Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-04-23
|1H[ FOURTH District
Duncan Rules Candidacy Has
Placed Different Aspect on
the Situation.
Outcome Of the Contest in cerro
Gordo County Awaited With
Interest.
Blythe's Friends Are Many and
Will Be Loyal to
the End.

West Union, April pa staff cor
respondent of the Dubuque Times,
writing from this point to his paper,
sizes up the Fourth district political
situation as follows:
The political situation in the Fourth
congressional district, which, oe1ore
the announcement of Duncan Rule, OF
Mason City, promised to be contest
between but two candidates, has taken
a radically different hue, especially in
the county of Cerro Gordo. Every
! where we travel in the east end OF
the district we notice that all are Will
ling to await the outcome of the contest
in Cerro Gordo between James Il.
Blythe and Duncan Rule. The an
nouncement of the Rule candidacy
came as a great surprise to nearly
everyone in the district and the Pc
culiar feature of the matter is that the
Haugen supporters the district over
/ threw UP their hats when it was found
that Mr.. Blythe had opposition In MS
own county. Just why the Haugen
supporters can reach such conclusion
is hard to state reasonably, for II Rule
should prove the stronger in Cerr
Gordo county it wuold be equally reas-
enable to expect him to be stronger
than Blythe away from home and
j therefore more dangerous antagonist.
From what we observe in and over
the district the opinion is reached that
| the Haugen forces would. if they could
Enot nominate their own candidate,
throw their forces to Mr.. Rule as 9
second choice, using precisely the same
tactics, altho pre-convention. that Up
degraff used in the New Hampton con-
vention when Haugen was nominated
| Those who think the Blythe follow
! ers outside of his home county are
ldisconcerted and about to take to flight
are badly mistaken, for we never met q
class of fellows who were more loyal
/ to a candidate than these same men.
| They stood as a solid phalanx 49, in
number thru 365 ballots in 1898 and
they are up and doing again with in
creased valor to uphold the colors of
their standard bearer in the coming
contest. They also see in him mar
of vast capabilities, who is equally as
powerful abroad as at home. The OPP
position press is not willing to concede
any OF the away from home abilities
OF Blythe, but we have always OBJ
served that when Mason City wanted
anything she always asked Jim Blythe
to head the movement. A notable case
of this kind is the fight that Mason
| City put up at Syracuse to secure the
| location of the National Memorial
University some two years ago. Iowa
went to that convention represented by
about forty men from several Of the
western states. Blythe was chosen as
leader of the owa delegation and the
fight which he then organized gave to
Mason City an institution which is fast
assuming large proportions. We do
not think that Blythe claims all the
glory or that the university idea was
original with him, but the paramount
idea is that when movement is fairly
place, that Mr.. Blythe is always asked
to take charge Of the craft.
Since the announcement of Duncan
Rule the Blythe supporters seem to be
all the more loyal and are determined
the more to do to the end. A peculiar
feature of the situation outside of Ger
no Gordo is that many of the men who
formerly supported Updegraff in other
campaigns are now active Blythe men
For illustration we will mention S. B.
zeigler, r. o. Woodward and James
Leisher, of West Union, and g. S. Fon-
da. of Usage.
The eyes Of all district politicians are
now of course turned to the situation
in Cerro Gordo. The Haugen support
ers at once reported, when Rule an
nounced, that Blythe would withdraw,
admitting thereby that the wish was
father to the thought If Blythe isn't
a strong candidate why do they wish to
eliminate him and go against strong
er man? On the contrary we have been
asked many times the past two weeks
and especially while In the east end of
the district: who is Duncan Rule? We
at once replied with equal candor that
he was prominent attorney of Mason
City. The questioners would then as
sert that they had never heard of him
before and did not know that he was a
man of congressional caliber.
Duncan Rule, no doubt is a strong
man at home and in a way is personally
popular, for he has never taken a radl-
cal stand on any important question
wherein public sentiment might easily
divide in half, he becoming the cham
pion of one part and gaining the Ill will
of the other half by his opposition. Now
then does it look reasonable that he can
carry the primaries of his home county
against Blythe who has built UP a cot
erie of friends about him, not for his
negativeness on public matters but for
his open avowal, of the cause which he
thought was just? The support of such
men count more In a contest Of this
kind than a whole township of fellows
who in passing, slap you on the back
and call you a good fellow
The method Rule used in announcing
already re-acting on him. His friends
deprecate his action and are sorry that
he allowed himself to be influenced by
w. F.. Brice, capitalist of Mason City,
the owner of the Mason City & Clear
Lake railway and lighting plant and
whose client he is. They see that he is
without newspaper support in his own
town; that the only support of such
nature comes from the Times Herald,
q democratic paper, and that the or
CARNATIONS of the county and city are
In the hands of men friendly to Blythe.
That the Times Herald has taken sides
against Blythe is nothing new. They
opposed him years ago for the legisla-
ture and succeeded in downing part