The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-06-08
Plan to Nominate Harding Died
in the Matching.
MUST STICK TO HUGHES
Weeks and Hitchcock Upset
Dope Pot of Barnes Crowd.
To Quit Justice Means to Take
Z. r. and Defeat. -.
fny wILLIs J. ABBOT.l

Chicago. ILL.,, June SIT appears toe
day that Senator Harding's keynote
speech was a swan song; a reqpiem
for vanished hopes; busted boom
and the funeral Grafton over deao
political coalition.
Few know the story-the few thas
know it thoroughly hate to tell, ZOE
it is the record of their political De.
feat. Sagac ious politicians do not IKE
to admit that they took hold OF tne
tail of a bear and dared not iet 70.
Practiced machine builders DO not nhs
| to confess that, like Frankenstein,
| they built up a monster VINO mas
worked their undoing.
But this is precisely what the most
eminent of the shrewd old guard have
done, and in doing it they brought
Senator Harding to the door OF a
| presidential nomination, only TO Siam
| it in his face.
The Harding boom appeared on the
surface in Chicago only last week. But
| it was no new thing. 1t had been
nurtured carefully and at heavy ex.
pense, both in money and political
| effort.
Barnes in 1t.
| Barnes was in it; Penrose was one
| of it's chief promoters; Crane was not
| unaware of the movement, though not
| active in it. Smoot was of the COM
| bination. Hitchcock was an active
participant.
The most vociferous friends of Sena-
tor Burton, in Ohio, were its main sup
rorters; that delegation would have
gone over at the first signal
The supposedly impregnable lines of
Fairbanks in Indiana had been mined,
and the combination needed only to be
give the signal for their destruction.
Hemingway was active in the COM
bine and the understanding was that
Fairbanks should be given second
/
to attain the presidency, to which he
|, himself aspired.
The names show that there was no
, lack of political skill behind the pro-
jeet. The record shows that there
was no lack of money.
Plan an Old One.
1t was last December this plan was
first formed. Its promoters were
| chosen almost equally from the east
, ern representatives from the so-called
/ old guard and from Walt street fig
/ ures who dreaded T. r. and who
t wanted to have grip on q dependable
president, anyway.
5 . The method of campaign adopted
, was to secure delegates ostensibly I'M
, pledged and uninstructed but in fact
, pledged TO do the will of the leaders
of the combination and at no time nor
under any circumstances to vote for
Roosevelt.
The south and the west were raked
w *
measure of success The activities OF
enator Weeks in the same field of
fered the first check to the success OF
the campaign. Weeks really ought te
have been in the combination. But
his own personal ambitions led him
to believe he could not only beat
Roosevelt, but nominate himself. Out
r of this belief grew the first perplexi-
ties of the anti combination
and today they are cursing Weeks as
one of the causes of their undoing.
But notwithstanding their efforts
the Roosevelt strength continued to
grow. Though he refused to enter the
primary elections. it became apparent
he was getting delegates without
formal declaration of his candidacy
Moreover. public sentiment for him
became menacing.
Plotters Push Hughes
1t was clear that something more
than a negative agreement was neces-
sary to defeat him. The p1otteras de-
! .termined to push Hughes. Not that
they wanted Hughes-they dislike
} him even more than Roosevelt, for
they think he has all of Rooseyelt's
faults. together with a lot of others
| which they suspect he has concealed
by his policy of silence. But they
thought to boom Hughes sufficiently
to beat Roosevelt and then drop him,
Al that moment Harding was to be
| forced to the front and triumpha utiy
| nominated as a dark horse woh had
not participated in the Hughes-Roose-
welt vendetta.
! 1t seemed to work well until the
END OF last week But the activities
on Hughes's behalf of Frank Hitch
cock. who was either not directed bv
the coalition, or else violated the ma "
i'm of Talleyrand, Above all no zeal >,
raised the Hughes strength to such a
aegree that those who are a part of
| it now refuse to let go. The 1eIeeatee
VINO enlisted with the understa nding
that they were to be for Hughes take
the situation seriously. beliey thew are
~ifh winner and insist on going
ahead with his nomination.