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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1906)
Wi fi? DID F0rMoO5EELT? THE SPANISH-AMERICAN "WAR in Cuba sent Theodore Roosevelt to the Presidency. Will the present trouble In the isle of unrest do the same lor William H. Taft? It is a question that interests the whole American peo ple, and suggests a train of coincidences. Before the Maine went to the bottom of Havana harbor no one had seriously en tertained the Idea thai Roosevelt might some day occupy the chair of Washing ton and Lincoln The New Yorker, originally a reformer, whom the regulars regarded with suspi cion, had acquitted himself with credit as Commissioner of Police In New York City, and was regarded as a man of ability, but no stretch of imagination had pic tured him as one to suddenly vault into the Governorship of the Empire State, the Vice-Presidency, and finally the Presidential chair by the biggest major ity ever given to a candidate for the office. The glory that ca-me with the descent on Cuba, the Rough Rider halo, did all this for Theodore Roosevelt. It discov ered to the American people that he was a man of capacity in all directions. He has borne the subsequent test, and de served bis honors, but it cannot be denied that without the events of the brief strug gle in Cuba he might never have been mentioned for the highest office in the land, Taft has gone to Cuba on a different errand Roosevelt went there as man of war, Taft for peace, but the Ohio man ought to find a happy augury In the ex perience of the present incumbent of the "White House. The Spanish-American war brought Taft, like Roosevelt, to the front as a man of varied abilities. He had been an able member of the Ohio bar. and had quickly been elevated to the bench by Governor Foraker Then President Har rison made him Solicitor-General of the United States, from which place he re signed to accept a United States Judge Ship in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. Taft In the Philippines. This wa-s where he stood when Presi dent McKinley. always partial to the men of hi natH'e state, asked him to except the chairmanship of the Philippine Commission at a time when the problem that the commission had to solve was the most vexed before the country. Taft had been an able, useful citizen, and an ideal Judge, but he was in no sense a National figure, until from motives of purest pa triotism he resigned his congenial place on the bench to go to the Philippine ' Tafr's work In the Philippines called perhaps for more skill and diplomaey than any phase of the tangle following the struggle with Spain, but the 297- y BY ARTHUR CHAPMAN F I EVER git dissatisfied with my I present job o' pamperin' the dell- cate appetites of a lot o' second cousins o' Angora goat herders. I think I'll try to git a roundup hand's chance with Nmi Cubyan insurrection outfit." aid Cauckw4on Cai, after the dally Com WHICH HAS WOK HIM P I FAENDS AND SMOOTHED fX OVER DIFFICULTIES cound Ohioan threw himself into task with spler.did enthusiasm, and did all that was required, using hia famous smile and perpetual good nature as a balm to smooth away the hurfs. He danced at a public ball given in his honor on his arrival, and the way he piloted his bulk through the males of the Span ish fandango delighted the Filipinos more than could the most profound expression of statesmanship. It must not be understood that Taft's work in the Philippines was all plain sailing by any means. He and General Chaffee differed as to the necessity of keeping the islands under strict mili tary law Taft thought a policy of pacifi cation better: Chaffee argued that to ease up in the least bit would be to for feit all that had been gained by the dan gerous and costly work of months. The Governor prevailed eventually, and the Filipinos soon came to look upon him as their greatest friend. Taft passed from the post of Governor of the Philippines to that of Secretary of War. when that post was vacated by Ellhu Root. Once again he proved the right man for the right job. More than any man in the country he understood the ques tions that had grown up in Cuba and tne Philippines, problems by no means solved yet, but which must be matters of concern for years yet to come. It was a queer choice, big. good-natured Bill" Taft. the man ot peace and fun, to be charged with administering the National military service, but the Cabi net has known no abler member. Xext to Roosevelt. It is no secret in National Republican political circles that once President Roosevelt is eliminated, and he has most positively stated that he will not run for another term, Taft stands closer to the chance of getting tae Republican nomination for the Presidency than any other man. Not that there are not plenty of other candidates: Root is one, so are Fairbanks. Beveridge and per haps Cannon, but of all these the lead er is Taft. Even without having been chosen to restore order out -of the Cuban chaos, l n i Hv : X---- 1 LKMiGOIV vLdl QlVLUDdIJr011llC: The Cook of the Calf Wras'lers Outfit Gives the Plainsman's View- on the Getting Up of Revolutions wrestle with the roundup camp's tattered newspaper in the shade of the mess wagon. "Sometimes I git about half a disgust with cookln'. spite o" what the poet hands out about bein' able to live without i- I J . 1 l.,r .i.'lli A T ... , man dassent fire his cook. I s pose its ! 'cause cMllzed man has got to have somethin' he kin cuss, either publicly or onder his breath, and a cook is the handiest objict fer such purpose. A cook, if he la a real cook, has got to be proof against any cuss word ever Invented. It used to bother me some when I first started in. when some cowpuncher. after znakin' an aobia void in a bis kittle o' THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX. PORTLAND, OCTOBER 21, 1906. ofo V X. LATEST PHOTO OF I ' : the, HI ' A - - 1 B ' " " w z O.CC-.-Af Y JjHJ - UTS OLD Taft had the best expectation, but the publicity that will come to him in the next few months, and the virtual cer tainty that he will .be successful in re storing a satisfactory condition in the Pearl of the Antilles makes the specu lation on Cuba as a new mother of Presidents an interesting onej f"1 1 oeans and hog linln', would tell me that any Apache squaw had me hobbled when it aome to the art o' cooktn'. I used to lay awake nights, wonderin' how I could Improve the grub layout to suit the Epi curlouses with the roundup outfit, but It didn't take me long to learn better. Now if any puncher seta up on his haunches and raises the long howl because of the grub he's been demollshin', I walk over to him, and. lookln' him square In the eye. I say gently but firmly: 'Swaller yer words without salt or pepper, and apologize fer profanin' this outdoor edition of Delmonyco's with yer chatterin' complaints. A cow camp is no place fer a poverty-struck younger son of a down-at-the-heel British fam'ly to bring the inherited indigestion, which is the only thing he ever picked off the fam'ly . .r.. . tree. Onderstand that in this country the little finger of a cook is more to be rev'renced than the hump of the sacred cow of Injy. And also onderstand that any perarie cook kin beat you ridin. ropin. siiootin'. or doin' plain or feather bone eewin'. So, after this, you amachoor critic it's your play to set up like a tongue-tier perarie dog when you hear me holler grub pile!' " "But you might find it different cooking T i vjv J VISIT G&FE7TIMG SOf7E: OF JF&fFM&S IAT T7ZL JSfJLJJiPIHUS . Taft has long wanted to go on the bench of the United States Supreme Court, the natural and proper ambition of every great lawyer. A few years ago this was probaibly the most he could have asked of public life, but he would be less than human if the newer ambition did not engulf the old. for Cuban lnsurrectos," said the Tender foot. "Why, man, I wouldn't any more waste my talents cooldn' down there than any genuyine cowpuncher would put in his time ridin' a mowin' machine or a hay rake. What's the use o' any cookln" in a country where a man has to look out. when he's walkin' through the woods, fer fear he'll bat his brains out ag'inst a bunch of bananas, or where a misstep is liable to Impale him on the cactus-like pompadour of a pineapple? We tried our heavy, alr-tlght meaJs o' civilization in that country, and every time one of us fellers in khaki stuck a can-opener to the hilt In the hlssin' vitals of a tin o" jungle food we stared death In the face. No. our heavyweight style o eatin is the last thing to worry about in the tropics. If I started an insurrecto outfit, all I'd need would -be a few sody -crackers and a junta. If you are goin' Into the insur recto business in a country where Latin or hog-Latin is spoke, you must have a junta. It don't matter if you are shy o' men and ammunition if you have a good, live junta in active workin order you kin make insurrectin' a life job. And the beauty about a junta is. it don't require capital to start. It is Jest a sort o' cor ner grocery store of revolutionary poll tics, where the friends o' all the outs 1l& It has been the experience of Taft to have to accomplish the unusual, that for which there was no precedent. When he went to the Philippines h6 confronted a situation such as the United States had never known before. It was a new thing for Uncle Sam to become the owner of a foreign island coma to spit on the stove and plot trea son ag'inst them that's in. A junta is an incubator that can hatch a bird o' freedom outen a doorknob. I would have one o' these juntas established in Noo York, and - there a busy corps o' press agints would- be kept hard at work sup plyln' noos about the progress, o' the glo rious uprlsln' on the home ranch. The Junta would hand out picters and stories about Chuckwagon Cal. the whiskery leader o' the -Cubyan insurrectin' forces. There would be photographs o' Chuck- wagon Cal. in all poses but his natural one o' slumberin". and he would be hailed as a man who made a throne totter or a president tremble every time his spurs Jingled. Occasionally the Junta would 6end out dark hints o' filibusterin' expe ditions to carry arms to Chuckwagon Cal's forces. All this would keep up Yankee interest in the Insurrection and when us Yankees git interested in any thin' like a scrap we have to set up till the movin' picters are in ahowin" the knockout blow In the last round. "In the meantime here I am, a-takin' life easy in the Cubyan Jungle. There Is no night hawk to rout me outen my frost-spangled tarpoleon at 4 o'clock in the mornin', and no foreman to make the blue vault of heaven resound with his yelp because the apple sass has run out. I am swingin' there in a hammock, as comf'table as a bobcat asleep in a treetop. when in comes a barefoot kid from the nearest telegraft office, with a message fer me. " "Seven American warships have start ed for Havanner." says the telegram, which is from my never-sleep junta, which has a worse case of business in somnia than the Pinkerton agency. 'Five of the ships are carryin' the Sec'tary of War. who is goin' to put the Pearl of the Antilles in a Star-Spangled Banner settin'. Congratulations and vivas." "Whereupon I summon all my forces, consistin' of one man. ridin a descend ant of the Matanzas mule. 'My brave musketeer of freedom.' I says, standin' three-quarter face to him. so he kin see May Not an Errand of Peace Accom plish the Same Result as a Rough Rider Halo? The Big War Secretary's Diplomatic Skill and His Famous Fetching Smile. and savage people at warfare with the flag of the Republic. Now in Cuba Taft has been dealing with still more extraordinary condi tions. He assumed the Governorship of a nation that the world and the United States recognize as a republic, but whose government was voluntarily and cheerfully turned over to Taft because its own authorities admit their inabil ity to prevent -rebellion, strife, blood shed and anarchy. A position of more delicacy could hardly be imagined. It is a post that requires firmness, lest in the early stages an outbreak should work dam age to American interests and result in loss of life. To come out of all this complication successfully, as Taft has done, calls for abundant patience and good na- how much I look like George Washing ton, 'our long struggle is at an end. We have been out here, fightln' drowsiness, fer weeks and weeks, but finally our junta has made America set up an' take notice. I see where this thing Is goin' to be settled by arbitration, and the most approved plan o' arbltratin' things is to give the leaders o' both sides the best Jobs in sight. Two hours will be added, to our slester today In honor of the glad news we have received." "My words prove prophetic, for we are summoned to Havanner, and the Yan kee emissary holds up a baseball bat and says: 'Now. you fellers will choose up sides on this bat handle, jest as if you was playin" two-ole cat.' So I toss the bat to the president of the Ins. and he grabs it by the middle with one hand. Then I put one hand above his hand, and he puts his other above mine, and so on till we git to the top. when we yell. 'No fair squeezin'!' And the Yankee emis sary passes a knife blade around the. top of the bat. to see the last hand ain't overlappln'. Then he says, 'Cal, It's your first choice." So I grab the office of president of the noo Cuby libray outfit, and the man who has been president of the Ins, he takes the foremanshlp. Then I appoint my army as segundo. and so we go down the list till we have filled all the offices down to ntght-herd and boss -wrangler, each side havin' half the plums. Then I declare my insurrection at an end, and dissolve my Noo York Junta, so Its members km come home an' draw their lmpendin' sal'ries. The Yankee warships in the harbor fire twenty-one guns in honor of the noo guv'mint, and we steps into our sev'ral offices and pries open our rolltop desks and proceeds to close-herd the sal'ry roll." "But how long does your government last?" asked the Tenderfoot. "Well, there was a puncher worked for this outfit once, who was always singin" a song about 'It May Be Fer Years an' It May Be Forever. " said Chuckwagon Cal, as he let down the 43 ture, as well as most, inspired diplo macy. Indeed, it Is a sure Indication of the true Presidential caliber of the man. His Fetching Smile. It has been said of Taft that he cat! do more with a smile than any man It public life. Here is another parallel to Roosevelt. When the Rough Rider chieftain re turned from Cuba, every paper and magazine In the country delighted to print pictures of a grinning face that showed a set of good, strong molars, parted with Jollity. This smiling Roose velt face undoubtely contributed much, to the popularity of the President, and so it ought to help the case of Taft. Taft never had the power to master subjects without working. He has lit tle of that suoerflclal brilliancy that brings many public men to the fore in a day, only to drop them back just . as suddenly. He is Intellectually a strong man, but his greatest gift is his power of sustained work. In Cuba he delved into every phase of the situation, and investigated every part of the jsland. met all of the men who are factors, big and little, in the present condition, traced every cause oC quarrel, and addressed himself thor ughly to the task- of correcting evils, getting the malcontents propitiated, and employing all his moderation, his san ity and his energy toward the restora tion of order. Harvard has the honor of giving thai country tne present Chief Magistrate. If his successor is a Yale man, it will he in great part because Taft h33 known how to deal wisely with the, Cuban situation. In dealing with the lighter affairs o( life. Taft has been as equally success ful as In shaping the destinies of na tions. His famous trip to the Philippines something over a year ago will not soon be forgotten by any member of his large party. The Secretary was the life and fun of the crowd, full, of Jokes and merriment from morn until night. Tne close friendship and good fel lowship Mr. Taft cemented among th members of his group on this Journey" is more than indicated by the number of weddings, that of the Presidents daughter being in the lead, which re sulted from the jaunt. Indeed, they have been so numerous that the Secretary, because of his ap parent friendliness with love's little) messenger, gained the nickname of "Cupid Taft,'- which, not altogether to his liking, has since stuck to him. tailboard of the wagon preparatory to mixing biscuit, "but I'm thlnkin' now that everybody is gettin' onto the busi ness opportunities lyin' around In the tropical bush, and gov'ment of the Cuby ans. by the Cubyans and for the Cubyans wouldn't last much longer than it could take some noo disturber of the peace to hike for the Jungle and start another In surrection." (Copyright. 1906, by Great West Syndicate.) Tony Pastor's Costly Parrot. This tale was related to me a little, while ago by tha principal actor of thai story: A number of years ago, in the day of the old Boston & Providence Railroad, Tony Pastor approached Baggagemaster Davis, of the midnight express, which was bound for New York, and said: "I have here a parrot which I am very desirous of having delivered at my the ater in New York tomorrow evening, and for the favor I am willing to compensate liberally, also any time you want to at tend a performance at my house, call around and mention you are the man that brought the parrot over from Boston." Davis grasped the opportunity, saying: "Thank you, Mr. Pastor, I shall see that the parrot Is delivered, and shall avail myself of the favor on the first occasion.'" That night Davis told some boys on. the train of his good fortune. A couple of months passed and the bag gageman Inquired for Mr. Pastor at th box office. "The manager Is very busy," said the ticket seller, "'what did you wish to see him for?" "Just tell him," said Davis, "I'm the man that brought the parrot over from Boston?" Turning on his stool, the man repeated hia request. "For my sake, John." bellowed out Mr. Pastor, "send that parrot back to Bos ton. There have been twenty railroad men around here trying to work that par rot yarn on me." Boston Herald.