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Show MANY CIST EYES ON WHITE HOUSE Presidential Booms Cropping Crop-ping Out in Unexpected Numbers. Two Score of Possible Candidates Can-didates Mentioned as in the Running. (Chicago Tribune Special Service.) WASHINGTON, July 27. Never in American history have so many men aspired as-pired to the presidency of the United States as are aspiring to it today. The busy post-bellum days, with their pregnant problems of peace and reconstruction, recon-struction, their predictions of a wider field of action for the government and charges of dire disaster to their country if certain projected steps are taken, are no deterrent to the political ambitions of scores of American citizens. Candidates for the presidential nomination nomina-tion in both of the big parties are almost too numerous to mention, and any list which attempts to cover the field certainly will overlook someone whose . hopes in the good political judgment of the American Ameri-can people are just now running high. A casual survey of the situation today discloses more presidential booms and boomlets than the voters have any idea of, a circumstance which leads to the conclusion that the faith of -many leading lead-ing Americans in the future of the country coun-try is not shaken by .warnings of dire disaster because of entanglements resulting result-ing from the world war. Two Score in Sight. - . K early- two score eiigibles can be mentioned men-tioned now who are willing to undertake the task of piloting the ship of state through the breakers ahead. They include in-clude United States senators by the dozen, governors of states, cabinet and ex-cabi-. net members, a former president, soldiers and others in varying fields of activities. The most conspicuous booms and boom-lets boom-lets at this time are on the Republican side of the political fence, although Democrats Demo-crats of the country are active for various leaders. Of the Republican booms the most active today are Frank O. Lowden, governor of Illinois; Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio, who has been in the field probably longer than any other Republican Re-publican aspirant, and Major General Leonard Wood, commander of the central department, United States army. The Lowden candidacy was given especial espe-cial prominence in the house yesterday, when Representaitve Dennison of Illinois addressed his colleagues on the qualifications qualifi-cations of the Illinois governor for the presidency in the present crisis. No sooner had he concluded than Ohio congressmen con-gressmen stirred up the Harding boom, and it is evident that from now until convention time next summer these two men will be kept in the Republican forefront. fore-front. To Regular G. O. P. Both of these may be classed as appealing appeal-ing to the regular Republican organization, organi-zation, and each has influential backers who have brought their names to the east with a view of smothering some of the latent booms for eastern .candidates. Governor Lowden has many champions in the purpose, n nd none more ardent than Representative Frank L. Smith of Illinois, who was a candidate against him for the gubernatorial nomination fn 1916. Ohio managers of Senator Harding insist in-sist that the Republican candidate for president next time must come from Ohio, in order to put Ohio back in the Republican Repub-lican column, from which sbe strayed in the last election. Senator Harding has many friends in the party; was the chairman chair-man of the Hughes' convention in 1916, (Continued on Page 2, Column 4.) rVIY CAST EYES 01 WHITE HOUSEj (Continued From Page One.) and the "keynote" speaker on that occasion. occa-sion. General Wood, entirely without his sanction, has been brought forward as the leading military candidate of the Republicans. Re-publicans. It is true that there has been much talk of inducing General Pershing to aspire to the presidency on his war record, but the commander-in-chief of the American expeditionary forces has turned a deaf ear to all proffers on this subject, sub-ject, and an early boomict for him. which originated in Ohio, has been left to its own devices and little lias been heard of it for months. The Wood boom has gathered considerable consid-erable momentum in all parts of the count ry, but of late there has been a counter move against it, engineered by Republicans leaders who fear that a soldier sol-dier candidate cannot win. Taft and Hughes. Other Republican senators listed as presidential aspirants in varying degrees of enthusiasm are Knox of Pennsylvania, former secretary of state; Lodge of Massachusetts, Mas-sachusetts, now the majority leader in the senate and chairman of the foreign relations rela-tions committee, in charge of the peace treaty; Hiram Johnson of California, Progressive, Pro-gressive, and running mate of Theodore Roosevelt, whose California friends have started a boom of considerable size; Edge of Tennessee, former governor of the state; both Cummins and Kenyon of Iowa, Kellogg of Minnesota, Poindexter of Washington, a Progressive Republican, whose boom was launched in the west a few days ago; Watson of Indiana, one of the staunohest of the Old Guard type of Republicans; Caldcr of New York, Spencer Spen-cer of Missouri and Curtis of Kansas. In addition to the Republican senators, among the leaders being "discussed as presidential timber, are former President Taft, who is just now engaged in supporting sup-porting the league of nations with a few reservations, which Republican opponents of the league do not like; Charles Evans Hughes, who barely missed the presidency presi-dency in 1016, and Herbert Hoover, American Ameri-can food administrator, and now head of the allied food relief committee in Europe. Eu-rope. Wonder as to Wilson. On the Deinocratic side everybody is wondering what President Wilson is going go-ing to do. i If President Wilson refuses to be a candidate for a third term, the Democratic Demo-cratic scramble will be as lively as the Republican. There arc many booms and boomlets ready to be sprung. In the senate the most formidable candidates are Gilbert M. Hitchcock of Nebraska, former chairman of the foreign relations committee; Atlee Pomerene of Ohio, Robert Rob-ert L. Owen of Oklahoma, Oscar Under-good Under-good of Alabama and George E. Chamberlain Cham-berlain of Oregon, who gained especial prominence in resisting the administration's administra-tion's preparedness program. Outside the senate leading Democrats insist that former Secretary of the Treasury Treas-ury William G. MeAdoo of New York still is to be reckoned with, although Mr. MeAdoo has said he is not a candidate. candi-date. In the cabinet arc two possibilities, possibil-ities, Secretary of War Newton D. Baker and A. Mitchell Palmer, the attorney general. Ohio has three Deinocratic candidates Governor James M . Cox and Senator Pomerene, in addition to Secretary Baker. |
