The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-05-04

the shrewd maneuvering of tacticians,
as the Denver convention has promised
to be.
And yet, with April half gone and
the Chicago convention quite two
months away, there are still opportun-
tiles for important convention develop
ments. From all appearances Secre-
tary Taft viii go into the convention
far i'll the lead of all his rivals in ia
stfncted delegates. 1t can not be con-
cealed, however, that it is almost a
certainty half of the delegates, which
would be at least 49I, will not be in
structed for him. A great many dele
gates friendly to him will be unin-
structed and free to vote for some
other candidate, could IT be shown that
some other nomination would be safer
and better for the party.
. Somebody is still doing tremen-
dous amount of forceful work against
Secretary Taft s nomination. Il may
be a group of men, for the object is
not altogether clear, or it may be a
group Of opposition forces organized
labor, negroes, prohibitionists, and
others, who do not welcome the secre-
tary's elevation tosthe Presidency. I'm
questionably certain of the rival can
didates are back of some of this work.
1t may be Knox, Fairbanks, or Cannon,
all of whom are known to be hopeful
still.
Anyone who goes out into the States
where conventions are being held of
late soon becomes aware of a big press
propaganda for combating the roseate
reports which the. Taft boomers began
sending out early. Two months ago
it seemed impossible to hold a State or
Congressional district convention
without the hand of some Taft press
representative being seen. No matter
what the convention did, he twisted a
nice Taft story out of it, and away it
went to hundreds of newspapers. 1t
is automatic that a denial never
catches up with story, which fact no
one knows better than a practical poll
tician. For while the Taft reporters,
travelling hither and thither, with
ample funds for expenses, got away
with about everything. They bam-
boozled the country correspondents and
even fooled the big press associations
by their wiles.
Nowadays, some of the most reliable
correspondents, of long Washington
training, are out on the convention
trail, seeing to it that other reports are
available for newspapers. They are not
in the employ of newspapers, but IN
the employ of some persons who are in
terested in other candidates than Taft.
Probably these writer's would be quite
as ready to help their own favorites
along as the Taft writers have been to
help their favorite. But the presence
of the rivals on the ground acts as
check, and the reading public is get
ting fewer fake" reports about who
carried conventions
The other candidates are likewise
making very determined warfare in
other quarters, convinced that it is by
no means all over, and that the chance
of beating "Bill Taft" is still big
enough to be worth improving to the
utmost.
The total number of delegates now
elected is 54S, gain of sc during the
past week, and 81 more than a majority
of the convention. The following table
shows how these delegates stand ac
eording to the action of the conven |
tions by which they were elected, F.
Those actually instructed by eonven-
ions are given to the candidates the
instructions were voted for. In the
ease of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, /
vharn the DELEGATES were elected under .