The Owyhee nugget. ([Silver City], Idaho) 1905-1984, 1908-09-18

much right to the expression OF his
choice for president as any other citi-
zen; bat he has no right TO use his off,
cial power for or against any candidate.
Neither the constitution nor the law
confers upon him any such right. If
the president may use his tremendous
power over federal officials, with their
vast retinue Of friends, relatives and
dependents, to name and elect his sue
cessor, there is nothing to prevent him
from naming and eecting his own son,
though the son might not possess the
constitutional qualifications. No such
precedent should be established, and
the people should rebuke the president
for this misuse of power, by defeating
the candidate he has foisted upon his
party.
The president deplores anything that
tends to emphasize "class conscious
ness" Yet it is told by soldiers return
ing from the Philippines that his presi-
dental legatee, Mr.. Taft, while
governor of those islands, made an
order excluding the common soldier
from the public plaza OF Manila after
six o'clock of each evening, because the
officers wives wanted to promenade III
the plaza in the cool of the evening,
aud the presence of the common soldier
was offensivel Perhaps one of the sol
diers might have come '"twixt the wind
and their nobilityl" Could an order be
imagined with a greater tendency to
emphasize class consciousness or to
provoke class hatred? One more in
dicative of the snobbishness of the
petty autocrat? 1t was undemocratic.
unrepublican, unjust; and Mr.. Taft
may be very sure that no soldier who
was victim of that order will vote for
him, and nobody else ought to who sub
scribes to the doctrine that all men are
born free and equal.
Taft has given no evidence of great
executive ability, nor evidences of
great craftsmanship. His position on
the reforms demanded by the people is
vague, uncertain, indefinate. His posi-
ton on the election of U s. senators
by direct vote of the people. smacks
very much of the demagogue. He is
''inclined" to favor it because he is be-
ginning to find out that the measure is
popular with the people, and just now
he would like very much to be popular
with the people too: he is merely IN
clined, not heartily, in favor of it, as
an assurance to the oligarchy of repub-
lican U. S. senators and their owners,
that as president, he will make no
earnest effort to bring about such re-
form. If this is not the correct view
of his position, then posing as great
Statesman and asking for the highest
office in the gift of the people, he ought
to know enough of the proposed reform
to be positively for or against it, and to
be able to give the reasons for his posi-
ton. If his position on this question
is not that of the demagogue, then it
must be one of ignorance or cowardice.
Either he dosn't know enough about
the matter to have an opinion, or he
doesn't dare express it.
If left to his own devices, Taft would
appoint inferior men like himself to
cabinet positions, and il no great en-
ergency arose, his administration would
roll along on the dead leavel of medi-
ocrity, potent for neither great good
nor g eat evil. He will not, however,
be permitted to select his own cabinet.
1t will consist of able men whose abil-
ities, alas will not be used for the good
of the whole people. In return for
campaign contributions Wall Street will
appoint the secretary of the treasury
government loans without interest;)