The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-02-18
TAFT'S CHANCES
NOT 50 STRONG
His Boom, Like the BUNDLE Bee
Was Biggest When
First Born.
CMan Special to the Advertiser.)

l. hASAlNT1ONs u IL Jan zS--
There is snow on the ground in Wash
iington bur the Taft candidacy is find
ing hard sledding It's great advances
Of the first few weeks after the Sec
rotary of War returned has been
checked. The claims department OF lis
press bureau has been riddled. Even
the statements which went out from
the White House unofhciany that Taft
would be nominated on the first ballot
lat Chicago have been discredited. To
a man up tree it looks very much
as though the seeretary's nomination
on the first ballot had been made i'm
possible
And instrumental in checking the
onward march Of the Secretary Of War
and his boomers has been the Hughes
boom. For the Governor Of New York
is now a declared candidate for the
presidency. The multitudes are rally
| ing to him. There is sentiment in his
favor ali over the country. All the
reactionaries and the favored son sup
porters would rather it would be
Hughes than Taft. They do not dis
like the Secretary of War but they
dislike his candidacy because ii has
been inspired and pushed by President
Roosevelt. They want TO punish Roos-
evelt. They would dearly love to re-
buke him good and hard when the
Chicago convention meets.
Thus the fight has become a grim
one Secretary Taft is still in COM
snand of his own boom and is manag-
ing it wisely. He made a move the
other. day which has been commended
both by his friends and by his oppo-
nents and for divers reasons. He
wrote a letter to Representative Her
bert Parsons, President Roosevelts
chairman of the New York Republican
County Committee, where there has
been great opposition to endorsing
Hughes. The Secretary said he did
not wish his friends to antagonize Gov.
Hughes in his own state. And there
has rapidly developed the assurance
that Gov. Hughes viii have the En-
pire State Delegation solid. OF course
the Secretary Of War was making d
virtue of necessity. for Hughes very
probably would have had New York.
His declaration and his promise to
make speech next Friday outlining
his position virtually put the New
York Republicans under Obligation TO
support him as a favorite son. But
gracious as 1t was on Secretary Taft's |
part it may noe bring HIM the sup
port as a =econd choice candidate IN
New York that he would wish. The !
old political leaders in New York had |
organized the Hughes boom and were |
ready for serious business when the |
Secretary wrote his letter. OdelI, |
Black and others OF their ilk We're in |
the plans. although an alliance with !
them was not entirely agreeable TO /
Gov. Hughes. II Taft should be the /
second choice Of New York, he might
come near the nomination, might be
nominated and of course these old
leaders would be out in the cold again
They do not propose 70 have it that
way if they can help themselves. They
viii fight now to shut Taft out of New
York altogether and viii make an is
sue Of the Presidents known hostiI-
ity TO Hughes nomination. The Pres
ident's friends have scattered far and
wide information calculated to dis
credit the Hughes candidacy and now
the Governors friends are fighting
mad.
Another incident that has stirred up
bad feeling is the charges, which anti
Taft workers say can not be dis
credited, that the President has BEEN
using federal patronage to help the
Taft boom along, The President pro-
nounces such charges "an unqualified
lie" He is having his cabinet MEM
bers prepare lists of nominations for
the last twelve months and he con-
making a statement TO the
public. using these nominations as q
basis for refuting the charges. He
claims that he has nominated many
anti-Taft men 10 Office on the recon-
mendations Of senators and that fed
eral Office holders SO dominated have
been working against Tafts nominal
ton
The Senate seems willing to accept
the challenge, although in recent days
there have been intimations that the
President might not make the state
ment after all and that he would not
deign TO answer the charges Of anti
Taft workers Senator Foraker has
been preparing to bring John Weth-
erin, Of speneervilIe. Ohio. wh5 was
nominated as postmaster there and re-
iected By the Senate, to Washington 10
testify and it Is claimed that his testi- /
nony viii show that the adminIstra-
ton would not give him the nomina-