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Show I REPUBLICAN LEADERS GLOOMY; I : PAINED BY CAMPAIGN REVIEW I'jj Hughes Campaign in West Flat Failure T. R. Fails tc li! Arouse Enthusiasm Republican Press in Eastern I i Cities Sees Collapse of Wilson Opposition. I I I New York, Oct. 22. Gloom filled 1 I the headquarters of the Republican I national committeo today. Every one (J from Chairman Willcox down was dell de-ll i pressed. Reports have come from the lj Iff west and middle west that tho Hughes 1 ) campaign has been a failure and that fjj j! President Wilson's popularity is grow-II! grow-II! ill ing by leaps and bounds. The Repub-jl Repub-jl i licans have taken the management of 111 m the Ohio campaign out of the hands Sm of the local men and will run it from II lj national headquarters, ju Roosevelt's failure to stir up I n Hughes sentiment has tho Republican Jj managers worried. Chairman Willcox 111 III as received many requests that he lj be taken off the stump, while from no H J place has there come a request that nil he make a second speech. The flat rill failure of his speech at Wilkesbarre In Saturday night has proved disconcert-I disconcert-I 1 ing to the Republican managers who I'M jlj were playing their last card for the labor vote. rl . To add to the gloom,. Fred C. alii j Greiner, Republican leader of Buffalo, IB I t told Chairman Willcox the working m i j men are for President Wilson's re-fjji re-fjji election almost unanimously, and that I j heroic treatment must be applied to save Hughes, fjlfj The hardest blow is the collapse of the Republican candidate's metropolis j ft tan newspapers' support. The New HI j York Tribune, which has a long and ill unbroken record of Republicanism jfj and which a few days ago felt com-lj com-lj pelted to disagree pointedly with ri Hughes' Lusitania speech, this morn-yn morn-yn ing published a political forecast fjj jj which amounts to a virtual confession of the defeat of the Republican candl- date. , The forecast purports to bo based upon confidential reports from every doubtful state received by one of the most prominent campaign managers, It gives Hughes only 284 votes, including in-cluding Ohio's 21 and West Virginia's 8, which everyone knows aro so safe for Wilson that, if Hughes must have them to win, his case is hopeless. The New York Evening Post's story of the Republican campaign slump follows fol-lows its editorial declaration last Saturday Sat-urday that Hughes "Is a disappoint-ment." disappoint-ment." The PoQt, which set out to be friendly to Hughes, Is through with him. Tho New York Evening Mail which Ib supporting Hughes, makes this Interesting In-teresting admission: "Roosevelt is a thorn in the side of those campaign managers who are afraid of the German-American vote. Very largely on that account he has been shunted off on a Bpeaking tour into territory where it is estimated ho can do the least harm." An interesting sidelight on the dilemma di-lemma of the Republican press that is called upon to support a candidate without an issue Is furnished by the fact that the Philadelphia Public Ledger's $2,000 prize contest for the best editorials in support of each presidential pres-idential candidate was won for the Wilson side by Ernest F. Boddington of the editorial staff of the Philadelphia Philadel-phia North American, which Is halfheartedly half-heartedly supporting Hughes. The Leader today announced that 459 contestants urged President Wilson's Wil-son's retention in office, while only 329 editorials were submitted in favor of Mr. Hughes. |
