Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-02-12

4 Aoot NNNh OiAN lAstl ltb SCN0io1 LlOl z
fuses in powder kegs in the conven-
tion magazine. If there are fire.
works; if the fight in Chicago wakes
fierce and ballot after ballot is taken
with no conclusive results, then look
out for an explosion; a rush, an ava
lanche TO Roosevelt If this comes,
no power on earth will be able to
stem or head it off. Ii Roosevelt is
nominated under such conditions
there are no considerable number of
people in Washington who even doubt
the result. He will accept. 1t will
be put at him i'll such way that he
cannot refuse. To decline will be
to disregard the vital interests not
only of the party. brf fethe country
Notwithstanding r ee Its! |. Is eIeclara, L,
tions-made in on.er "a "a will
yield under su circumstance
| But this Contingency may not a .se.
There are those who assert that long
before June the battle will have been
decided and that Taft will have votes
to spare. One thing seems quite GER
tain Hughes star is on the wane and
he will not be great factor in the
race. Within month he may, in
fact be out of il altogether. What
then? What candidate shall fall heir
| to those rs votes from New York.
One of these men will get them-Taft.
Cannon or Knox. The probabilities
might seem to be with Taft, backed
as he is by the tremendous power of
| the President, vet, there is another
element to be taken into account.
The large following OF Gov. Hughes.
having in mind the President mes
sage, with its disastrous effect on the
Hughes boom, will put up desperate
fight to prevent Taft getting the New
York delegation. The Hughes follow
erers are not pleased with the methods
employed by the President TO defeat
the nomination of their candidate. by
throwing into the background the
Hughes speech and puncturing a
beautiful boom.
AS between Cannon and Knox, the
former probably stands the better
chance of landing the rs votes, al
though Knox is very strong in New
York state. However Cannon has the
advantage of long service, wide ac-
quaintance and the tremendous power
and prestige attaching to the speaker
ship. He would have the influence of
about thirty members in the House of
Representatives the Congressional
committee and some very able pOiiti-
cal lieutenants.
Ii under these conditions the fight
shall narrow down to Taft and Cannon
it will be pretty and exciting race.
OF course Pennsylvania will stand by
Knox as long as there is any reason
able hope of his nomination. When
that hope is gone, Pennsylvania 6S
votes will go to Cannon. and with
them the "a votes of New Jersey and
probably l6 from Maryland. With
Fairbanks out of it, the 80 votes of
Indiana are certain to be for Cannon
as against Taft On this basis. with
Illinois "a to tie to, Cannon will have
27O votes. OF New England's 80 dele
gates, as between Taft and Cannon
the latter would have not less than
60. probably 20. bringing Cannon's
vote to $50. Kentucky with 26 votes.
is for Fairbanks. Ii the latter can
influence them they will be for Can
non. Virginia, with "a votes. is said
to be favorable to Shaw, indicating
that as between Cannon and Taft
Virginia would favor Cannon. The 80
votes of Kentucky and Virginia, il
given to Cannon would increase the
total to $50, or within 100 of sufficient
to nominate.
Missouri has 36 votes and is said
not to be particularly friendly to
Taft. California, with 30 votes is
said to be friendly to Cannon. 1t is
known that some of the far west and
northwestern states are opposed to
Taft and the fiual vote of Minnesota,
as between Taft and Cannon, is a
matter of doubt. 1t is quite certain
the Congressman would exert their
influence for Cannon.
The south is somewhat OF an un-
known quantity, with chances favor
ing Taft, and the other states of the
north are almost solidly for the
Ohioan it is believed. 1t will thus
appear that if the fight finally SINNERS
down to Cannon and Taft, it is likely
to be nip and tuck. 1t will be the
field against Taft at any rate and if
Knox should develop strength instead
of Cannon, Knox will fall heir to the
Hughes, Cannon and Fairbanks
strength when the favorite sons shall
finally be eliminated from serious con-
sideration.
OF course the President is in dead
earnest in his efforts in behalf of
Taft, whom he considers to be the one
man to carry on the work he has done
and is doing, and it may be depended
on that he will not lose any chance
to win votes for his man.
1t is now declared there will be no
more hot messages from the President
this session of Congress. The Presi-
dent has made it clear what he wants
done Incidentally he has paid his
respects to certain parties who have
from time to time taken shots at him
in the magazines and newspapers. to
say nothing of having spiked the
Hughes gun. He feels he fas gone as
far as he can, and spoken as plainly
as he can, and his obligations require
him to do no more.
On the other hand it is said Con-
gress will proceed as is its wont and
will not be greatly, if at all, inhu
enced to do more than it had intended
tn do Ac nna canatnr from, tho aact