The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-04-10
THE RESULT IN ILLINOIS.

Naturally there is great joy in the
Roosevelt camp over the result of the
primary in Illinois. But it is wholly
unwarranted for that political bucca-
neer, Senator Dixon, who is in charge
| of the Roosevelt campaign, to insist
| that the outcome in Illinois is an over
whelming reputation of President
Taft and ends his campaign for re-
nomination.
What rot! In the first place it
would be most unusual for a man of
Colonel RooseveIt's personal popular
ity and political prestige to enter a
race for. presidential nomination and
not succeed in winning all of the dele
gates from a single state, or from sew
eral CT the states. That had been
Colonel Roosevelt's record until the
Illinois primaries 1t is about time
that he was winning a state here and
there, or else he would go down in his
tory as one of the most discredited
candidates who ever entered the
presidential arena. Nor does it neces-
sarily follow, as Senator Dixon would
have people. believe, that the success
of presidential candidate in one or
several states must be accepted as the
verdict of the nominating convention.
Were this the case, Colonel Roosevelt
would have been properly eliminated
from the presidential contest long ago.
Before a judgm ent is given that the
result of the Illinois primary is an
overwhelming reputation of President
Taft it is only fair to consider the in
fluences extraneous to the presidential
contest which played such a large
part in the Illinois primary. Although
Mr. Lorimer was not running for any
thing in this primary, he played a
most important figure in it. For
weeks the Chicago Tribune, one of the
big Roosevelt organs. has been pro-
jecting Lorimer forward, through car
ICONS and editorials, as the chief is
sue of the campaign. Even Colonel
Roosevelt went so far as to accuse
President Taft wrongly of having been
unduly interested in the success of
Lorimer's campaign of a couple of
years ago. Senator Cullom was up at
the primary for denomination. He has
become intensely unpopular in Illinois
of late years. 1t was unfortunate for
President Taft that many of the lead |
ers in the fight for the denomination
of Cullom were the men who, through !
force of circumstances, had to be en- |
trusted with the Taft campaign. They |
were also the men who had been 1den- |
tilted with putting Lorimer over. Right
ly, or wrongly, tremendous sentiment
against Lorimer and Cullom has been
DEVELOPED among the Illinois Republi-
cans And because the men who were |
boosting for Lorimer and Cullom were
also boosting for Taft, the voters took
an extra whack at them through their
presidential candidate. 1t was not
that the Illinois Republicans loved
Roosevelt more. that they voted for
him in such a majority but that they
loved Lorimer and Cullom less. The
figure that the anti-Lorimer sentiment
played in the primary is best shown by
the fact that Governor Deneen, an
man, was renominated
for a third term.
IF the Republicans of Illinois had
been bent merely on repudiating Mr..
Taft why didn't they turn down Con-
gresham Mckinley, manager Of the
Taft campaign? But they did not.
They renominated him for his seat
n the house of representatives.