The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-02-21

ed. Vice President Fairbanks. of
course. has no legislative powers as
the presiding officer of the Senate. but
he will have to share some of the re-
sponsibility for non-action.
At the White House offices there are
evidences that the country generally
is still with the President. There
never was such a flood of letters and
kilograms OF approval there as have
come since the special message was
given TO Congress. The messages be-
gan ticking over the wires at the
White House offices as soon as the edi-
tons of the afternoon papers were
upon the streets. They have been
coming all the time since, night and
DAY. till now nearly five hundred of
these messages have been piled up on
Secretary Loeb's desk. Practically all
of them commend the President for
his stand. Within twenty-four hours
the White House mail was burdened
with letters praising the document.
To be sure, many of these commune
cations came from class of people
who have the letIer-writing habit, but
they are none the less expressive u
an extensive voting sentiment. The
President has always depended upon
such communications in quite a degfee
to test the popularity Of his actions.
He win be able to say shat he spoke
out without fear or favor and that the
responsibility was passed on to Con-
gress. Secretary Taft, as his presi-
Dental candidate, Will also stand out
for the support of the class of citi-
zens who want those legislative re-
forms and who will not now be left
to drift over to the Bryan banner in
despair because of inactivity on the
part of a Republican administration.
1t is believed the President plans
still other dramatic moves to focus the
public attention upon the radical atti-
tude of the party of which he is the
leader. He has promised in a few
DAYS to have ready a statement re-
garding Federal appointments he has
made during the last year. He pro-
poses TO do this in an effort to refute
the charges that he has been using
the patronage for the benefit of Sec
rotary Taft. He proposes TO give the
names of Congressman who have en-
dorsed the appointments and thereby
expects to prove that nominations
have not been made that would help
his favorite candidate. Such a show
ing would not be conclusive by any
means TO the trained politician, but
the Presidents word is eX cathedra
for most of the millions of voters in
the United States, and they will not
be able TO see the other side of it.
And so the forthcoming statement
will probably provoke tempest IN
Congress and there will be an attempt
to show how Office holders, especially
in the South. have been dragooned in
to supporting Secretary Taft. How
ever. that will be uphill work against
the President Office holders are not
likely as a rule to come out into the
open and explain how the hint was
passed TO them that if they wished 10
hold their jobs they had best become
very busy. Nevertheless there will be
a great stirring of the whole mess and
the general gayety of a preconvenjien
campaign for the presidency will be
greatly enhanced.
In spite of such compelling diver
sions from the White House, the eye
Of all Washington continues TO be more
or less upon the presidential bOOms.
1t is in fact the important era of work
to plan and control conventions and
the politicians can not afford TO be
idle. The wires are pulled chiefly from
Washington. They reach out into ev-
cry city and hamlet in the land. The
President and Secretary Taft have
their separate sets of wires that reach
out TO certain individuals and organ
izations. in nearly every state. The
old leaders in Senate and House have
their separate sets of wires that reach
out p different individuals and organ
izations. Both the pro-Taft and the
anti-Taft managers have their work
ers coming and going. Never before
since the present campaign began have
so many men been coming in for con-
sultation and advice and going away
a. gain to execute orders. Political oper-
atoms, nowadays, are both aerial and
subterranean. a week or so back the
operations were largely aerial, espe-
cially the Taft operations which were
about the only operations in view. The
claims bureau was working overtime.
The press bureau had great outgivings
daily.
All that has quieted a little now.
The allied DO ms, working shoulder to
shoulder from the Capitol, punctured
many of the claims as thin bubbles,
brought out Gov. Hughes as a presi-
Dental candidate and then settled
down to hard toll in building up the
fences to keep the Taft workers out
Gov. Hughes speech, of course, puts
him squarely in the running, but it
may develop that the interest Of the
Capitol politicians in getting him into
the open was chiefly to enable him to
hold New York state and it's great
delegation. That has been assured. /
The allied boomers would like for him
to develop strength elsewhere but they
are not so much concerned about that |
Just now as they are to have the New
York delegation out of Taft's reach !
Gov. Hughes must look out for himself !
as a candidate. Speaker Cannon natu-
rally would not like for Gov Hughes /
to develop too much strength outside !
Of New York. It would be something |
Of menace to his chances. All the |
allies hope that the Governor will get !
a hold on Republican voters in New
England for that is not yet preempted |
territory, is in fact about the only big |
territory that has not been l
preempted by some candidate. But the
Taft boom has been checked in New |