Now, I don't know what would have happened if you gave the ring to Paladin, Thain of the Shire. A Took as a dark lord? Hmmmm....
Didn't Gandalf eventually decide that it was a higher power, and not just his liking for them, that brought him to associate with the Hobbits, because their simplicity and lack of ambition made them the only possibility on Middle Earth to dispose of the Ring. We know what would have happened if a man, elf, or Wizard had gotten their hands on it, and the dwarves would have used it to get all of the precious metals and jewels on earth into their possession.
The world would never know! :D