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nds in a great crisis, the sort from which all moral movements spring. . . ." It has often been said that the excitement of presidential campaigns is detrimental to the nation. This could hardly be said of the campaign of 1908. To produce political excitement there must be debatable questions termed, by the politicians as "issues." Just what the issues were in the campaign few people could determine. There were no issues which involved foreign affairs. The Democratic party did not criticise the sending of the fleet around the world, the administration's policy in Cuba, the policy concerning the Panama Canal, nor even the policy pursued in the Philippines. As regards military and naval matters, pensions to veterans, the development of internal waterways, the conservation of resources, etc., there were no issues simply because the people had practically the same views about them. Consequently issues had to be made, and, generally speaking, the Republican leaders appealed to the people along the lines of the personal fitness of the candidates. It was pointed out that President Roosevelt had indicated his Secretary of War as the best man to carry out the policy inaugurated by the administration of subduing and controlling influential law-breakers. The chief officer of the government has vested in himself powers of wide range--the appointment of the judiciary, the superintendence of the administration of the business affairs of the nation, the guidance of our international affairs. Therefore the President must be a keen judge of men capable of distinguishing the honest, efficient servant of the nation from the self-seeking politician; he must resist political pressure; he must be national in his patriotism and breadth of vision; he must know our foreign relations intimately, that the continuity of policies may not be broken and the efficiency of our foreign service weakened thereby. He must have the capacity to work long hours, with skill, care, and rapidity. In short, the chief executive must be a man who is fit mentally and physically. [Illustration: Crowd surrounding a rail coach from which Taft is waving.] William H. Taft on his trip, stumping for the nomination. Some of these essential qualities the candidates of the two great parties possessed in a high degree. They were honest and sincere; they were familiar with the desires and needs of the various sections of the nation; they were national in the breadt
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