Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-01-22

ilkely Indt the IaIC ueleSdtlOH VIII NC
seated and the Foraker delegation
barred out The final result of course
will be that Ohio will be carried for
the Democratic nominee, whoever he
may be. That the territories will with
one accord give their votes to Taft is
obvious enough. Every official in the
territories from Alaska to the Philip
pines is appointed by the president.
But when it comes to voting for the
nominee in November they have no
voice. Finally New England is classed
as a unit in the convention for Seere-
tary Taft. Senator Crane of Massa-
chusetts is opposing him. Both sena-
tors from Connecticut are opposing
him. Senator Gallinger of New Hamp-
shire is fighting him. With SO strong
force opposed it is scarcely probable
that the solid force of the New Eng
land states will be cast for the war
secretary.
The States That Nominate and Those
That Elect.
Looking over the list of states relied
| upon to nominate Secretary Taft, we
| find that a great proportion of his
votes in the convention will come from
commemorative that will never give
him vote in the electoral college.
Alabama, Arkansas. Florida, Georgia,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri North
Carolina, Oklahoma. Tennessee and
Texas furnish in all POS out of the 521
votes in the convention necessary to
choice. The territories, which have no
vote in the electoral college. furnish
| fourteen more. In other words, the
| most friendly estimate that can be
| made of Secretary Tafts strength in
the convention indicates that it comes
almost wholly from communities which
| cannot help him in the actual election.
The Vice Presidency.
One thing that the Democratic party
| should do at its convention this year
| is to select for once in it's recent his
| tory strong man for second place
on the ticket. 1t is one of the curious
| developments of politics in the last
| twenty-five years that the vice presi-
| dency has gradually been reduced to Il
place of less Importance than a cabi-
| net position or even the post of private
| secretary to the president 1t cannot
| be said that this is altogether due to
| the fact that strong men have not been
| nominated for the vice presidency. AS
| Il rule, they have not been. But when
Mr.. Hendricks of Indiana was nomi-
mated with Cleveland he possessed
vastly more knowledge of national af-
| fairs than did his chief. When Mr..
| Thurman of Ohio was nominated on
| the unsuccessful Democratic ticket
| with Mr.. Cleveland in 1888 he. too,
was Il man trained in the life of the
capital and was quite as fit TO be pres
| ident as the man with whom he ap-
peared upon the ticket General Adlai
| Stevenson in 1892 was Il man of ma
| tional knowledge and national recogni-
| ton. With him the Democratic party
| began to let the vice presidential office
go by default. That it renominated
| him eight years later does not shake
| the force of this argument He had
| been long out of office then and with
the highest qualities of integrity and
| with the most lovable disposition mag
| Unable was past the time of life when
he should have been the nominee for
| the second place on the ticket
In 1896 an utterly unknown man
| was taken from Maine to be the vice
| presidential nominee with Mr.. Bryan.
| However excellent his qualities may
have been. he was utterly unfit for
| such place.
1t was not only the Bryan element
| in the Democracy that Numbered. for
| in 1904 the friends of Judge Parker
| nominated for vice president Mr.. Hen
| ry Gassaway Davis of West Virginia.
| Theoretically the vice president takes
| his office in order to be ready to as
sumo the duties of the presidency in
| the event of the death of his chief.
Mr.. Davis when nominated was easily
| twenty years older than Judge Parker.
| Theoretically the Democratic party
| stood against trusts and monopolies.
Mr.. Davis is the most successful man
| ager of combinations of capital, of
| mines and of railroads the state of
| West Virginia knows.
This year it seems that the Demo-
| CrdIIc party SHOULD Take ledI from
the book of the Republican party of
| 1900. 1t seems, too. that men of force
of character and standing might well
look TO what Theodore Roosevelt has
won by becoming against his will a
| vice presidential candidate. Personal
| ~ / think that had he remained in that
| office and not been promoted by the
| bullet of an assassin he would vet
have impressed himself upon the ma
| ton as man of force and power.
The same opportunity is open to many
men on the Democratic side of politics,
and it is a confession of weakness
rather than an assertion of strength
when a capable man fears to take this
post. | look to see, and l have the
agreement of many prominent men in
the Democratic organization, a care
full study made at the next convention
of the qualifications of aspirants for
the vice presidential nomination and a
hard fight made for the place.
Washington, D. C.
WILLIS ARROTT