The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-12-07
would Give Taft Good Star

! the OnlcagO PLATFORM III mat particular
| to be carried out.
Would Give Taft Good Start.
If there is such a revision right al
the threshold of his term, Mr.. Taft
will have scored no mean triumph That
success will give him new prestige and
he will be in a better position to get
what he asks subsequently of Congress.
1t is well known that Speaker Can
non is not an ardent revisionist. Meth.
er are his ieutenants of ways and
means, who will figure prominently in
the tariff legislation. They may want
to revise less than Mr.. Taft would want
to revise, but there has been no word
from them yet to warrant any positive
inference Men who were trying to
stir up some trouble for the Speaker
in the recent campaign are still trail
ing him. Mr.. Taft sympathies may
be more strongly with the so-called
progressive wing, but after all there
is no splendid prospect yet of quarrel
between the Speaker and the next Pers-
ident.
1t is almost superfuous to assert that
Mr.. Cannon will be reelected as Speak
er. if he lives and enjoys good health
till next March, or till the extra ses
sion of Congress assemblies. He is an
auestionably the leader of his party in
the House. 1t would be contrary to all
precedent to defeat him now for re-
election. His defeat would divide the
Republican party in the House. To
some extent it would demoralize the
party forces there and open wide the
breach between the two powerful fac
tions there have been in the party for
six or seven years. Personally the
Speaker is popular with SO per cent.
of the Republican members. Probably
he is more popular personally with
members than any other Speaker of the
last twenty years. For while Reed may
90 down in history as a greater man
than Cannon and is still regarded as
one of the greatest Speakers the House
of Representative ever had, he was
not personally very popular in the
House. Members admired his ability,
but did not like his sarcastic sayings.
Not Promising for Rivals.
Furthermore Mr.. Cannon undoubtedly
has a majority of the votes of the Re-
publican caucus-a very large majority
already pledged to his reelection. It
is almost inconceivable to those, who
are familiar with the present organiza-
ton of the House and know the forces
which enter into it, that any Repub-
Iican candidate for Speaker who might
stand forth between now and next
March, could defeat him for the caucus
which will be equivalent to
an election.
Representative Burton, of Ohio, is
almost the only man of speakership
size en- the Republican side, other than
Mr.. Cannon. He is bent on coming to
the Senate from Ohio. Possibly some
diligent Ohioans, who would be entire
Iy willing to put few obstacles in the
way of his Senatorial ambition, have
encouraged the gossip about his becom-
ing an active candidate for Speaker.
Mr.. Burton has already announced, as
a matter of fact, that he does not as
pire to the speakership.
President Roosevelt is anxious to
force some labor legislation through
Congress at its short session this win
ter Normally Congress is very averse
to enacting much, if any, general legis-
lation at a short session because the
burden of enacting the necessary APP
preparation DlIlS at snort SESSION mas ,
alone become more or less irksome. The
that each session of Con-
yress must vote amount to approximate
w a billion dollars and that is about |
all such an unwieldy body as the Con-
yress of the United States can do well
during two months For while Congress
assemblies December this year, there !
is little hope of much legislation be-
fore early January. There will be a |
Christmas recess of about two weeks. |
Experienc has shown that no work |
can be done during that Christmas
period. 1t has been the custom for
many, many years to take that holiday. |
If Congress should not take it, so many |
Of its members would hasten away for
the holiday that it would be next to
to maintain a quorum.