Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1908 — SOME HOT SHOT. [ARTICLE]

SOME HOT SHOT.

Republican Paper Will Not Support Watson. I. , .1 —«■ i ITS REASONS ARE PLAINLY STATED Richmond Item Takes Marion Chronicle To Task For Its Criticisms Of Former’s Non-Support of Republican Candidate for Governor. The Richmond .Item is an influential republican paper and is supporting the republican ticket except Watson for governor, and it has been telling some things about Jim that his friends would rather the public didn’t hear of. The Marion Chronicle, another republican paper, has been sharply criticising the Item for its plain talk about Watson, and the Item recently “came back” in a sizzling editorial from which we clip the following:

“The Item’s opposition of Watson is because we do not believe in Watson's sincerity. As between the two candidates Mr. Marshall is freer from the taint of liquor interests than Watson. Mr. Marshall was nominated without soliciting a vote from the liquor interests. That Taggart supported him, after Ralston was defeated, was not because of Marshall’s being pledged 'to the liquor forces, but because Slack, who was second in . strength to Ralston And within a few votes of winning, was bitterly opposed to those interests, and Taggart to beat Slack had to support Marshall. Marshall entered th| campaign under no obligations to the liquor interests. Jim Watson can not say that. He solicited them and their support in his fight for the nomination, and they got him the delegates which nominated him. One. knows the saloon Interests are not going to nominate any man unless he gives them iron-clad pledges. Other classes of citizens will content themselves with mere promises, but the saloon forces must* be “shown.” The best evidence that Watson “showed” them is the fact that he was nominated by their votes. Then comes the campaign line-up. We bear much about Marshall being the candidate of the Terre Haute Brewing company and Crawford Fairbanks. Crawford Fairbanks may have something to do with the Democratic campaign. That is surmise, but we will grant that it is true. But how about the Republican party putting Judge Piety, of Terre Haute, the right-hand-man of Crawford Fairbanks and the Terre Haute Brewing company on its executive committee, to manage Watson's campaign for temperance? A man who was the head of the corrupt Vigo county machine for years, hand-in-glove with the liquor forces and who as judge protected them,, now fighting Marshall because Marshall is supported by the Terre Haute Brewing company. Who believes it? And there is George Cromer, whose name in Indiana stands for dirty politics, for alliance with the bums and saloons and breweries and disreptuable joints and all kinds of political corruption, placed in charge of the “detailed” organization in behalf of Watfton, the candidate of a riioral movement against the liquor forces! Who believes there is any sincerity in such a line-up. “The Republican state organization is having Watson make rabid temperance spjeeches from the stump to keep the good citizens in line and holding quiet conferences in back rooms to pacify “the boys.” It aims to get them going and coming. The real desire of the republican state organization is to get Watson elected governor and Hemenway re-elected United States senator, and thereby perpetuate the Machine in this state. The state organization knows right now that there are enough Republican candidates for the legislature in Indiana pledged to the liquor interests to prevent the enactment of a county local option law. Before this campaign is closed the liquor interests will be wonderfully subdued and all of their alleged opposition to the Republican ticket will have vanished. 'The state Machine is not going to jeopardize Hemenway’s seat in the senate by really fighting the liquor forces in Indiana. After the state legislature meets, Hemenway will demand the right to “organize” it because his election will be at stake. He will appoint the speaker. He will name the committees, even to those on temperance. His play will be to placate all interests. The first order of business, after the legislature is organized, is to elect the United States senator. Alfter this is done, the feet is easy. The temperance bill gets hung up in oom-

mittee, it gets amended, it passes one house and goes to the other, where it gets amended .some more. It comes back again to be hung up. The Republican candidates who right now are pledged to block county local option, will either kill or emasculate the bill. Watson will regret. Hemenway will regret. Piety and Cromer will smile. The liquor interests will laugh. The temperance folk will deplore. But the Machine will have Watson in the governor’s chair and Hemenway back in the Senate, and Beveridge’s names on the list for slaughter in the next legislature. Watson, tire Man of Many Promises and More Excuses, will put the blame on the shoulders of the recreant brewery-controlled Republicans who “unfortunately were already nominated before the campaign opened and who could not be Induced to withdraw or agree to county local option.” But mark this! The Republican state organization will make every effort to elect these brewery-idedged Republican candidates to the legislature. Why? Because Hemenway needs their votes. Several of them are from his own district and belong to his personal machine. ‘.‘And yet the Marion Chronicle talks to The Item about the question of principle of good government in this campaign. Never you worry about The Item, brother. Its skirts will be kept clean this campaign, its course will be consistent, and its fight will be honest with the people and will be .for principles set out in the platform. If certain candidates on the Repub-

lican ticket do not measure up to these principles, that is their affair, not The Item’s. We do not propose to support any man just because he is on the ticket. We are going on the theory that if a candidate is not going honesty to carry out the principles of his party, he ought to be defeated, for the party’s sake, and the people’s sake. If our candidate for congress does not convince the people of his unqualified approval of the continuation and strengbtening of Roosevelt’s policies, we are against him, as a matter of conviction,. If candidates for governor and legislature are not sincerely for county local option, we, are against them. And it is all because we are placing principle first, that the Marion Chronicle man talks a lot about something he does not understand, does not know when he sees it, and does not practice.”