Evening star., 1915-12-13
Aspirants for the Presidential
Nomination and Their
Chances Considered.
INTEREST ALSO IN CHOICE
OF THE CONVENTION CITY
National Committee of Party to Meet
at New Willard Hotel Tomor-
row Morning.

men. together with leaders, lieu-
tenants and general wire-pullers
of republican party organizations
in many states, thronged the lob
bies OF the New Willard Hotel to-
day and gathered in groups in the
stately red room" which Secre-
tary Reynolds had opened yester-
day afternoon for their conven-
ience.
Two republicans meet We'll. where's
the convention going"' asks one. Dunno,
replies the other. shortly. Say" he con-
tinues, who are the people talking about
for the presidential nomination out your
way Then they step aside and hob
mob earnestly, with corroborative mods OF
the head. or dissent, as the case may be.
What do they say to each other The
which has a "favorite son." such as IL
linois. or Iowa, or Idaho, OF Ohio, or
Massachusetts. or Indiana. begins by say
ing that, of course. out his way they are
for the favorite son, but-then, getting
down to cases." starts in to exchange
with the other man views upon candidates
considered ''in the last analysis"
Two Especially Prominent.
And inevitably two names come up for
discussion-Elihu Root and Justice
Hughes-the one the man whom many
would like to see nominated. the other
the man who others think would make
a good run in the elections. This talk, it
must be understood. is in no way dis
paraging Of Fairbanks Burton or Weeks,
or the others, but hinges upon considera-
tons that may arise in case of dead
lock among the "fayorite sons
The republicans gathered in Washington
do not think for moment that Justice
Hughes would refuse the nomination Of
the convention in such a contingency.
They approve his course in not allowing
his name to go before the primaries, but
do not regard it as estoppel Of the right
OF the convention to nominate him II it
finds such action for the best interests OF
the republican party.
Contest for Convention Honors.
The contest for the convention city
grew in intensity today as considera-
tions for and against the rival cities
were discussed. ST. Louis was first in
the field and this morning claimed
twenty-five out OF the fifty-three COM
mitteemen in support of the Missouri
city.
Our case was really argued for US
by Champ Clark and Senator Reed be-
fore the democratic national committee"
said Col. Walter I. Dickey of Kansas
City. When they induced the demo-
Gratis to hold their convention in ST.
Louis in order to help save Missourfs
electoral vote and elect a democratic
senator they disclosed the very reasons
which should dictate to the republicans
the advisability of coming to st. Louis.
NJ ,rs
and elect a republican senator"
Some of the national committeeman
pooh-poohed the idea of a convention
held in a state swaying the politics OF
that state. After the democratic con-
yention in Baltimore, in 1912, the re-
publcans of Maryland elected a gov
ernor. 1t was recalled. These men want
the convention held in Chicago for rea-
sons Of convenience, climate and physical
comfort.
Some of the national committeeman.
however. especially those who were
members of the committee in 1912. are
very resentful of the attitude of some
of the newspapers of Chicago toward
the regular republican party at that
time. They claim that the Roosevelt
bolt was encouraged by a section OF
the Chicago press and they arc fearful
of hostile atmosphere in 1915.
Progressives Oppose Philadelphia.
The progressive republicans. for their
part, are suspicious of propositions to
hold the convention in Philadelphia.
fearing, they claim, the domination OF
the ''old guard and the "standpat-
ters." They say that to send the con-
vention to Philadelphia would chill the
budding spirit of harmony in the pro-
gressive breast at the very outset and
induce the fear that the reactionaries
were trying to get control OF the re-
united party.
Chicago boomers came to town in
force today. led by that veteran con-
vention capturer Fred w. Upham.
Others in the group were Mayor VIII
liam Hale Thompson. George w. Dixon.
F. II. Williams, Guy Guernsey. Henry
r. Rathbone, Jacob Kesner. Ernest Bic
field, Edwin w. Sims. Nelson \. Lam
bert Joseph II. Defrees, Walter II. Will
son, Stuart Spaulding. George r. Getz.
John c. Roth, William B. Austin. Ar
thur T. Cavey, Harry X. McEvoy. Emil
C. Wetten, r. Robert Collins. A. Shell
don Clark. George NJ. Spangler. jr.. W.
S. Barbee. Fl. E. Sever. r. j: Okeeffe.
man W. j. Healey and Walter Rosen-
field of Moline. Representatives Mar
tin b. Madden, James X. Mann, w. w.
Wilson, George z. Foss. r. A. Britton
and r. c. Copley Joined the committee
here.
San Francisco Boomers Active.
San Francisco continued it's labors
today and the California republicans
were working with might and main
and IL was understood that st. Louis
might throw her votes to the Pacific
coast city in case 1t was apparent that
81 Louis could not get the convention
There is a disposition among the
leading spirits OF the meeting to con-
fne the action strictly to fixing the
time and place of holding the conven-
ton. and 10 allow no other questions
| to be discussed
The national committee will meet to-
| morrow at IL o'clock. The arrange
ments are in the hands Of Col. William
! +. Stone of Baltimore, sergeant at arms
| of the national committee.
John w McCulloch. national commit
| teeman from Kentucky, and Richard p
Ernst of Covington, KY, leading re-
publican arrived today and brought
an account of the action taken at
meeting of republicans held in Louis
\ Vile last Saturday night That meeting
| was called by Maurice L. Calvin, chair
! man of the state campaign committee,
| and included delegates from every dis
| trict Of the state.
Resolution Favors Mr.. Fairbanks.
The following resolution was adopted
with but two dissenting votes:
That it is the sense of this meeting