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Show TAFT '8 HURRY-UP CALL.- The demand for Secretary Taft '5 Te-turn Te-turn honie appears to be getting urgent. The reason for this demand is assumed to be tho leakage which is causing his Presidential. boom to shrink. The Taft .boom was understood to be inflated I chiefly by hot wind from the White House. His strength was in being the supposed personally. -warranted successor of Roosevelt, and in the idea that he would carry out tho Roosevelt policies. But the Roosevelt policies have themselves them-selves gone into something of an eclipse, and it is not at all certain that the country desires a continuation of tho Roosevelt unthinking impotuosity. And then, there have been things happening in Ohio. Burton, who was confidently relied upon to redeem Cleveland from the Johnson swav, was badly defeated, and Johnson remains the boss, Foraker also is bestirring himself aud is getting unexpected inflation there for his Pres idential boom. Governor Hughes of New York is looming up every day higher and stronger as a Presidential possibility. But above all, tho assumed dosiro of the country for a continuation continu-ation of RoosevcltiBm has suffered a distinct dis-tinct damper. In tho moantimo it is interesting to nolo tho extravagant Tumors that nro afloat in Russia conscquont upon Sec-rotar" Sec-rotar" Taft's visit to tho Czar. It is assumod in many grotesque forms thai tho .United States is about to engage in war with Japan and that tho visit of Secretary Taft. will bring to a head the cordial relations between tho United Stales and Russia in a sort of compact or treaty, defensive and offensive, in which tho United States and Russia will-join will-join and wipo Japan off tho map. Needless Need-less to say, all this is pure, rubbish. There is no troublo between Japan and tho United States. And certainly if tho United States had any troublo with Japan it would hardly ncod the help of Russia, or of any other power, to carry-on carry-on a war with that nation. Wo assume that, as a mattor of courso, in this war, Japan would not in tho least bo able by reason of her treaty alliance to drag Great Britain into any war that sho might provoko with tho United Stales; for certainly tho British public would not for ono moment countenance any Biich atrocity as Great; Britain fighting tho TJnited States becauso of impossiblo demands that Japan might mako upon our Government with respect re-spect to tho unwelcome Jnpancso who aro in this country. But that Secretary Taft is in a hurry-to hurry-to get homo is evident from tho urgency of his representations in favor of hastening has-tening his interview with the Czar by-one by-one day. This day will enablo him to catch his sleamor at Hamburg direct for the United States, and will land him on our shores in the quickest pos-siblo.time. pos-siblo.time. Without any particular interest in-terest in tho Taft boom and without any idea that Secretary Taft's presence in this country will mako any material difference in that boom or as to anything any-thing else, politically or otherwise, wo should bo glad to see tho Secretary reach our shores as soon as ho wishes to do so. Jf he has anything here to attend to, by all means we hopo that ho will get hero in time to attend to it. But that thcro is anv great worldwide world-wide anxiety on tho point of whether he will obtain his interview with tho Czar on December 4th or will havo to wait until December 5th for it, we cannot believe. There is no such importance im-portance attaching to a day's movement of Secretary Taft. And wo may add that the like is true with respect to any-other any-other porson in this country. A day-more day-more or less makes no difference whether wheth-er they do one thing or the other, or do nothing at all. This country has not arrived at the stage when tho doings of any one person arc of such supremo importance as to be considered of worldwide interest, especially in his minor movements. Let Secretary Taft hasten home, by all means, if he wishes to do so. But hq is too level-headed a man himself to belicvo that anything of very great public importance hangs upon tho point of whether he is hero a day sooner, a day- later, or whether he gets here within a day, or a week of tho timo that ho would like lo or not. Wc have nobody of such supreme importance im-portance as that in this country, and wo hope that wc never shall have. |
