Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-07-08
QUALIFICATIONS OF TAFT.

LII uOmludIluS Wlltldn IL 4d1I
Tor the presidency the Republican
National convention has chosen the
one man now in public life best quail
fed to succeed Theodore Roosevelt.
More than any other possible nomi
nee, he has been associated with and
committed to the policies of the
Roosevelt administration, and the
best Judgment of the party natural
~ fixed on him as Mr.. Roosevelt's
most acceptable and logical successor.
It is no straining of the truth to say
that Mr.. Taft is better equipped for
the administrative duties of the pres
idential Office than any other candi
date for the presidency has been at
the time of his first nomination. The
political experiences of the secretary
of war are varied. He has served with
distinction as state and federal judge,
held one of the most important posts
in the department of justice, been sec
rotary of war and acting secretary of
state, has governed the Philippines,
been temporary governor of Cuba, and
has supervised affairs in the isth.nian
canal strip He is an administrator,
negotiator and pacifcator who has
proven his tact and skill in many
difficult fields. and his all round COM
potency as public man equals, if it
does not exceed that of such earlier
noted exemplars if versatility in
craftsmanship as Albert Gallatin,
James Madison and John Quincy
Adams. Mr.. Taft is just as admir-
ably fitted to be chief justice of the
supreme court or a leader In either
branch of congress as he is to fulfill
the duties of the presidency.
In nominating cabinet officer for |
president the Republican party re-
turns to the precedent of the early |
days of the republic. No republican |
presidential candidate has ever been |
taken from the cabinet Fremont and |
Grant were soldiers; Lincoln, Har-
rison and Blaine were in private life |
when nominated; Garfield was taken
from the senate, Hayes and Mckinley
srere state governors. Service in the !
cabinet has latterly worked to dim
.ln1sh rather than to promote the /
chances of a candidate for the pres
idential nomination. But Secre-
targ Tsft's eminent ability and avail
ability have overcome this handicap
and shattered the notion that the &C
ceptance of an administrative post is
necessarily a bar to promotion to the
presidency.
Opponents of the Roosevelt Taft
policies have tried to make capital
out of the charge that Mr. Taft's
was forced by President
Roosevelt. Und oubtedly the support
OF the administrat ion added great
to the secretary's candidacy;
but the vast majority of the Rpubli-
can voters wanted nominee WIN
was most closely associated with
the administration and its policies.
and the preferen &c of the voters coin
cided completely with the preference
of the president. 1t is absurd to say
that Secretary Taft's nomination
was due to politial manipulation.
On the contrary, the Republican con-
vention mas only expressed the over
whelming sentiment of the party.
On a direct primary vote in every |
state we believe that Secretary Taft
would have had an even larger
popular majority than his strength
in the convention represented. He
stands conspicuouslY for what the
Republican voters want, and the
voters, not the leaders, compelled his
nomination. In him the party has a
candidate whom it trusts and honors
and whom the country will gladly &C
cept as the next president.