The Washington times., 1912-10-28
OUTLOOK GLOOMY
FOR TAFT FORCES
IN MIDDLE WEST
President Stands Third in
Ohio, While Roosevelt
Leads in Illinois.

with one week only between now ana
election day the reports from the middle
West are dismal for the Taft forces.
Politicians recall that four years ago
the strength Of the Republican ticket
was In the middle West. where the
farmers refused to change and 60 to
Bryan, because Of the fact that they
were getting good prices. and did not
think II wise to make change.
the Republican support In the middle
West, as. indeed, II has In many other
parts OF the country.
Everybody believes President Taft 10 In
ings that has been administered to any
leading candidate In many a year. But
the feature Of " that will doubtless be
felt most severely by the friends Of the
All the indications there indicate not
merely the defeat of the President, but
that the race will be between the DEM
ocrats and the Bull Moose. In other
TAFT is exposed to the danger Of run
ming third In his own State.
Roosevelt Strong In Illinois.
In Indiana. the situation Ii bad for
the Taft forces. The Democrats are
strong there, In view Of the fact that
Governor Tom" Marshall Is on the
ticket. Moreover. former Senator Bev-
eridge Is putting up a magnificent hght
for governor on the Bull Moose ticket
With the Democrats strong, and with
Beveridge making such strong cam
paign, one OF the ablest any Progress
sive party leader Is making in the
country. the outlook Is not bright for
the Taft ticket.
Illinois is seething with Roosevelt
sentiment. II seems almost a certainty
that President TAFT will run third In
that State. Roosevelt is tremendously
strong In Chicago. He was strong
raign, and the fact that he was In the
hospital there when wounded has
added to the following he commands
Moreover, the prairies Of Illinois are
afiame with progressivism.
The Progressive party statement
shows an amazing list OF small con-
tributions from Illinois. Great num-
bers Of people have given dollar con.
tributions from that State, many more
people, for instance. than from other
Middle Western States. The interpreta-
tion of this. In the eyes Of politicians.
Is that Roosevelt has Q grip on the
State OF Illinois which neither Taft nor
Wilson has. and that he stands to win
in that State. with Its twenty-seven
In view of the great number Of doubt
full votes In the country this year. In
view Of the difficulty Of finding out
what large numbers OF them intend to
10 on election day. wise politicians this
fall are refraining from making pre-
dictions Of too great positiveness one
way or the other. They look for sur
prises.
Roosevelt Movement Gaining.
Certain facts. however. cannot be
overlooked. One 10 that the same spirit
that caused Roosevelt TO get vote in
the primaries last spring that astounded
everybody has been at work all over
, the country through the summer and
fall. And he was never SO strong In
the country as now. 1t Is a fact that
some OF the Bull Moose leaders who. a
month ago. feared this was a Demo-
! cratic year. and that they could not
win. have changed their minds recently.
The impetus Of the Roosevelt move
, ment In the last ten days, since the
shooting Of the colonel at Milwaukee.
has been astonishing. This impetus will
be greatly accelerated. II is confidently
believed. when Colonel Roosevelt takes
the stump again. That he will receive
the greatest ovation ever given any
candidate for office In this country
| when he reappears to speak In New
York Wednesday night is the informa-
ton received here.