The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-12
HUNT VOTES IN THE SOUTH Friends ofSecretary Taft
 Are Busy. WHERE DOES BOOKER sTANDs Pressure on Negro Educator of
 Tuskegee. His Influence for Any Candidate woaId Be of Value in Securing
 Black Votes in the
BY ALFRED '. srOFER .

gations to the next National Republt- can Convention at Chicago there is go- ing to be music from the word go down in Dixie Land within the next three months.
 As the weeks roll by reliable infor- nation comes piling in that most de- termined fight is to be made to pre- vent Secretary Taft, the administration candidate, from having solid delega- tions in any of the Southern States.
 At this writing the nearest that the big Secretary will come to having solid delegation will be in Tennessee. But there are rumors floating around Washington right now that the boom- CTS of Cannon, Fairbanks. Foraker and Knox are going to do considerable mis- sionary work in Tennessee, regardless of the pretty generally conceded fact that each faction is supposed to be in favor of electing a Taft delegation since the declaration from President Roosevelt that under no circumstances can a nomination for another term be forced upon him.
 Some people are mean enough to say that inasmuch as Congressman Brown low is so earnestly for the nomination of Secretary Taft that men closely identified with the Sanders Hale wing of the Republican party in Ten nessee would fly the track if they saw the slightest chance of being able to do up the invincible Congressman from the Mountain District.
 BrOwnlOw is for Taft.
 As is well known. the faction op- posed to Congressman Brownlow shouted loud for Roosevelt and they thought they had their plans we'll laid to hold January convention and in- struct the Tennessee delegation for him. If they could have done that s.. Al Al have said: We are the whole thing in Tennessee and Brownlow Is not the cock of the walk he is supposed to be-" The President spoiled the business.
 Representative Brownlow has for years been close friend of Secretary Taft, and was not drawn into the movement to force a nomination upon Roosevelt against his will, nor did he run around shouting that If the Repub- ltcans couldn't get Roosevelt it was doubtful if they could elect anybody this year. He was in a position from the start to prove to the country that try ever so hard the other faction could not strip him of his power when it comes to lining up things, and un- less all signs fail the politicians of the national school look for results in Ten- nessee that will prove concIusively that the Brownlow fellows are on top and will rule the roost when the dele gates to Chicago are elected.
 Figuring on Alabama.
 Some mighty interesting talk is heard here as to what is likely to hap pen in Alabama between now and the time. the Republican delegates are se- Iected In that State. Many Republican politicians make the prediction in a fiat-footed manner that that delegation on the final round up will be for Sena- tor Foraker. It may not be solidly for him, but 1t is insisted from the schem- ing that is going on that the Ohio can- didate of the anti-a6ministration forces IS going to cut a powerful sWath in Alabama.
 Just now there is much speculation as to what position Booker T. Wash ington will take. The prediction is freely made here that he will soon have to speak out, for the statement is going the rounds that leading negroes all over the country are getting ready to lombard him with the argument that If he is reall ythe friend of the black man that he says he is, in the in terest of the race he ought to lose no time in coming out for Joseph Benson Foraker, generally regarded by the ne- groes throughout the United States as their champion and defender, on &C., count of the bold stand he has taken for the race in the Brownsville shoot ing.
 Naturally Booker T. Washington is for Taft. The Secretary went. down to Tuskegee when Andrew Carnegie and many other white men were present at a sort of educational jubilee and made the principal address.
 President Roosevelt and Secretary Taft naturally expect that Washington when it comes to a show down will stand by the administration and do what he can to elect solid Taft del- egation from Alabama, even though the head of the Tuskegee Institute has often disclaimed. being a politician. The old politicians here laugh at that. and they are saying at this writing that Booker T. will have to come out In the open before very long and let the negroes know whom he favors They look to him for guidance. and the talk here Is that they will insist that he shall say whether he favors Taft or Foraker.
 Are Hostile to Taft.
 It isn't so much as to what effect Washington will produce in Alabama as in the Northern and Western States where the negro vote is heavy. and without which in years gone by the Republicans could not have elected their Presidential candidates if they had not had the solid support of the race. All over the North and West the negroes are EdllylnB around the Sfan0- ard of Senator Foraker. That infor- nation is coming from those States and they are known to be decidedly hostile to Secretary Taft
 So far as Alabama is concerned some of the Republican politicians have ad- vices Svhich cause them to believe that men who do not train with Referees Scott and Thompson and the Federal of1ce-holding contingent in Alabama are preparing to fight desperately to prevent them from controlling the Ala bama delegation to the Chicago Con vention and to have 1t instructed for the nomination of Secretary Taft.
 Reports are thick here that the Taft managers are bringing pressure upon Booker Washington 10 come out for the Secretary. They are said to be urging him to take a stand fin tho near future for the reason that 1T. V. Cashin of Decatur. regarded as the leading negro politician of Alabama, when it comes to working out in the open, is active against Taft, and IS to be violently opposed to the referees and their followers.
 In other words. Cashin and his friends are said to give evidences of their intention to make a fight that may prove that the ''blaclk and tan" Is not as much out of pol tiles as their opponents would have