New-York tribune., 1910-10-24
ST|MSON A SURPRISE,
EVEN TO HIS FRIENDS
Candidate Has Already Shown
Himself To Be a Strong
Campaigner.
REVIEW OF THE SITUATION
Republicans Greatly Encouraged
After First Week of Active
Work by Nominee
Upstate.

[From Staff Correspondent of The Tribune.
Buffalo, Oct. 23.-After n day Of rest at
the home of Speaker Wadsworth Henry
l.. Stimson Republican candidate for Gov
ernor, will begin tomorrow his second week
of campaigning upstate with a spe sch
at Attica in Wyoming County. Later in
the day he will speak in Livingston Coun-
ty either at Mount Morris or Dansville.
and in the evening will address meet
ing at Hornell, in Steuben County.
From the beginning Of his campaign Mr.
Stimson has been on the stump now only
g little over week. One solid week has
been spent upstate. covering Orange, Ol-
ster and Delaware. Tioga, Tonpkins, Cort
landt, Onondaga, Wayne. Cayuga, Seneca,
Ontario, Genesee and Erie counties. In
that time Mr.. Sumson has developed quail
tiles as a campaigner which have surprised
even his close friends. He has demon
strated his ability to seize the attention of
his audiences and to impress on them his
arguments In such degree that Republi
cans In the counties through which he has
travelled are giving glowing accounts Of
it. They say that Stimson is getting close
TO the people, and will be elected easily on
his own campaigning.
OF course, Republicans are not predict
ing victory without hard fight, and Mr..
Stimson himself is making the most con-
servative estimates of the Republican pros
poets Many things are working together
this year against Republican success which
have been absent, or present only IN lin
tied degree, in other years. The "Roose
welt ISSUE the increased cost of living
combined with a more or less accelerated
dissatisfaction with the tariff. a Demo
cratic drift" and the undeniable suiking of
the "old guard" element in some Republican
counties are producing a combination
which any fair Republican admits has han
dicapped the Republican campaign consid-
erably. Yet indications now, on conserva-
tive estimates. point to Republican success
despite all this. as reports are coming IN to
the big party leaders.
Stin,son Not an Eaotist.
One of the chief factors in the RepubIl-
can equation has been the campaign quail
ties of Mr.. Stimson. Stump speaking Is a
new experience for him, and a hard one
as he dislikes the appearance OF blazoning
forth his record of work and using the
first person, singular, in his speeches.
why, I can't talk about myself that
way" he announced early in the week
when some Of his associates urged him to
tell about his successes In prosecuting the
Sugar Trust and the railway rebaters
Whatever / did there was Just I'm the line
Of my work. and If that has to be men
toned somebody else ought to do it.
can't be saying I, I. all the time"
However, he was convinced that he
personally and officially was on trial be-
fore the people of the state in a sense and
that he owed II to the voters to give them
full accounting of what he had done
and definite assurances of what he in
tended to do when elected. Since then his
speeches have been straightforward. clean
cut addresses along that precise line, manly
presentations of his record and position on
the Hughes policies, with frank demands
that Mr.. Dix, his opponent, be equally
frank and precise IN stating his position
All this has counted, and Mr.. Stmson has
improved each day. He reached his high
water mark in a splendid speech at the
big meeting here last night His speech
its matter and manner of delivery marked
him as the legitimate successor of Hughes
man OF the same type In general and the
same ideals and withal a man who already
has made good. as Hughes had made good
AS Mr.. Stimson's campaign has been
creating a cumulative favorable impress
sion. the facts which he has hammered
nome each day-that Dix dare not say any
thing for himself because Murphy of
Tamnany, has gagged him; that Tammany
Hall and its Wall Street corporation al
iiances are the real issue. and that Tam
many when last in state office left trail
of anr rirv,
the state-have been weakening the Demo-
Gratis. in the judgment of many hard
headed political observers the Democrats
were at the height of their strength the
day before Stinson began his campaign.
Since then these observers believe that
Tammany's chances Of grabbing the state
administration have been dwindling daily
Much Made of Roosevelt Issue"
Around the state much is being made Of
the Roosevelt issue" against the Repub-
iicans Mr.. Stimsons manly statement
about his being a Roosevelt dummy" and
Job Hedges's king business" have dcne
rluch to lessen the Importance of that. 1t
Is undeniable. though. that many Republi-
cans will cut their ticket this wear ont
of dislike to Roosevelt Most of these
men are in the cities. Evidences of
Rooseveltophobia," though, crop out un-
expectedly In rural districts. Some of II
was discovered In Genesee County, some In
the rural districts of Seneca. 1t is all
based, seemingly, on the fact that ALI
Americans are divided into two classes
those who like Roosevelt and those who
don't. and those who don't are getting
their first good chance to hand him ono -
The Roosevelt issue, though, cuts both
ways. AnuRoosevelt Republicans admit
that the ex-President's strength with the
masses is such that he will attract many
Democratic votes TO the Republican ticket
by his campaigning for Stimson: and in
this year. when the Republicans RESPONSE
bic for the campaign are standing for
progress and the Democrats frankly for
reaction, there's an element of strength in
having the Roosevelt ISSUE which thinking
Republicans all over are appreciating.
More serious far for the regulation Re-
publican majority Is the fact that there is
undeniably a spirit of apathy and listless-
ness abroad this campaign 1t isn't con-
fined to any one place. Registration fell
off here in Buffalo from last year as It did
in New York City. but is up from 1906;
rural districts report that nobody seems
TO he doing anything, and the voters
dopt care" OF course, I'm most places the
county campaigns are just beginning. and
that may account for this listlessness up
state. Also. the same spirit seems to af-
feet both parties. and the Democrats.
through their fear 10 put Dix out on the
stump to show himself and their ability to