Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1907 — WASHINGTON LETTER. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON LETTER.

Political and General Gosalp of the National Capital. Special Correspondence to The Democrat. There is a factor in the coming Democratic campaign that may have been overlooked by a good many people, but that is bothering the politicians in Washington and elsewhere. That is Mr. Hearst. It has been the fashion not to include hiq| in the serious discussion of Democratic candidates, but there was the same disposition and as it proved, the same mistake in his bid for'the Democratic nomination for the governorship in New York. Of course, the leaders of the Democratic party do not like Mr. Hearst as a candidate. They might be willing to put up with him as a campaign contributor, for he has enough money to figure seriously in that role. But the trouble is that when he plunges into the political maelstrom, it has usually been for the benefit of Hearst. His money and bis faculty for organization have gone to his own uplifting, and thus it is figured by the wise ones that they will go again if he makes a serious set at the Presidential nomination. Of course, one may like Mr. Hearst, or he may not. He may believe that he is sincere, or he may not. But there is no denying that he has a faculty for organization. This is more than the faculty for hiring men to do the organizing for him. He has that too, and the money to do it with. Butfa long career of newspaper work and a shorter political life have never found this organization wanting when it came to the pinch. Whether it was booming a flower festival in southern California or throwing relief into San Francisco after the earthquake or making a whirlwind campaign of New York in an unsuccessful fight for the governorship, Mr. Hearst was always there and had his organization with him. And that is the reason that a good many people are afraid of his making a real effort for the Presidency. , He is being seriously discussed in this connection. No one who knows the situation believes for a moment that he will throw his energy and his support to Bryan. If he should do this Bryan’s nomination would be assured. But as the case stands, he is the only man in the Democratic party with a real organization behind him. His Independence League is a thing older politicians are now ready to seriously reckon with. t t t

On the other side of the fence, there is the question of theCortelyou boom. This has been talked up of late and rather to the annoyance of the Secretary of the Treasury. It is not denied that Mr. Cortelyou has an ultimate and far seeing eye on the nomination for the Presidency. But he is not working seriously for the nomination at the coming convention. He has not been specifically invited into the fray by President Roosevelt and in that view of the case, he would npt be a good republican tointrude. His friends* ‘‘fool friends,” to use a coloquilism, have been the ones to do the talking. But this much may be said. If there should be need of a dark horse at the finish of the nomination campaign, Secretary Cortelyou feels that the saddle would just fit him and he would be willing to make the running. He would go into the convention ae the “favorite son”*of New York, and he would be willing to throw bis strength in any direction the President pleased. And if the President pleased that it should be Cortelyou’s direction, then Mr. Cortelyou would be willing to meekly bear the burden thrust upon him. His preparations for the multifarious duties of the President of the United States is better than that of any other American.

There are more naval moves in the Far East Now it is semiofficially announced that the cruiser squadron of Admiral Dayton’s

fleet is about ready to start home, and it may come by way of Japan. This squadron consists of four ships, the West Virginia, the Colorado, the Pennsylvania and the Maryland. They are newest and most powerful of the armored cruisers. It is said that they are coming eventually to San Francisco. It is optional with c the Admiral on the Pacific station whether they come by the way of the Japanese porta or not. If they did, it might be taken by the Japanese as rather flaunting a red rag at a bull. But it might be a wholesome object lesson at the same time. It is understood that after leaving the far side of the Pacific they will go to the Straits of Magellan and join in target practice with the battleship squadron. After that they will make their way up the coast and the whole fleet will concentrate at San Francisco.

There is some interest in the State Department over the news from Korea of the abdication of the emporer, Yi-Hyueng. The way that this bears od the American situation is that it is apt to divert the Japanese populace from their intense interest in all events in America and particularly on the Pacific coast The Korean Empire has been toppling for a long time, and this is as good a time to give it the final shove as any. This big peninsula, for it is a great territory, has been the scene of misrule, conquest, and reconquest for ages. For many generations back there has never been a Korean Emporer who has died in his bed. He either abdicated as the present one has done, or else he was assassinated, or sometimes it was both. There has been no question that the Japanese have had their eyes on the county from the first of their successes against the Russians in the late war. They need the territory, they care nothing for the several millions natives, and the natives have been so badly ruled and so thoroughly robbed by successive governments, that they care little who their rulers are, believing that whatever change may come they have known and endured the worst. In this emergency the Japanese government found its bands full in the row not with the United States, but with its own people, to keep them from picking a fight with United States. The Korean plum was about ripe for the picking, and the Japan, se government simply gave the tree a shake and is now watching the Japanese people turn Koreaward, which is a much safer direction than toward the United States. There is an old saying that a hound can only follow one trail at a time. It is generally believed at the State Department that the hound being diverted is the Japanese public, and the trail is toward the Korean capital.