Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-06-09
Cumnins Not to Support
La Toilette in 1912.
Momentous Development al This
Stage Of Campaign.
Means Heavy Blow 10 La Toilette
Cause and harmony In Ranks.

of President Taft in the 1912 campaign
appears in the Boston Transcript of
June as follows:
Senator Albert b. Cummins of Iowa
will not support Robert NJ. La Toilette
for the Presidency. He will do all he
can in Iowa for the denomination of
President Taft, which he believes to
be inevitable.
In this brief statement may be found
the most momentous development in
Republican politics that could be mag
ined at this stage of the Presidential
campaign. 1t means. to a large ex
tent. the disappearance of an oppo-
sition to President Taft within his
own party which mas been as deter
mined as that of the Democrats, and
II may point to the elimination or
withdrawal of Senator La Toilette as
candidate for the Presidency, al
though nothing definite upon this point
can be stated
The support of Cummins is vital to
the La Toilette cause, for Cummins
represents the same element of Re-
publican insurgency as La Toilette
himself. an element which must act
as unit within the Republican party
to make any Roadway.
This decision of Senator Cummins is
not based upon special friendliness to
Taft or of enmity to La Toilette On
the contrary, Cummins is not friend
ly to Taft and he is as friendly to
La Toilette as ever he was. But sew
eral considerations have influenced
the Iowa leader in deciding him to
give La Toilette no assistance IN his
own state and to insist upon solid
Taft delegation 1t is his belief that
Taft is bound to be renominated, that
Republicans generally have no other
candidate upon whom the party will
unite and that whether or not Presi-
dent Taft stands even a slight chance
of reelection, that the great majority
of delegates to the next Republican
National Convention will be Taft men,
Another reason, striking closer home,
is the friendship of Senator Cummins
for mis- new colleague, William S. Ken
yon Mr.. Kenyon owes to President
Taft the high position he has just va
Gated of assistant to the attorney gem
efal, and for these and other reasons
lie warmly advocates the denomination
of Taft.
keuyon's campaign for reelection
will come about the same time as that
tor the Presidency and Cummins can
not see his way clear to support in his
own state in the same breath such an
enemy of Taft as La Toilette and
such a friend as Kenyon. To do 50
would be futile toward preventing the
renomina ton of Taft and certainly
ON 10 h. 1I1
Cummins does not desire to see Iowa
more badly split than it is, especially
when the net result of such contest
as La Toilette would like to see made
there would be failure.
Senators Borah of Idaho. Brown OF
Nebraska and Dixon of Montana. fel-
iow-insurgents with Cummins and La
Toilette, have pronounced for Taft II
the La Toilette Presidential movement
were to have the ghost of a show of
success the support of these men and
of all others of the progressive group
would be essential. But the detection
of Borah, Brown and Dixon Is not
comparable in its influence upon the
La Toilette fortunes with that of
Cummins La Toilette is the grea:
agitator, the firebrand. the battering
ram of the insurgent group. Cummins
is the counsellor and executive. He is
cooler, equally courageous and much
more diplomatic man than La Toilette,
who is too self -centered to be tolerant
of the opinions or course of others.
CumminS is the rock about which the
sea of insurgency leaps and thunders
and ne stands as the calm exponent of
progressive doctrines and new politi-
cal policies, where La Toilette is the
rushing vanguard proclaiming their
approach
For Cummins to announce that he
believes the candidacy of La Toilette
to be ill-considered and useless al this
time is to throw a wet blanket over
the La Toilette campaign that will
leave very little sticking out at the
sides, in the opinion of fellow-pro-
gressives, who are equally DESTROYS
that their ideas should prevail. What
course La Toilette himself will now
pursue cannot be predicted. but the
few men who have been aware of the
decision of Cummins commend it as
the only politics to play under the cir
cumstances.
The approach to harmony indicated
by the Cummins decision does not,
however, imply increased confidence
that Taft will be reelected. fever
of prophecy that he will not be is now
running riot among Republicans, and
while here and there a voice is heard
announcing that the tide has turned
and Republican fortunes are beginning
to mend, it is still the fashion, at least
In Washington, to predict that every
thing is lost. What, ii anything, can
happen to turn the tide of dismal
prophecy is problem. 1t is announc-
ed here today that Roosevelt will sup
port Taft for denomination, but that
has been true ever since the Saratoga
convention. 1t may be warmer sup
port than that of Cummins but Mr..
Taft will look to William Loeb, ira
and few other Republicans, including
some of Rooseyelt's enemies, for the
delegates from New York. 1t is much
more important to Mr.. Taft as a mat
ter of fresh news that Cummins will
not support La Toilette for the Presi-
dency.