Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 263, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1919 — NEWBERRY—100 PER CENT AMERICAN. [ARTICLE]

NEWBERRY—100 PER CENT AMERICAN.

Announcement by the administration that it will conduct a prosecution of charges of improper campaign methods in the senatorial contest in Michigan which resulted in the election of Truman H. Newberry, makes it pertinent to call to the attention of the .public some of the demonstrated qualifications and characteristics of the man whom the people of Michigan chose 'in preference to Henry Ford—the administration’s selection for the position. - ■ .It will be remembered that after terminating- a visit at ‘ the white house, Mr. Ford remarked that he had no desire to be a candidate for the Michigan senatorship, but had consented at the solicitation of. the president. Of Mr. Ford’s qualifications the public was amply informed during the trial of the milliondollar libel suit against the Chicago Tribune, as a result of which Mr. Ford secured a judgment for six cents, after having been called an anarchist and an ignorant idealist. Admiral “Fighting -Boh Evans” once said: “Truman H. Newberry is the greatest secretary of the navy the country has ever had.” He might well have been the greatest secretary,- as his “training had thoroughly equipped him for the responsibility of such an office. After graduating from Yale in 1885, he tool a course in the “school of hard knocks.” He worked with a construction gang on the old Detroit, Bay City and Alpena railroad. Demonstrated ability won him the position of general freight and passenger agent, and, later, the presidency of the Detroit Stell 'and Spring company arid the Detroit Steel Cast-

ing company. Study gained him recognition as an authority on ships that docked on the water-front of Detroit, and by actual experience he secured the training that earned him a license as a first-class pilot. In 1895 his practical knowledge was put to use for the benefit of the nation when ce assisted in organizing the Michigan Naval brigade, in which he enlisted 'as a private. After two years of drill and scrubbing decks, he was elected lieutenant and navigating officer of the Detroit unit, and when war was declared with Spain he was sent by the governor of Michigan, in response to the call of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt for a complement of naval militia officers and men, for service on the U. S. S. Yosemite. He warn in the thick of the naval engagement off San Juan on June 28, 18&8. He was one of the first men ashore when the marines landed on Spanish soil at Guantanamo Island. Because of his thorough training in the details of construction work and in the management of large manufacturing enterprises, his practical experience in seamanship in every branch of the service and his

demonstrated courage, President Roosevelt selected him for a place in the cabinet as secretary of the navy. It is no wonder, therefore, that in 1917, when the United States needed men of ability to aid in the prosecution of the war with Germany, President Wilson commissioned Truman H. Newberry as a commander in the United States navy. Not once from the time of his appointment did he leave his post of duty. Not only did Truman H. Newberry render personal service in the figting forces during the war, but he gladly consented to the* desire of his twin sons, Barnes and Phelps, twenty-four years old, to enlist for active service, the former as an ensign “somewhere on the Atlantic,” and the latter as a major in the. aviation corps. His son-in-law, thehwsbandofhisonlydaughter,

saw active service in France, and his wife devoted her time almost exclusive lyto RedCrosswork-in the cjty of New York, abandoning used entirely for the work of the Michigan Red Cross contingent in the preparation of bandages, dressings and other necessities for the relief of wounded and sick soldiers across the sea. This brief summary of the work of Truman H. Newberry presents facts not generally known to the people of the United States. It is well that they should be known, when all the power of the administration has been exerted to secure the election to the United States senate of a man who did all that was in his power to discourage preparation for America’s part in the war, who inspired disrespect for the American flag, who rendered no personal service .in the hour of the country’s need and who had his own son exempted from the draft, while sons of other men of equal importance to industry bared their breasts to the bullets and bayonets of the hun. It is acknowledged that a large sum of money was spent by friends and relatives in behalf of the nomination of Truman H. Newberry. A large expense was necessary in order to overcome the unfair and un-American use of the power of the federal administration in an attempt to influence and control a state election. For more than one year prior to the primary election, Newberry had not been in the state of Michigan and was not there until four months after he was nominated. Under such conditions it took courage and self-sacrifice to save Michigan from the ignominy which Woodrow Wilson endeavored to heap upon it by forcing the election of such a man as Ford. . The amazing and almost incredible disclosure that the administration 'still persists in its preference for 'Ford over Newberry and will use 'the power of the administration in an effort to invalidate the Michigan ’election should arouse the active interest of every American, whether .residing in Michigan or elsewhere, iwho desires to see in the United

States senate men of unqualified Americanism, of education, of refinement, of courage, ability, practical experience and all the other qualities that make a well-rounded and full-fledged American citizen.