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Show ULl L1bo PRESIDENT John Hays Hammond Calls Taft Ablest Execulive Cleveland. 0., Auk. 20 With tlve statement that President Taft was one of the ablest and most sapaclous executives of tho United States, John Hays Hammond made a vigorous defense de-fense if the adniiiiifltratlon today at the nnnvnl outlrg of tho Cuyahoga County League of Republican clubs. Mr. Hammond Justified Mr. Taft'a support for the AldrichCannon section sec-tion of the party on the gTound that If he had phinged Into a Republican civil war, his four years' term of office would have been barren of results re-sults and not one of his campaign pledges could have ucen carried out. j Mr. Hammond said In part: "The people have come to regard President Taft as a man of indomitable indomit-able courage and indexible determination. determina-tion. In the early pait of his administration adminis-tration it used to be frequently asserted assert-ed that Pres. dent Taft did not vnder-stand vnder-stand the political game. It Is quite true that ho does not understand 'good politics, according to the conception con-ception of the hot house politicians, in that he does not subordinate questions ques-tions of natloual Importance to those of party expediency or even to those of sclf-aggrandizemcnt, but recent events must have Impressed it on the mlmls oT all critics that tho president han a masterful grasp of political affairs af-fairs and political methods "It also hns 'been asserted by critics of the administration that the pros! dent was belug unduly influenced and Imposed upon by what was alleged to "be the unholy Cannon Aid rich alliance. alli-ance. He has been criticised severely for having auy Intercourse with that fac- . lion of tho party; but for.nately the president has wisely preferred not to j assume a self-rlghtoous attitudo and not to declino the co-operation of Re- publicans of whatever foctlon when ! such assistance would avail to insure the enactment of needed legislation. J "It required admirable moral cour-rge cour-rge and far-sighted statesmanship for President Tufi to puisne the course he did pursue. Any other course woJd have resulted in four years of fut.le Republican administration" I Mr. Hammond asserted that all talk ', of a new party was absurd, as such a 1 movement would die at Its birth for luck of popular support. He declared that there was no possibility of any man save Mr. Taft receiving the ne.t Republican nomination for president, and seouted the Idea of the Pernor rats obtaining control of congress ou ac- rouDt of what he termed tholr absolute failure to offer the people any definite defi-nite program. . |