The Hawaiian gazette., 1910-04-26
IS WICKERSHAM
TO Be BIG IT?
Washington Offieialdom Shows
Much Interest in Status
of Cabinet.
By Ernest q. Walker.


WASHINGTON, April 1O.-There is
much interest in Washington as TO
whether Attorney. General Wickersham
is to be the Presidents chief spokes.
man in the cabinet. He has been Sc.
leeting the attorney-general of late for
considerable platform work. On legis.
lative questions Mr.. wickersham has
been expounding before audiences at
intervals for some weeks and apparent
ly is to do quite bit more work in
that line.
Meanwhile all the other cabinet Off
Gals have practically dropped out of
the public platform work. Secretary
of War Dickinson is very effective
public speaker. The President desig.
mated him for certain tasks in the early
part of the administration but of late
Mr.. Dickinson is making almost no
speeches bat all and none that have q
bearing upon the administration IS es-
sentiai policies. OF course the fact that
against his being an effective advocate
upon the platform of President Taft IS
measures. He is naturally supposed tn
be in accord with the Presidents poll
cies, but the fact that he is Democrat
and has even been considered in re-
cent months as a Democratic possibil-
Iity for United States senator from
Tennessee would seem to put bar
upon his speaking politically for the
President.
Secretary of the Treasury Mac
Veagh is a very capable platform man.
He holds the attention of an audience
splendidly with scholarly and convinc-
| ing utterances. But the topic of the
hour which Mr.. MacVeagh would most
likely discuss, because of his position
as head of the treasury, is the tariff.
There, again, it happens that the man
in question is Democrat. The tariff
is very gingery subject any way AMI
the strong political dislike of the Re.
publican leaders for Mr.. MacVeagh be-
cause of his Democracy does not make
it feasible for him to appear before
audiences attempting to justify the
law. In fact he made a tariff speech
before Boston audience some months
ago that many friends of the admins.
tratiOn did not like and since then he
has confined himself largely to his eff.
cial duties without going abroad speech
making.
The President, of course, has been
doing the heft of the tariff speaking
for himself. During the last Roosevelt
administration he was the chief spok les
man of the cabinet and accordingly had
a very extensive training in that par
ticular line of effort. On the whole he
has talked much more than did Roose
Welt, because he has travelled much
more and has been addressing more
public gatherings. Because of his OWE
activity there has been less call for q
chief spokesman in the cabinet. Some
of his closest friends, however, have
been advising him to speak less FIRE
quently and to try out the ideas he hal
in mind through some cabinet official
There are indications that he will d.
this, after he as completed his forth
coming western tour. He has announced
that he intends to remain pretty close
ly at Beverly during the summer ant
early autumn. Then the traditions o!
the Office are in effect that Presiden
shall not participate in campaign
stamping.
On the other hand, in recent years
a practise has grown up of sending ont
or more members of the cabinet out
to make political speeches. As Secre
taries Dickinson and MacVeagh arr
hardly qualified for those assignments
because of their Democratic leanings
they being two of the leading orators
of the cabinet, it seems probable tha
the bulk of the cabinet stumping IL
the East will be done by Attorney
General Wickersham.
Although year ago he was prac
tleally an unknown man, outside of tn,
circle of New York lawyers, he hal
developed into very successful
speaker. He gets good grasp of hi
subject, easily makes himself heard
! and has manner and delivery tina
pleases audiences. He will probabl,
be available for numerous speeche
this side of the Allegheny mountains
and especially for speeches settini
!, forth the purposes of the administra
ton in federal legislation. There i
much hostility to him among the west
ern insurgents and it remains to b.
seen whether he will speak extensively
in the western States. His speed
Saturday night at Chicago, in which h
gave it to the insurgents hot and heavy
has aroused that contingent in the sen
: ate and house and they propose to tur
their guns upon him from this time OF
The encouragement is by no mean
the sort Of man who will be discourage
; by criticism of that character. ii
I does not shrink from a fight and prof.
ably will be heard from later with T,
gard to the aspersions of the insul
. gents.
( A great many senator's and repre-
sentatiyes, Of the wing OF regular II,
pubhcans, will be upon the busting
through the spring aud early autumn
, They viii do much Of the work TIM
, the President wants done in the polii
teal line. The Republican eongressionl
. committee has already made out ~ 81
tenslye program for speakers at N
Cmutauqna assemblies throughout M
West 4 few cabinet speeches may .
4 found timely 10 round out efforts !
y the field II u plainly TO be can