Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 76, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 December 1911 — RALSTON FOR GOVERNOR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

RALSTON FOR GOVERNOR

Samuel M. Ralston, of Lebanon, Indiana, was born in Ohio, December 1, 1857. He came to Indiana with his parents in 1865, and was reared on a farm in Owen county. As a boy lie did all sorts of manual labor. With the assistance of a fellow workman he sunk with his own hands the first coal shaft put down at Fontanet. Afterwards he taught school and read law, taking up the practice of his profession in 1886.

He is public spirited and generous. He is a man of strong convictions and (Steadfast to his devotion to the higher ideals of life. < He has never held office, except he was Presidential Elector in 1892-3 and a member of the school board of Lebanon from August 1, 1908, to July 31, 1911. He holds that a citizen’s ability to render public service does not depend upon his having an office. In a reecnt address he said: “He is truly great who, .without the aid of office, serves his countrymen to a great purpose. In truth, he who is not big enough thus to serve the people without office cannot be made big enough thus to serve them with office.”

Excerpts About Mr. Ralston.

Judge John C. Robinson, of Spencer, says: “It is a significant fact that Mr. Ralston has never held an official position which might in any way contribute to enlarge his fame or add to his influence. Whatever distinction he has, has been won by his own personal/worth and efforts. He has simply .been a large man, zealously and -unselfishly working in a large and wise way for a cause in which he was pro l soundly interested. * ♦ * He is too big a man to be any man’s man. As.well talk about Hendricks, McDonald, Voorhees or Turpie being the tool of the scheming politicians or selfseeking cliques of their day, as to think of Mr. Ralston in that connection.” Judge Thomas J. Terhune, of Lebanon, says: “If elected, he would be the governor for the whole people and could be approached by any man with an honest purpose.” Judge B. S. Higgins, of Lebanon: “While his Impulses are warm and the dictates of his heart are generous, still he has that equipoise of- temperment that forSids his yielding either to the wild ravings of the vicious or the unjust demands of the mighty.” Judge Joseph A. Combs /of the Clinton Circuit Court, at-Frankfort : “His past record has always been good.. His life is an open book and will speak for itself. No man stands higher in this state than he. He is one of our progressive citizens. I believe he has the rights and Interests of the people at heart. He is. a

man of ♦ ♦ *. great ability,” Judge Albert D. Thomas, of Craw* fordsvllle: "I know of no one, better qualified than he for that important office. He is a man of great .ability and industry, a lawyer and advocate of distinction, thoroughly devoted to the higher things of life, altogether dependable and thoroughly likeable. With him in the executive office, nothing would go wrong that he could rralre go right.” ■ Judge Charles J. Orbinson, of Indianapolis: “The citizens of the state would honor themselves in elevating Mr. Ralston to the highest executive office In the state.” Supt. H. G. Brown, of the Lebanon schools: "I know of no man whose personal character I hold in higher esteem. His very nature abhors duplicity and double-dealing in any form.” , <

Rev. Orton H. Carmichael, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, Lebanon: “In the church where he is an honored and active member, hi* courteous and sympathetic treatment of all classes of people have served a* a model, and as the teacher of th* Men’s Bible Class tyls sometimes unconventional, but ever practical and virily ethical exposition, has been an Inspiration.” Father J. F. Connelly, pastor of St. Joseph’s Catholic church, Lebanon: "It is to be hoped that Mr. Ralston will be seen by the people of Indiana as he is seen at home—a learned gentleman, a good neighbor, and a worthy and public-spirited citizen." Ben F. McKee, editor of the Lebanon Pioneer: “If devotion to the cause of tariff reform—life-long devotion—is the test, Ralston Is a Democrat. If an instinctive belief in an economical administration of public affairs is the test, Ralston is a Democrat. If an ardent devotion to the idea of the complete separation of the three co-ordinate branches of government is a test, he is a Democrat. In brief, if there is a fundamental, old-fashioned, Jeffersonian principle; which he has not served with voice and council, with vital energy and ability, it wouldi be interesting to know just what it is. Never for a single instant has he faltered in the faith.”

Congressman Martin A. Morrison, of the Ninth District: “With Honorable Benjamin F. Shively and Honorable John W. Kern in the United State* Senate, there is no other man in the state who stands on an equality with? Mr. Ralston in the matter of unrewarded party service, No man has made greater sacrifices or rendered more efficient service. The same logic which led to the election of Shlveley and Kern to the United States Senate points unmistakably to Mr. Ralston as the nominee for governor.” -

HON. SAMUEL M. RALSTON.