The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1911-07-28
MEASURE
ON THE CAMPAIGN
President Supported BY Only Twelve
Out of Thirty States in His Fight
For Reciprocity.

Washington, D. c., July 24.-Now
that the reciprocity bill has been pass
ed by the senate, republican politi
clans are wondering what effect it will
have on the presidential campaign
next year. Few of them concur in the
opinion expressed by Chairman Pen
rose of the finance committee that the
Canadian agreement will be merely an
incident in the contest.
1t is conceded by politicians of both
parties that President Taft has achiev-
ed victory. But it is a victory at the
expense of more than half of his par
tvs representatives in the senate. The
proposed agreement had little sincere
support on the republican side. 1t
was regarded as essentially an admin
istration measure, and an overwhelm-
ing majority of the republican sena-
tors who voted for it did so on the
grounds that If it were defeated by
republican votes their party would be
SO hopelessly divided that democratic
success next year would be assured,
Each of the ten states whose senators
went solidly against reciprocity was
carried by President Taft in 1908.
With two exceptions they represent
the west-Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Min
nesota, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Utah, Wyoming, Vermont and New
Hampshire. All of these states except
Vermont are regarded as progressive,
even New Hampshire having a pro-
gressiye state administration.
OF the twenty-four states that went
solidly for reciprocity, just half were
carried by Taft in California,
Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Mary
land, Massachusetts, Missouri, New
Jersey, New York, Ohio, Washington
and West Virginia Some Of these
states since have been carried by the
democrats. Twelve states were divid-
ed in the senate on the vote, and eight
of them are republican, taking the 1908
election returns as basis.
This leaves the president in the pc
culiar position of having only twelve
states out of thirty that he carried in
1908 represented as solid for reciproc-
ity in the senate Politicians here
agree that reciprocity makes the sit
uation in the next republican national
convention peculiar. The convention
will be in dilemma. Confronted with
the almost certain fact that it must
renominate Taft, it also will be under
the shadow of a tariff measure against
which a majority of its representa-
tives in congress voted. The question
will be whether President Taft repre-
sents his party better than it's repre-
sentatives and senator's,
1t is believed here that any attempt
to put pro-reeiprocity plank in the
next republican platform will be bit
terly fought, particularly by the insur-
gent states. 1t will be hard plank to
write. Perhaps it will be compromised
by declaration in favor of extending
reciprocity beyond agricultural prod
ucts, But there are many republicans,
principally progressives, who will open
ly repudoate it, unless marked
change comes within the next year.
How far the democrats will go in
making reciprocity one Of their issues
is problematical. They are entitled to
the credit of passing the Canadian bin.
On the other hand, it is distinctly a
Taft proposition and they cannot take
from the president the credit of hav-
ing initiated it and pushed it through
to a successful conclusion Many dem
ocrats who voted for it are shaky In
support of it, for the democrats are
almost as much afflicted with protec-
tion communities as are the republi-
cans.