Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-03-15
WASHINGTONLETTER
congressman sizing TAFT UP
As AN EASY GOOD FELLOW
Are Warned by Wise Ones That They
Are Taking BIG Chances on the
Taft Smile. Friends of the New
President Say He Can See Red
Some times.

WASHINGTON, d. c., March IL
The era of strenuous action, in the
belief of the Republican Congress,
ended last week with the passing of
Roosevelt, and an era of goOd-fellOw-
ship and genial reaction began when
William Howard Taft took the helm
of the Ship of State and began the
work of his administration by send
ing to the Senate the list of Cabinet
officers whose selection was already
known, headed by the name of Phil
ander Chase Knox as Secretary of
State.
The Republicans in Congress be-
lieve that Taft will prove easy and
good-natured and will not attempt
energetically to carry out the Roose-
welt policies, notwithstanding the
promise he made in his inaugural ad-
dress that he would see to it that
they were carried out in good faith,
the Congressman size the new presi-
dent up as a man who will so enjoy
the conspicuousness of his great office
and the good will of all around him
that he will not make anyone uncom-
Portable by forcing or trying to force
them to do things that might hurt
them politically or ALLEVIATE their cor
poration and other friends through
whose kindly, but by no means dis
interested aid, they reached office.
If all they expect comes to pass,
this administration is going to be the
serene era of the genial smile.
The congressman seem to figure it
that Taft will want to be boys and
girls together with everyone in office
and will prefer to be personally popu-
lar with his associates of the co-or-
dinate branches rather than a con-
scientious and energetic public SER
want, placing the good of the coun-
try above merely personal considera-
tions. The Congressman believe that
Roosevelt took the big stick away,
packed carefully in his trunk as
souvenir of the bully times he had
in the White House, and if he did not
they feel confident that Taft will toss
it aside into some cobwebby corner
of the White House garret, where it
will never be found again.
Taft's friends and well-wishers, who
are anxious for the success of his ad-
ministration, and who believe he must
be energetic and decisive in his en-
forcement of the Roosevelt policies,
think differently, and according to
them, the Republican congressman
who think they are to have a period
of easy going reaction will be badly
mistaken. They recall the fact that
Taft can forget his smile and see red
as well as the next man when he
feels he has been deceived or played
with. They also point to the part
ing instructions he gave Frank Hitch
cock when the latter was about to
leave Washington for Chicago, just
before the opening of the convention,
at which Taft was nominated for the
presidency. Taft had been greatly
angered by the manner in which the
campaign of the allies had been con-
Quoted in the south, and in some parts
of the west, and he made up his mind
that he would not permit such tao
tics to succeed. He told Hitchcock
his sentiments and as parting order
to his chief lieutenant, cried "Hit
them between the eyes, Frank" His
friends now say that the Republican
senators and members who regard
his as easy and who think they can
cajole him into forgetting his pledge
to carry out the Roosevelt policies
will soon experience an unpleasant
WakaninQ