The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-25

vulnerable weak point, so far as get
ting the nomination IL concerned. lies
tn the open and aggressive advocacy
Of his claims by Roosevelt And on
this point take the following from The
Hartford courant. also Republican,:
7 e given out at washington that
frank II Hitchcock, now FIRST assist
ans postmaster general, has decided to
the TAFT campsiSn e rh hake ,s sna mIsht ~
E1ed news for Mr.. Taft's friends. Mr..
ta ,,cnco t,,, has = very vide acausin-
Himself an as@issblsp o nscss ana s
gentleman OF high personnel character
ana recognized executive ability. Much
Of his influence IL with the South, and
ABOUT si hassinf + .up sD%s
n the Sotth. The same GROWERS are
the men who complimented Mckinley
on having manager who secured the
him. Every other candidate for the
Presidency would be glad for the
support az Mr.. Hitchcock; IL is Mr..
Tafts very good fortune II 10 goes to
To put IT plainly, does not this look
very much as IL Roosevelt intends to
detail Government officiaI for the
duty Of pushing the claims of one Of
his Cabinet7 Mr., Hitchcock may be
all that The courant claims for him.
but that does not change facts. While
not actually a member of the Cabinet
he is very near 1t. and we may safely
take 1t for granted that IL he gives UP
his present position to take charge of
the Taft candidacy he will do so with
the full knowledge and consent Of
Roosevelt. and, possibly at the iatter's
request.
Now. as an evidence OF the feeling in
high quarters against this combination
take that little incident that occurred
in the Senate few days ago. The
President had sent to that body the
names OF four men whom he had APP
pointed postmasters in Ohio. They
were admtnistration-Ta Taft" appointees.
and the Senate promptly rejected all OF
them on motion OF Senator Foraker.
who also moved. that the President be
immediately notified of the rejection.
which was done. Thesohio Senator
further remarked: There will be no
more prostitution of patronage to carry
out political bargains without 1t being
resented"
We have little admiration for Fora
ker, but It 10 plain that the Senate was
with him In this matter. for we learn
from the papers that not a single ad-
ministration Senator voted against the
rejection. The New York Commercials
comments on the situation are SO APP
propriate that we copy thereon at some
length. OF raEt and his boom it says:
Really. the iattet.s boom" appears
20 be in about the worst hands possible
r. some particulars. 1t was bad poll
politics better characterises it---for
those In charge of che Ohio patronage
In his interest when they must have
born fighter and seasoned poIitician.
would be only too glad to havS that
sort OF thing happen--he couldT& ask
for better material with which to
boom" II 10 not likely. of course,
that Mr.. Taft has had any direct hand
In this patronage deal. but he should
never have permitted his lieutenants
to engage In that sort Of business. AL
ready Handicapped by his chiefs act
i've support, he appears just now to be
suffering even more acutelyN from the
tactics OF his fool friends foremost
among whom Is one Vorys. whose con-
ception Of conducting q presidential
nomination campaign does not rise, oh
viously, above the level Of q ward-con-
stable canvass or the "worlking-up" OF
q temperance-lodge or Sunday Scnool
picnic. Taft, the universal choiee!
he proclaims In the blacklist of display
type headlines on a postal card propa.
ganda now going through the UniIed
States mails. Taft is the first choice
of go per cent OF the voters. Taft
is the arst, second and third choice Of
| 80 per cent. Taft Is the first choice OF
every State save the favorite-son
State. Analyze these figures. What do
they mean?" Nothing-except that the
whole country is laughing not at the
Taft boon" itself but at the manner
| in which It Is being parked"