The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-07-18
REPUBS FEAR OVER SHERMAN Condition of Candidate
 Is Serious. DEATH woULD UPSET THEM Vice Presidential Nominee Not
 Choice of Taft. Ills roiitieaI Affiliations Do Not Bring Strength to Ticket--Knowing
 ones Predict Demo-
 cratic Success,
DEATH WOULD UPSET THEM
BY ALFRED J. STOPPER

Washington July H.-1Speciat.)- Republican politicians who are drop ping Into this city from day to day cannot conceal their misgivlngs over the physical condition of Representa- dive James S.. sherman, their nominee for vice-PresIdent
 Of course they hope for the best, and try to make themselves believe that he will improve and within couple of months be pronounced out of dan ger. But reports keep getting out to the effect that 1t will be necessary for Mir. Sherman to shortly undergo a surgical operation for gailstofies from whlch he has been suffering for the ,past year. An operation of that sort every one knows, Is dangerous, and IS resorted to only In cases of emergency [. Should Mir. sherman have to submit to this operation and should 1t termi- mate fatally, as many fear. the Repub- 1ican party will be placed in a terribly lembarrassing situation. The managers sof the recent convention at Chicago did not have foresight enough to pro- vide that in the event of a vacancy the National Committee should have the xight 10 i'll 1t The Democrats at Dem yer took that precautton, doubtless due to the fact that Mir. Sherman was re- ported so III out at Cleveland.
 If MT. Sherman were to succuuib to ais illness after the proposed operation
 
 power on the part of the new National Committee to get together and name another man as the running mate of nGr. Taft In reality that committee has no authority to take such action. But according to the way the Roose- welt-Taft combination ran things at Chicago, the ruthless manner In which they decided the contests from the Southern HfAtes--taklng everything that was In sight and kicking out lit- erally each and every man who was in thorough sympathy with the adminls- &ration and the ofiicehoidfng delegates s--they might not hesitate to say that they have . perfect right now to pick q fresh candidate for Vice-President should the necessity arise for any such action.
 Sherman Not Popular.
 Ali the world knows that the admin Gstration people did not want sherman for Tafts running mate. After the spussy-footed" methods by which Eher. man was nominated and they had re- covered from their awful shock the ad- ministration crowd had to pretend to be very well satisfied with the ssiec- ton, whereas the truth. of the matter is that President Roosevelt ana Secres tary Taft almost lost their breaths when they heard that news from Chi easo.
 But the deed had been done. ana as politicians they and all their followers had to put on smiling faces and declare 10 the world that the running mate of the big candidate was all right. Thie too. in spite of the record of MT. sher. man which shows that for the past Tour years he has trained steadily K Congress with those who have opposed to the utmost the administration DOH.
 Indeed Sherman is one of the biz 
 against President Roosevelt ana ,,,s in the State of New York Shernnat, has never been affiliated with the Ysc- tion that has stood behind the Presi- dent. They belong to entirely dffYer- eIit breed of politicians. Roosevelt ana Taft at first wanted Senator Doiiiver and when they could not get him they had decided hankering for Governor Cummtns of Iowa, and when that not,IA not be brought about either they did not know exactly where to turn. Gov ernor Hughes of New York they never did want. Sherman and his backers were early aware Of this.
 It will be recalled that some days be. fore the meeting of the Chicago Con- ventton 1t was mentioned in The Ad- vertiser dispatches from Washington that q strong movement would be made to put Sherman on the ticket. While the convention was in session another special from this point referred to the probability of sherman's nomination.
 That scheme was worked primarily by ex-Congressman Littauer of Glow ersvllIe ~. r., very rich man and A foxy. cunning worker He was hera just before Congress adjourned, and to The Advertiser correspondent remark ed that Sherman would be nominated. Mir. Sherman the next day privately said to me that he thought he had the best sort of chance. and intimated strongly that New York would not have Hughes for either first or second place. At Chicago were scores of Re- publican Senators and Representatives who saw their opportunity and when She administration people were not looking they took advantage of the situation and rushed through the nom- ination of Sherman.
 Ik was another instance of the rank and file of the delegates to National Conventions not caring who got second place so long as they managed to non- mate thslr choice for first place. It was the Minneapolis convention of 1892 over again. The friends of Benjamin Harrison did not keep their eyes open and Whitelaw Reid instead of Levi P, Morton was named as Harrison's running mate in 1892. Reid was a dead weight on the ticket, for the la- bor examinations were violently op- posed to him. Harrison's nomination was forced by the Federal off1cehoiders just as Taft's was recently at Chicago, the only difference being that the ot-