Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-09

Taft organization seems powerfully anx.
ious to have the colonel hustle In. BE
ware Of tho Greeks bearing gifts Is Dix
on's motto in respect to this
Two Taft Factions.
Taft organization. One may be termed
the "soft-pedal'' group and the other the
''rough-house boys" The 'soft-pedar
men are urging that the national COM
mittee shall not be too rude with the
Roosevelt contests. They think Taft can
be nominated and that there Is q fight
ing chance Of eiecting him If Roosevelt
does not bolt. They don't want to anger
the colonel to such a pitch that he will
bolt
The other group IS convinced that Roose-
high water, and they want him to go to
it. They think the republicans are in for
a drubbing in November, and they are
prepared to take their medicine. but they
are anxious to save the party machinery.
They say, Let him bolt and get licked,
that will put him out of the republican
party and four years from now we will
have the machine In homely phrase.
they would like to save a smith OF bacon
from the burning smokehouse.
1t was wonderful this afternoon to see
how Boss Finn Gained down after
George w. Perkins and Senator Dixon
had talked to him like q Dutch uncle
He is as mild hammered man as ever
scuttled ship. Why. boys" he said
Il don't intend to start anything, honest
I don't. 1 am as peaceful as any suck-
ing dove, but I don't intend to have any
speckled-headed. porch climbing Taft
man trying to put one over on me-"
The general impression Is that Mr..
his mild assurances.
Committee Getting Peevish.
The national committee is getting peev-
ish. The fact is some OF the contests
are so trivial as to bc ridiculous and from
that 1t is not far cry until they become
offensive. The committee has been as
senbled two weeks in advance Of the
convention and the members sit there in
the hall five or six hours a day listening
to a lot Of hot air, as the lndnterestine
details Of local sQuabbles are set forth
Meanwhile. like schoolboys IN country
school on June day gazing out at nod
ding trees and picturing the old SWIM
ming pool they fancy the grand boule-
ward along the shore where Lake Michi-
gan presents a sheet of turquoise fretted
by silver as the northeast gale whips up
the whitecape and see golf links and cozy
corners In the clubs. where the highball
sets its lure. About a dozen of them
contests bid fair to receive short shrift
In the future.
There is much speculation as to the pro-
gram OF Roosevelt concerning a bolt. One
analysis OF his supposed plans which came
to me today from a trustworthy source
was this:
AS the contests are decided the cry of
fraud will be made stronger and louder,
to the extent of creating public sentiment
and pressure against the national commit
,yfa .<a -
are reached when demand will be made
on tho committee to the effect that II any
semblance Of fairness remains. these con-
tests ought to be decided in favor OF Roose-
he can win He will not get them. 1t is
predicted. But, even 30, he will make no
move during the contests that will tend
to question the right Of the national COM
mittee to decide the contests, as tho right
Of the national committee to spea< author
itatively for the party is vital to the next
move OF tho Roosevelt forces.
Plans for Bolt.
It II planned that when the temporary
roll has been made up in convention, and
It Is apparent that the Taft forces are
in control, the Roosevelt people will bolt
With his complete set OF contestina
delegates from the south and with those
he has from the northern states, the
he will leave the President in possession
OF a convention which will have fourteen
gaps In 1t: that is. there will be fourteen
republican states not represented. or
represented only by a minority. After
the nominations have been made, Mr.
Roosevelt then will call upon the new
national committee to decide which Of the
two factions is the regular republican
party. He now figures he will have a
majority Of five in the new committee
and thereby expects to get this decision
and the custody of the emblem OF the
party.
Chaplin Brown Of Washington, who is
slated for national committeeman for
the District Of Columbia. II the Taft
program goes through. Is on the ground
seeing to 1t that there are no gaps in
his fences. and aiding the contests of
Bradshaw and Chase. However, there
are some lakes nearby where there is
fine bass fishing, and / look to see him
disappear any minute.
Gov. Stubbs of Kansas. one OF the
doughty war governors OF the colonel 8
outfit. blew in today and announced
loudly that he intends to stay until
Roosevelt is nominated Whereupon, a
dapper young man stepped up and said
Let me give you the card OF my real
estate firm, we have several fine houses