Show TAFTS TAFT'S POSITION AS I I Secretary of War Var Lifts the I Lid on Presidential Cauldron NOT TO BE CAST ASIDE Belief Is Is' l tl That runt An r n fr to to moko e Tart Taft Out Ont Washington Dec 29 Secretary o of r War Yar W. W H H. Taft Tact of oC Ohio has hns lifted th the lid on the pr presidential cauldron This Thi I is 13 not because c ho has haD changed hi his at- at It Is due chic Ue to what t is in effect t I an In announcement from Crom him bun that he p has not done lone ao so Like Mr Dry Bryan in his recent Inter Inter- x Secretary Taft Tart toda today in lii U t state stale mont mem l issued nD as ho he said aiU hl to relieve his newspaper friends from embarrassment embarrass embarrass- ment explained that tho the nomination for Cor Pr President coming from a a. great party purt is not something to ho bo ca casually put n aside His declaration that h he should not decline a nomination by his party parly x be b by his friends as a a. notification that thc they may b begin ln the work of or machine construction con- con conD however But tho the secretary ha has not authorized a statement that he lies has decided to lo stand aland as a 0 presidential candidate in lit the next Republican national conven conven- Lion tion His friends belle belIeVe that interests In Ohio politics not not- friendly frIendly- to him have o In Inspired the iho report of or his su sudden den access of oC interest in tho the presidential situation as a means of or smoking him out With the recent division of inter inter- est cst in the 1908 outlook for Cor the iho Republican Re Ro- publican party parly and especially In view of marked manifestations of open hos hos- to lo the Iho administration on the part parl of ot the tho many Republican lea leaders ers it IL has haH been made plain that thai President Roosevelt Is not to be permitted to perpetuate his policies he unquestionably un un- un- un questionably wishes to lo do or do-or or dictate hl his succession which succession many politicians belle believe he hopes hopeR to lo do without a struggle with the loaders leaders In his own part party parly Ohio lies lIas ito T Po Possibilities Tho The fact that Ohio hah has two presidential possibilities Taft Taft TaCt and Fora- Fora ker and and that their like their Interest are almost diametrically op op- op posed is I-I perhaps re responsible for tor th the Impression In man many quarters rR that the thee Foraker people mn may have hate been tn trying Ing to lo force Taft TaCt Into the open has hns the Ducle Buckeye e machine Hf command the delegation dole dele gation gatlon In the tho next convention it Is 19 al almost almost ci- ci most generally conce conceded ed There ho has been beon a feeling that the rIght man might be named without his own state stale But Dut the Taft Tort people are arc unorganized The secretary does docs not nol like lights fights But tho the secretary's statement does docs not make mako reasonably 1 plain that he will never nevet- be o more marc than j a n. receptive candidate And It can cnn be bet bet- I. I reasonably ea set down n that tho the man who gets tho the next R Republican nomination nomina- nomina ion llon will be the man who makes the most effective o light fight for it Leaders are again ag figuring on the tho strength of or Fairbanks t Shaw La Follette and aull others othes Ih lb the cent en lIon and thc they shake their he heads and express the tho fear Cear that a a. deadlock may bring the prize to elt r rt t tI I X oJ i |