Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-09-04

nominating convention?
NJ one time he announced that 300
delegates We're ready to vote for Sec
rotary Taft. Though this was more
,han was then generally supposed, it
turned Out afterward that The an
nounccment was correct at the time
when ii was made
At another time later in the can
vaSS il was stated there was 400; and
though the statement may not have
originated in the White House. il was
adopted there. and generally through
out the country. There were still near
ly a hundred lacking. 1t was time spe-
Cial efforts We're made by somebody
Who made those efforts? In a very
short time afterward. it was announc-
ed and this time from Washington.
that the number had increased to con-
, s4ucrably more than 500. What was
there in the personality of Secretary
Taft to cause the popular pulse to rise
SC quickly in his favor?
. At one time when the President
had stated in the most positive Ian
guagc that he had not used any polt
ical influence in favor of the secretary,
Senator Foraker caused to be read in
the Senate letters of the President
winch forced an admission to the con-
t"ary by some of his strongest friends
and supporters. including the reporter
Of the chicago Tribune. The situation
had been we'll understood in the Tribune
office, and was correctly and vividly de-
picted by the gifted artist of that pa
per. in the cartoon of the presidential
band wagon. The wagon was being
drawn by the &c. O. p" elephant, on
whose neck sat Chairman New. prod
ding nIm along. President Roosevelt
sat in the middle of the front seat.
which was large and well cushioned,
with no one sitting on either side.
his arms were thrown up in triumph.
while in one hand he carried a flag
on winch was printed in large letters.
ROOMS FOR ALL"
The editor had, but few days pre-
viously, announced himself as in favor
Of Taft's nomination: but. disgusted
as he was with the manner in which
ii had been brought about he could not
refrain from thus expressing his con-
tempt for the entire performance.
T. The fact that the delegates were
chosen. Influenced, and controlled by
| the use OF official patronage, is suffi-
emily manifest from the character of
the Convention itself
A large portion of the delegates were
federal officeholders. OF these there
We're about a hundred from twelve
| Southern States. being all that were
distinctly Southern, except Delaware.
MARYLAND and Missouri The salaries
! o: these delegates amounted to over a
| hundred thousand dollars. 1t is no
Elore than reasonable to suppose that
in the remaining States and in the
| Territories there were at least as many
more. II so, there were some two hun
dred federal Officeholders in the Con-
yention. and their salaries would
amount to two hundred thousand dol
method which is in vogue in the South
ern States in appOrtiOning the dele
gates, it can he seen how easy it has
been for the oflicehOlders to control
the convention.
From ten Southern States. being the
twelve above referred to, except Ken.
tucky and Tennessee, there were 216
delegates in the Convention. nearly
half Of whom were federal ofilcehold.
States for the Republican candidate for
President in 1904 was but POI. III, be-
ing less than that cast by Wisconsin
which had but &c delegates. OF the
PIG delegates from the ten Southern
Stat es 50 were federal officeholders.
In Wisconsin 10.7O0 Republican vot
ers had one delegate: while in the ten
Southern States the same number OF
..cluhli2an voters had eight delegates
of whom two were federal Officehold
ers
The ten Southern States mentioned
with 100000 Republican voters, had
more delegates in the Convention than
New York. Pennsylvania. and Illinois
with their two and third million Re
publican voters.
President Roosevelt, communicating
with the delegates from those ten Sou
tkern States, So of them his own Office
HO!ders. is reported to have said, speak
inG OF the delegates whom the candi
dates of these two and third million
voters wanted recognized in the Con
ycntion, xiii 'em off" If he did moi
use these words, his communications
breathed the spirit which these word.
embody. He said, in substance, "NC
compromise. You have the power. ust
it"
And that is Republicanism. | an
asked: VIII you renounce your Re
publicanism?' No, not he Republican
ism OF the martvred Lincoln nor tha
of the martyred Garfield, nor that o.
the martyred Mckinley But the Re
publicanism of Roosevelt? Pshaw, L
i, like the French of Chaucers nun:
And Frensch she spak
Ful faire and fetisly,
After the scole Of
StrattfOrd atIe BOwe.
For Frensch of Parys
Was TO hire unknowe."
+ So OF Roosevelt He can talk glibly
| and "faire and fetisly" of Republican
ism OF the imperial school, but real
genuine Republicanism is to him "un
: knowe"