Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1903-08-11

q tcTS vi l1lS VI SCA-
eral Francis Marion Cockrell Of
Missouri for the Democratic nomina-
ton for the presidency; indeed it was
in these letters that the first mention
was made of that brave soldier of the
Confederacy, that upright senator with
a quarter of a century of honorable
legislative service at his back, in con-
nection with the nomination in 1904.
1t is pleasing and encouraging to find
that 1 am not alone in the faith that
Missouri's senior and venerable senator
would make an ideal standard bearer
for the reunited Democracy.
The Chicago Chronicle contains the
following from 4. Il. Sullivan, Wash
ington staff correspondent, who is now
at Jefferson City, Mo-:
The Democratic leaders of Missouri
shortly will announce their purpose to
launch a presidential boom for Senator
Francis Cockrell. They have agreed sub
stantially upon the preliminaries which
are inseparable from SO important step
and are only waiting for the fultlllment
Of certain minor plans before taking the
American people into their confidence.
It is their purpose to have the veteran
legislator accepted not alone as Missouri's
son, but as the candidate of the entire
southwest and west, with whose growth
and development he has been intimately
identified during his forty years of public
service. They have received assurances
from 30 many states that Missouri's
choice In eminently satisfactory to Demo-
Gratis Of every shade of conviction that
they are hopeful the boom will take on
national proportions before the close Of
the present year.
In selecting Senator Cockrell as their
candidate for president the Democratic
leaders of Missouri believe that they are
offering to the party the most advan-
tageous solution of a perplexing problem
that has yet been suggested. They assert
that no other Democrat whose name has
thus far been associated with the nonlina-
ton combines so many qualifications that
are likely to prove attractive not alone
to the delegates of the next national con-
vention. but to the rank and file of the
Democratic voters, as Senator Cockrell.
The Democratic leaders of Missouri rec.
| ognize that there is no precedent for of.
| fering to the nation as a candidate fol
| president man who wore the Confeder.
| ate gray, but under all circumstances
| they feel that the people will not regard
| that feature Of General Cockrelrs his
tory as an insurmountable barrier to hi:
| ambition. Nevertheless. 1t Is more or les:
of an experiment, and its success will de
pend upon how the northern delegates t.
the next national convention regard It.
The old prejudice against taking steI
that might revive the bloody shirt ma!
prevail, but Senator Cockrell's friends il
Missouri do not believe 1t will. They fee
appeal so strongly to the Union survivors
| OF the civil war that his record as majol
| general of the Confederate army will moi
be used against him.
| Misseurj's Primary.
| Nothing could better illustrate the
truth Of the statement that Missouri's
influence is now paramount in thu
councils of the Democratic party thar
i the fact that of all the men mentionet
in connection with the presidential
nomination those two which seem t.
meet with the most general support mr.
| Senator Cockrell Of Missouri and VIII
liam Il. Hearst, the son of famous
Missourian.
The Death of General Clay.
The death of Cassius NJ. Clay of Ken
lucky, the stern master of Whitehall, i
remindful of many stirring passages o
Kentucky's history, SO much of whicl
w
was part.
After lifes fitful fever he sleeps we'll.
When he first saw the light of da
in the beautiful Kentucky country til
second war with Great Britain had nc
begun. He was boy in knickerbocl
ers when Andrew Jackson blasted th
English army below New Orleans. TIL
} Kentuckians who marched away t
fight the invaders.-some Of them, mos
I likely-knew the little boy who wa
destined to be prominent figure
, state and national life for scores {
years. What a book be might hav
written! he could have told tho,
sand tales of politics, Of feuds, of wa
Of diplomacy, of duels-he could hay
written n history as marvellous as Vo
taires "Life Of Charles XII, the Lilo
of the North" as much story Of til
life of strong, yirile people as is Viz
tor Hugo's LES Miserables," as weirt
~ strange as DR.. Johnson's "Rasselas.
His personal experiences alone woul
have been sufficient, placed in boo
form, to serve as an everlasting mont
ment to his fame.
, Speaking Of him, the Kansas Cit
i Star says:
vanced age Of ninety-three, was, in h
prime. figure of notable consequence
q The last years Of his life were given ov
to eccentricities that denoted lack
!. mental responsibility. due. perhaps.
sentlity and a naturally erratic natur
D,,& fy~r, (p-. -
himself in Kentucky history, and his pa
] in national politics. including two separa
i, assignments as minister to Russia. ga,
him general prominence. Clay was
conspicuous type OF those few hard
i southerners who stood out against the a
most unanimous sentiment Of the sout
on the slavery question. His pugnacit
and the abundant causes that prompts
It to action made him veritable or,
sader in the cause of abolition. His da
r ing In attempting to publish an antisla'
cry paper In Kentucky and in going on Il
stump for his cause betokened both cou
? age and recklessness The strange thir
z about the history of Cassius M. Clay
that one who took SO many chanc
- should have lived far beyond the averal
9 allotment of life.
Rip Van Winklish.
Connecticut appears to be some k
to Rip Van Wrinkle. Rip slept TWEEN
years. 1t has taken Connecticut ce
/ fury or so to awaken to the fact til
s. the title of the Nutmeg State is mi
e homer. The Boston Herald says:
: The Hartford Courant takes 1t ha
that Connecticut should still be called t
Nutmeg State and hardest of all that h
,. own people should participate in keepi
up this characterization. 1t grew, as tt
impatient and indignant journal says, o