Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1908-10-16
Taft,s Trip a Failure

Taft's meteor-hKe uip .,a
sas was a continuous frost from .. a..
s.''. ' The train entered the s' 49,
tim. ID .ss sn west line until It crossed the, the
at, at the ,e," WIZ Missouri. and reports from
. .,i,s ' state indicate that the oo
S Sae there became worse ln sssds
0 .. "ottsr The first stop was mace s
Of ?, Garden es,, City before 5 O'Clock ana q
at. al '1 republican press reported "a
I meeting ns' Of several thousand. v nsns
n, ms1 ,act less than 500 people were
u. y. the he depot to meet the spsc Ssn
s as though every effort had Oe Con
tram -. . secure a crowd at the
'i's ~ Dodge City the crowd was
.v a., smaller and as other towns y.
' 1asa reached, the true reports mdi-
o ~s.s the same conditions At KIN
s Glow five or six hundred people we,e
at' the depot, and the Taft dispatch,
- sIated the crowd numbered 'r0in
tno to three thousand. Writing "
~ noe ing at Newton, q Santa re
. di ,v point, H. H. Fisher, secreta'
~ Of the Bryan club says Inc
VAR :, meeting at this pace WIS the
> os, cold flooded political rally
,p | have ever witnessed anu
! nave seen many Of them
ar Taft was a great dlslppo'n'
/ ueis5--lly and he not only
did aot secure any votes al 'niS
,,rr "a made votes for William
10, ings Bryan; many Republicans
AZ, ess.ng themselves TO this e.
60, If he cones this way tg44n l
IN GO MY uttermost 10 get a CROWD
,,l 10 hear him for | believe that
no will make votes for the Democrat
&c ticket"
L. e. Riggs of Elmdale writes; IN
raft meeting at Florence which l
attended was failure and | know
of at least three Republicans who
would have supported MIR. Taft had
they not heard his talk, who now
say that they will support Mr.. Bly,
an. | wish that he would spend the
remainder of his time until the
campaign closes in Kansas, and their
would not be the slightest doubt
that the Democrats would sweep
the state"
The stories of the Garden City,
Kinbey, Newton and the Florence
meeting are the stories Of all OF
the meetings held in Kansas. Small
crowds greeted Mr.. Taft at every
stopping point and there was not
the least show of enthusiasm. AS
the train was pulling out of Kin.
! sley, Bryan cries were heard and
Mr.. Taft hurriedly sought his apart
ments in his private train.
The grand spludge was to have
been made at Topeka and in spitae
of the fact that the Republican
State Central committee bankrupted
its treasury in the attempt, this
meeting was the worst kind of a
frost. Six bands were hired for the
occasion and every member Of one
Of them wore Bryan buttons, despite
the fact that a Republican State
central committee was paying for
the music.
Notices, thousands of them had beel
sent broadcast over the state and as
a result there was a liberal sprink-
ling of postmasters and holders Of
federal positions In Topeka for the
demonstration. Yet there was no
enthusiasm and the meeting fell flat
and the Republican managers of the
event admit that it was failure.
"If all of the meetings were like
the one which Mr.. Taft held in To
peka, l think it would pay the State
central committee to make arrange
ments for Mr.. Taft to appear In
Kansas often" said Chairman Hen
derson Martin of the Democratic State
central committee.
The Topeka meeting was devoid Of
anything that might be mistaken for
enthusiasm and was as complete a
failure as 1t could have possibly been
Giev us more Of Taft and Kansas will
go Democratic by 100000"
The reeldents of South Rand town,