The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-01-17
Gas BIG
LEAD IN HOUSE
POLL TAKEN BY WASHINGTON
PAPER TELLS INTEREST
ING STORY.

TAFT is the preference OF nearly one
half the entire Republican member
ship OF the House of representatives
for the nomination for the Presidency
by the national convention, accord.
ing to a poll completed by the Post.
or the 281 Republicans in the
House, not counting the Speaker, the
views of 1SC were ,ascertained. Fiji
teen were interviewed, but we're non
eommittal. Twenty could not be seen
because of Illness or absence from the
city. Nearly all expressed their In
dlyidual preference, with the unde.
standing that it shou!d not be made
pablo. except In such a way as would
not reveal their identity. Some,
however. did not hesitate to express
their views for publication.
The vote was taken by a represent
tatiye Of the POST. who checked OF
the name of each member after he
had received an answer to the follow
ing question: what candidate do
you Individually prefer to-day as the
Republican nominee for the Presi.
dency?' In most cases the member
replied that he was. FIRST. last anil
all the time" for his choice; therefore,
an attempt to secure the second AMI
third choice of any large number of
the members was not considered feas.
ible. OF those who did express a sec
ond choice the result was. among the
Taft adherents. in favor OF Hughes,
and. among the other candidates be-
sides Hughes, in favor of the Speaker.
Should each State vote in the Chi
cago convention as the preference of \
majority of its Representatives in the
House indicate, eliminating Arkansas.
Alabama, Florida, Georgia. Idaho,
Louisiana, North Carolina, South Car
olina, Texas and Mississippi, which
have no Republican Representatives.
the vote in the convention on the first
ballot would result as follows:
Taft, $50; Cannon. 14S: Hughes. 8;
Knox, 6S; La Toilette. &c; Fairbanks.
81. and the balance doubtful. Count
ing for Taft the States eliminated.
because of lack of representation on
the Republican side of the House, the
total for him would be 55S.
Delaware. Montana. North Dakota.
Oregon, Oklahoma. South Dakota,
Utah. Vermont, wyoming. and Virginia
have but one or two Representatives
in the House. Therefore. to Indicate
how these States individually stand
would be to violate the confidence i'm
posed by their Representatives. How
ever. It may be said that considerably
more than a majority from these
/ States are for the Secretary of War.
In these States Taft received II votes.
Cannon 2. and Fairbanks l.
The Taft strength in the House was
found to be general throughout the
country, though mainly In the Middle
and Far West On the Pacific Coast
the delegation most pronounced in his
favor is California. It's members
pointed out that the Secretary of War
has long been familiar with the prob
lens growing out of the relations OF
the United States with other nations
bordering on the Pacific Ocean, and
that he understands the attitude OF
the Pacific Coast States toward those
problems. One member OF this dele.
CATION expressed preference for
Governor Hughes. but said that be-
cause OF the sentiment in his State he
would probably eventually be with
Secretary Taft.
In the States of Washington. Ore.
gon. Wyoming and Montana, which
constitute the Far Northwest. three
members expressed themselves for
Taft. one for Fairbanks and one for
Cannon or Taft, with a slight prefer
ence for the former.
Six Minnesota Republicans reported
an overwhelming sentiment in their
State for Taft and declared their own
preference for him. One said he was
for Cannon. Representative Tawney
was still out of the city. but he IS
understood to be with the sentiment
in his district and State.
The friends of Senator La Toilette
have counted on his receiving support
in Nebraska. but the Representatives
of that State are quite strongly for
Taft, admitting. however. that work
has recently been done there for the
Wisconsin Senator. In the Wiscon.
sin delegation itself two Representa-.
tives declared for Taft, fout for La
Toilette, and one was non-commIttal
or the four who expressed prefer.
ence for La Toilette three indicated
Taft as second choice.
According to the preference of the
members of the House from that
ID.