The National tribune., 1911-01-05

~ middle course WIN ltLeiShSc " eiS
New York factions.
An early step of decisive character
is also desired for another purpose
Ever since Congress convened wash
ington has throbbed with Repubilcan
gossip of a disCouraging character. 1he
big Republicans of Senate ana house'
and the little Republicans for that mat
ter. keep talking in their private con-
Yersations that it looks very much ike
a Democratic President. Ponticlahs ;
will speculate about the party control OF
Congress and Administrations. Ine
conversations of cioakrooms ana CORR
dors spread rapidly and are repeated py
10000 tongues thruout the country:
Nowadays campaigns 'are probably
won months in advance, because the
people are able to gain their own I'M
pressions about public affairs ana pay
less and less attention to campalsh II
literature and campaign orators. me
opinion gets abroad that certain po-
litical party will carry the next cleo
ton The large floating vote that likes
to be on the winning side takes due no
tice 1t is exceedingly difficult to coun-
teract the influence.
The private gossip of Washington
that the Democrats would win gave that
party a great advantage in the recent
elections Washington dispatches of
last Winter and Spring reiterated these
Republican convictions and reiterated
them accurately. 1t got into the air
that 1910 was a Democratic year.
Prominent Republicans. among them
Speaker Cannon. were quoted as say
ing semi-privately that the mountains
were due to fall over upon the dorni-
nant party.
To Give the Party Hope.
That sort of thing is happening again
now about the Presidency. This early
the influential Republicans are careful
not to allow their observations to get
into the newspapers in quotation marks,
but men familiar with Washington af-
fairs know of dozens of such declara-
tions.
Therefore the Administration eager
ness to accomplish something in po-
litical way that viii strike the country
fayorably and check the dependency.
Some demonstration that the factionall
differences may not be fundamental
would be very welcome. And above all
If something can be accomplished that
will establish the President more firmly
in his leadership of the party the work.
ers would take hold with more enthu-
sasm.
1t seems to the Republican President
makers at Washington, however, as tho
the holiday discussions have quite ef-
fectively forecasted the verdict of the
next National Convention. There has
been a lull in popular interest with
reference to other affairs, which has
been improved to emphasize the ten
dency toward President Taft. While
his denomination was taken Cor grant
ed some weeks ago the political talk
brought here from the States and the
views which have been disseminated
from Washington go far to confirm such
prospect.
Gratifying to the President.
The holiday emphasis upon the Presi-
Dental situation is gratifying to Mr.
Taft's friends for several reasons. One
of them is that it has developed no rival
booms or boomers. There is no disposi-
tion apparently to bring any other can
didates to the fore. The Cummins
Presidential boom, which was vigor-
ously heralded out of the West in No
vember, has not materialiZed among
the politicians sojourning at Washing
ton 1t was promised that Senator
Cummins would virtually maintain
headquarters by the Potomac during
the Congressional months.
Nothing like this has been done, and
in j Presidential way the Senator hasI
been quiescent. The stanch Iowa stall
warts ridicule the Senator's aspirations
His insurgent brethren from adjacent
states have assumed an attitude of diff
fidence. If they are to support a West
ern candidate it is decidedly a matter
of the future, and has not been deter
mined upon vet. Insurgent indorsemanti
of the President is indeed among tfiel
siastic Endorsement. but sufficiently cor
dial 10 make something of a show of
campaign harmony =
Presidential booming, as far as tflei
Republicans are concerned, will prob
ably fall into abeyance for quite a time.i
The party and its leaders have the
more pressing questions of legisIationI
n attend I7nfil fhaCa of
the way and the country shows littIe1
eagerness for the Presidential topic
Washington will likely leave it pretty
much alone.
Sufficient has now been done, how
ever, to cause the politicians to recog-
niZe that the nomination promises to
be the proYerbial "cut and dried affair"
The President has abstained from any
open discussion of it, but the recent
parleys have not been unwelcome to
him. He is plainly steering his course
as tho he expects the nomination. Pos
sibly as much was true even before he
departed from Beverly.
The Chairman of the Republican Com.
mittee.
Very few well-informed people at
Washington took much stock in the
propheses about the selection of a new
Chairman of the Republican National
Committee, which prophesies have been
rampant of late. That was depression
from the main topic which the politi-
clans had under consideration. The
unanimity with which suggestions for
campaign preparations were received,
however means there will be grad
nal centering upon a few Republicans
as chief advisers. The President still
has the subject in mind.
Probably there will be no public an
nouncenfents about it. No particular
occasion for II exists With what has
already been said about it in the news
papers the Western progressives have
shown their readiness to start a quar-
rel Any Republican or group of Re-
publicans who should now be singled
cut as political advisers TO the Admin
istratioIi would be subject to scrutiny
and criticism. The insurgents have
shown that they would interpret such
action as indicating the Presidents
preference between the two factions.
As matters stand now, there is some
uncertainty about the Presidents atti-
tlTde IN that regard. He apparently is
willing It should be so. Since his an
n0uncement about patronage last Au-
tumn the regulars have not felt sure
he was solidly with them. The insur-
gents were not fully pacihed by the
olive branches he extended. The ses-
sion of Congress thus far has been
without any decisive action from the
White House TO show lining up with
either following The regular Senators
and Representatives go there as freely
as or yore; the insurgents are received
with much more cordiality.
During the Winter there will he pEn-