention, but because they
do not stand a ghost Of show In this
election. Every one Of these move
ments is worthy of respectful consid-
Grafton, but they are not electing pres
| idents-nOt yet.
Taft Only In Sight.
| The nomination Of Taft is not as
much of a foregone conclusion as that
of Bryan, and yet it seems practically
Iassured. Hughes will have the largest
outside following, but will not be near
Taft on the first ballot If it were
possible to combine all the field against
the Ohio man he might be beaten, but
when the delegations break away from
the favorite sons, Taft will get his
share. In Indiana that will be the
lions share 1t is not to be imagined