The Washington herald., 1908-02-08
WILL BE- TAFT PILOT
Hitchcock Will Manage His
Boom i'll the South.
MAY RETURN TO DEPARTMENT
Postmaster Generals Announcement
Fails to State that Successor Is
Permanent Appointment-New Man
ager VIII Have Great Force with
Observation-Disclosures Not Pleased.

After all the efforts made TO discredit
the statement that Frank II. Hitchcock
would resign from the Office Of First
Assistant Postmaster General to become
one of the managers Of Secretary Tafts
candidacy, official announcement was
made yesterday that Mr. Hitchcock would
retire from Office on February l5, to join
the Taft forces.
The official announcement was made by
/ Postmaster General Meyer. In his state
ment it was said that Mr.. Hitchcock /
would be succeeded by Charles p. Grand
field. chief clerk in the First Assistant
! Postmaster Generals Office but il was
not said that Grandfeld was a Democrat,
or that he would hold his position only
until Mr. Hitchcock had finished his po
litical work for Mr. Taft and desired to
ro-entrr the government service.
Here Is the Postmaster Generals state |
mcn.:
'The Postmaster General announced !
this afternoon that MI Hitchcock had /
decided 10 accept the invitation of the |
friends of Secretary Taft TO assist in the |
management Of his campaign for the |
! Presidential nomination of the Republican /
party. Mr Hitchcock will tender his I
resignation as First Assistant Postmaster |
| General. to take effect February 10
Mr. Charles p GrandheId, Of Mis- |
souri,. the ranking officer Of the bureau. /
who has acted as first assistant in the /
absence Of Mr.. Hitchcock. win succeed to
the vacancy
Meyer Meant No Joke.
For the benefit OF those persons who /
may be disposed to regard Postmaster /
General Meyer as humorist it IS neces-
sary TO explain that Mr. Meyer was not /
seeking TO raise a laugh when ne an
nounced that Mr.. Hitchcock had decided /
to accept the invitation Of the friends
Of Secretary TAFT TO assist ia the man
| agement Of his campaign" or course
there are some people VINO viii laugh
when they read IL, particularly a few
knowing ones in Washington. whose risi-
bles will be tickled over the suggestion
that Mr.. Taft had nothing 20 do with
the selection OF his own campaign mana
ger. but that his friends took il upon
themselves 10 Invite Mr. Hitchcock 10
assist President Roosevelt was one OF 4
those friends, and, after all there may h
be something in the report that II was 4
not the Secretary Of War, but the Presi- 4
dent. who picked the First Assistant
Postmaster TO do political work for the
Secretary of War.
May Cause Trouble,
The announcement Of Mr. Htchcock's
selection as "a Taft manager Is bound TO
create a hubbub in some sections Of the I
Taft camp. on the surface, an attempt D
will be made to show that Mr. Hitch
cocks alliance with Mr.. Taft is a great
moral victory for the Taft cause. i'm that
Mr. Hitchcock was regarded by the Taft
management as the head and front of
an agreement 20 nominate George b.
Cortelyou for the Presidency. But deep
down underneath the surface there is a
wailing and gnashing Of teeth. for it is
hard for people who are disposed to rank,
Mr.. Hitchcock as a "consplra tor" there-V
by meaning anybody connected with the
administration that is not for Taft. TO
forget all the mean things they said
about him and weIco"e him as the head
and front OF the Taft movement.
Club for OmcehoIdeFs:
The significance Of Mr. Hitchcock's Sc
lection as a, Taft manager in view Of
what occurred i'm the Florida Republican (
convention Thursday. is already a sub q
ject Of comment in political circles. It
is pointed out that the denial Of the ad- !
minisuauon that Federal oficehoIders and
distributors Of Federal patronage were be-
ing used to help Mr.. Tafts candidacy will Il
hardly hold against the knowledge that Il
Florida convention, and that Mr.. Hitch s
cock was selected primarily because Of
his ability 10 round up and organize Fed e
erali ofncehOidars in the South through o
his influence as a dispenser Of patronage | h
under the Post-oftice Department Id
Why Hitchcock Is Chosen. fl
Mr. Hitchcock's selection as Taft o
manager was the outcome of his alleged Fl
part in the so-called "Cortelyou conspir- n
acy-" Taft supporters accused him Of or /.
ganizing Southern officeholders for Cor d
telyou, under the pretense that President
Roosevelt was really in favor of the ! h
nomination Of the Secretary Of the Treas t
uTy instead Of the Secretary Of War. d
President Roosevelt called Mr.. Hitch h
cock to account. and was told that Mr.. u
Hitchcock had been doing political work s
In the South, but that it was to bring n
about Mr.. R0osevelts denomination. and o
was not in Mr. Cortelyou's interest. The s.
Taft supporters declined to accept this
explanation and pounded away at the G.
idea that COrteiyou and Hitchcock had o
been dislOyal TO the administration. IL b
was all wrong for a Federal officeholder h
TO use his official influence to help along D
anybody connected with the government. -
But when the eXeitable Tafters began to Il
be hopeful that Mr.. Cortelyou had aban- :,
doned any Intention Of becoming a can =,
didate for the Presidential nomination s
overtuTes were made to Mr. Hitchcock to =,
join the Taft forces. h
Gives Him Added Power, OF
AS a private citizen, Mr.. Hitchcock will il
go over the ground which he covered as
a governmental official of great in
huence. The possibility that he will re-
turn to the Office of First Assistant Post u
master General when he has left Mr.
Tafts employ may serve to assure him
the allegiance Of those pOstmasters and o,
other Federal officers IN the South who
found it worth while to be guided by his
political advice when he was among them in
before. ef