I am looking out of the window at the funeral procession for the Maine dead, and it strikes me that our dear friend Cobb has overlooked one trick in his campaign against T. R. Of course he has other arrows in his quiver, and no doubt this one will come later, but why not charge T. R. with having blown up the Maine? No one can prove that he did not do it. He then undoubtedly was planning to become President and knew that he never could be unless he was given a chance to show his ability as a soldier- patriot. He stole Panama of course, and is there any reason to believe that a man who would steal Panama would hesitate at blowing up a battleship?
I hope you … are giving over the life of a hermit—not that I would advise you to take to the Great White Way, but the side streets are sometimes pleasant. As always, devotedly yours,
FRANKLIN K. LANE
V
EXPRESS CASE—CABINET APPOINTMENTS
1912-1913
Politics—Democratic Convention—Nomination of Wilson —Report on
Express Case—Democratic Victory—Problems for New Administration
—On Cabinet Appointments
TO ALBERT SHAW REVIEW OF REVIEWS
Washington, April 30, 1912
MY DEAR DOCTOR,— … You certainly are very much in the right. Everything begins to look as if the Republican party would prove itself the Democratic party after all. Our Southern friends are so obstinate and so traditional, and so insensible to the problems of the day, that while they are honest they are too often found in alliance with the Hearsts and Calhouns. The Republican party, on the other hand, seems to have courage enough to take a purgative every now and then.