The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-10-21
TAFPS THIRTY DAYS AT
RANGE WITH THE VOTRS

II Is just month To-Day since
! President Taft began his tour of
the country. His public utterances
coupled with personal contact have
given the people of the nation their
first view of the President at close
range. They accepted him at the
outset largely on President Roose-
velt's say so and in all of his Off
Cial acts prior to his western trip
he was given the benefit of the
doubt in accordance with Cbarac-
tcristic American observation-disclosures
and charity.
Hereafter the situation will be
! different. People have now either
accepted him as capable of filling
the high office which he occupies
or rejected him as not measuring
/ up to the qualifications which the
post requires. President Taft has
]
placed himself on parade to let the
people see what sort of person he
really is and his public speeches
and public appearances have afford
cd them an excellent basis of udp-
mcut. In some cases the verdict
I =. 90.
ConscI vative but there is little
doubt that the people west of the
Mississippi river feel that Taft is
something of a disappointment.
In Iowa, Minnesota and Ne
braska President Taft talked poll
tics but his utteranCes were re-
Ceived with such reserve that he
abandoned that course and has
since been relying solely upon his
personal magnetism and ability to
jolly the proletohat into think
ing that he is a prince of good
fellows and therefore fitted to fill
the position of highest trust in the
nation. That he is a prince
and a good fellow all will admit
but the conclusion does not neces
sarily follow westerners are too
deep for that.
In fact it may be said that the
westernel of today is the embodi-
ment of this whole jollying'
game. 1t is his stock in trade and
the fellow who can drop in and
beat him at it must develop con
siderable speed. Westerners are
students of human nature, they
know the limitations of human
chara Cter, its weaknesses as we'll as
its strength and it is only natural
under the circumstances that they
should detect the con- before it
is cold and set it down for its face
value. According to western pre-
cepts therefore, con- without the
goods does not carry a fellow
very far. That's as far as Taft
has gotten in the situation of the
| west.
That this estimate of the situa
ton is correct is borne out by the
ovation given William Jennings
BRYAN in Seattle Tuesday which
excelled that accorded to President
Taft. Although this state has
never been strongly in favor of
Bryanism, it admires intensely a
man with progressive character.
That is Bryan and while not will
ing to accept all that he stands for,
his attitude of mind is typical of
the northwest and consequently
popular. They like Mr.. Bryan
because he stands for something
whether it is right or wrong, a
characteristic which President Taft
has yet failed to display, at least
in the degree that spells popularity
in the west. On the street Taft is
not nfreqnently referred to as ii
weak sister.
In the hotel Hobbies the Presi-
dents lack of progressiveness is
sometimes explained by saying that
he is progressive but not in the
marked degree that his predecessor
was and that he is a reactlonary
only by contrast. But invariably