The Washington times., 1911-10-17

The Chicago Tribune. in an endeavor
to analyze the impression that Presi-
dent Taft is making on the communi-
ties he visits, and In which he speaks.
has detailed q special correspondent to
follow in the wake of Mr.. Taft's speech
making tour and interview representa-
tives of various classes as to the effect
OH the public mind of his presence and
utterances. 1t Is the aim that these
dispatches shall be absolutely unbiased.
and they are prepared from and based
upon indiscriminate interviews.
The Times reproduces the dispatch
from Portland. Ore.
PORTLAND. Ore, Oct. 12.-what
the State of Oregon thinks of President
Taft and the record he has made In
the three years Of his Administration
Will be registered at the polls next
April.
In one of the few Presidential primar-
les that will be held in the country Ore
son Republicans will indicate on their
ballots whether they prefer Taft or La
Toilette, or some other leader, as n
while the Democrats in like manner Will
designate choice from the field Of
their candidates.
IA At di,e the same time the people win elect
tion who Will be pledged to vote as in
structed by the primary. ..
what the verdict delivered by the Re-
publicans In the case OF President Taft
VIII be Is a matter of pure speculation.
so far as present Indications go. II
would be hard to find locality In
which opinion OF the President and his
policies Is more divided than IN Port
T, n ,>,tu...,..- -. -
Republicans in all kinds Of occupations
The Tribune correspondent found about
as many La Toilette as Taft partisans.
Then there was large number who
said they had not made up their minds
whether to vote for Mr.. Taft or Mr..
Oregon Birthplace of Reform.
Oregon is the home of the scheme OF
popular government which has come to
be known as the Oregon plan. Here
originated that device for accomplishing
the direct election of United States Sen
ators which has worked so perfectly
that Republican legislature was COM
PEELED to elect a Democratic Senator
and which has been copied recently In
the legislation Of numerous States.
Here has been worked out most com :.
prehensively the principle Of direct leg.
initiative and the referendum, also the
model for the experiments of other
states in seeking to Geek the recreancy
of eleuted representatives. Here also
the recall of all elective officers. in
clucing judges may be found upon the
statute books, although its power has
never been invoked.
IS might be expected y a State in
i ha pe9pf o ave ner .hkeo own he
with vengeance, the body of inde-
pe.-.ent political thinkers and voters Is
incalcuiably large. People who pride
themselves on voting straight % party
Ine correspondent was impressed by
the number of Republicans who inti-
mated that they might vote the Demo-
cratic ticket in 1912 and the number OF
Democrats who said that under certain
conditions they might vote for the Re-
publican candidate.
Nominally Republican, the State has a
Democratic governor and one Demo
Senator. One of its representatives In
the lower house is a regular and the
other progressive Republican. The
regular Republicans are rallying solidly
to the support Of President Taft and are
perfecting a strong organization for
work in the April primary.
But the progressiyes. under the lead
ership of Senator Bourne, constitute a
ta the Standard % OF Senator a "fS La Toilette. .e
The leaders of the Taft faction assert
-iat oregon will send a solid delegation
for the President to the national con-
ventfon, wfIie the other faction is
equally certain that the delegation will
be solid for Mr.. La Toilette.
On the other hand. the Democrats be-
lieve they have the best chance they
ever had to carry the state in n Presi-
Dental election. Woodrow Wilson seems
to be the most popular of the Demo-
cratic candidates in this part of ihe
country. II he should be pit'ed AGAINST
Taft the indications are that he would
get a large proportion of the progress
sive Republican vote.
At the same time there Is evidence
that in the remote event Of the nomina-
tion Of Mr.. La Toilette the standpnt-