Life — June 6, 1912 — page 12: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

—— Sa “While there is Life there's Hope” HE fight in Ohio between Father Christmas and Jack the Giant Killer has been won by Jack. Mourners will please pass up the right aisle to view the remains. Father Christmas may still be nominated, but it puzzles the computers to figure out how he could possibly win the election, unless indeed Jack’s attention should be diverted at the outset of the campaign to the de- struction of some new monster raging in remote lands, or unless the voters should suddenly develop capacity to weigh evidence, balance merits against defects, and make a wise choice. If a miracle like that should happen, Mr. Taft would still have a pretty good chance as compared with Mr. Roose- velt, though even then a competent Democrat ought to beat them both, and doubtless will. It is all like a fairy story. Ohio Re- publicans have refused to endorse an Ohio Republican President, not be- cause they don’t like him, nor because he is a much worse-than-usual Presi- dent, but because he does not express the political sentiments of such of the Ohio voters as took the trouble to go to the polls on a fine spring preferential Presidential primary day, when farm work was pressing. For the same reason Senator Crane announces his intended return to peaceful pursuits. He finds himself no longer in accord with the sentiments that are dominant among Republicans in Massachusetts. The Progressives, marshalled by the militant Bird, wal- loped him in the primaries in Massa- chusetts, and now that he has had time to brush the sawdust of the arena off his clothes, he says, as Aldrich and Hale said before him, that the day of his kind of politics is over for the pres- ent, and that any one who can get hi: toga may have it and welcome. So if the Third Term Candidate is to be beaten it looks as though the Demo- crats must do the job, and the more men like Crane, Hale, Aldrich, Spoon- er, Taft and Root are eliminated from the Republican party, the less shock there will be to conservative minds in the idea of a Democratic innings. Just think! The Republican party with all the old, canny, standard business Re- publicans chased out of it—how is it safer than any other party? Of course it is not. But, stars above! What a slaughter of bosses! What a prostration of powers! Me. AFT, moriturus, turning from Ohio to make as hot a fight as he could in New Jersey, made a good appearance. We like him in the ring, He makes a good showing there, manly if not particularly skilful, and takes his beatings with good humor and un- abated courage. It was Mr. Taft’s great misfortune that he got the Presidency too easily. If he had had to fight for it, he would either have let it alone or the fight would have hardened and developed him. -He has never appeared better, to our mind, than in these flogging fin- ishes in Ohio and New Jersey, doing every stroke he could to beat Roose- velt for the nomination, That is all he can do for us now, but he has been doing it for all he was worth, and for us; we do believe, for us; not for him- self. He is perfectly capable of disin- terested effort, for he is not in any way a small man, and never was. That was not his defect. What he needed was to be politically born again and feel the current of a new inspiration surg- VOL. 11x 6, 1912 Published by LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY Je AL MivoM Ent, Pres’ A. MILLER, Se 27 West Thiety-first No. 1545, ing through his ample proportions. With a new vision and a revitalized personality, combining with and using his excellent powers of mind and kind- liness of spirit, he might be an admi- rable President. It is late to say that. but his staunch behavior in the last ditch compels it. In spite of the Giant Killer’s cry: “T shall be the compromise candidate,” it is conceivable that the Republicans may pick up a third man. But the cumulative effect of all these State vic- tories for Roosevelt is very much against it. Hughes, now, would be too much of an anti-climax. And yet, and yet, we must remem- ber how— From out the struggle of the ruck, The dark-horse sometimes swing: And powerful where it didn't show, And strong from sweating with slow, Gets that at last that makes him go € creature borne on wings, And passing speed and power and pluck, Turns all his betters into worse, And lands the Appomattox purse. So it may be. Who can tell? Who can tell? spite of Bryan, Governor Harmon won out very handsomely in Ohio, and that brings to the fore the possi- bilities of Democratic policy. Governor Harmon is an excellent Democratic candidate of his kind. Mr. Under- wood is perhaps a better one, and rep- resentative of very much the same gen- eral ideas. If the Third Term Candi- date wins at Chicago the question will be whether to fight him with a Demo- crat of something like his own sort— though, of course, he has no duplicate —or to put up Harmon or Under- wood, who will immediately be stigma- comicbooks.com