Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-23
A FRUITLESS TASK.
Trying to Find Out Something to Mr..
Shaw's Discredit

Thursday night a party of newspaper
correspondents, following a dull hot and
profitess day, fell to discussing extraordi-
nary assignments. Some pipes were
lighted and things were getting blue when
the representative of a western paper got
the floor and observed: "Tn give you gen.
tlemen true story, and incidentally mar
rate the facts in connection with one of
the most difficult and barren assignments
ever handed out to me by a managing edi-
tor"
1T was in 1897, Immediately following the
nomination of Leslie NJ. Shaw as candidate
for governor of Iowa by the republicans"
continued the newspaper man. AT that
time L was doing politics and was sent to
Denison. the home of the present Secretary
OF the Treasury, to investigate the record
of the new candidate.
Il arrived on an early train. a few hours,
IN fact. before Mr.. Shaw reached Den,son.
l soon discovered that something WIS do
ing. The people of the town were getting
ready to give their townsman a reception
and they were getting ready to do IL right.
So far as l could see everybody was inter
eSted in the affair.
when the train arrived about IL o'clock
In the forenoon all the people in town and
surrounding country and even farmers
from fifteen miles into the country, were
lined up along the main street forming a
human lane from the station to Mr.. Shaw's
train he was met by a committee composed
of democrat, a free silver republican and
a republican, escorted to carnage and
driven to his house. while the crowds
along the streets howled themselves Ioarse
hurrahing for Shaw.
"Of course, the crowd followed along
| and by the time the house reached it
seemed that there were 1000 people sur
rounding the residence. The city officials
and most prominent citizens of the city
were there, and they had warm time.
Mr. S1oy
| introduced to his townsmen. rhe commit
| tee on escort and other politicians all made
brief addI eSseS of welcome AID the burGen
| OF their remarks was in eff &C. that Mr..
Shaw had been nominated for the hghes.
office in the state; the city and county had
been greatly honored; Shaw was "A good
man; politics to the dogs; make it unani-
nous.
From surface indications it did not ap-
pear that l was to come in contacc with a
great deal of the sort of information 1t
was desired to secure: However, 1 went
to work and scraped the town and county
with a fne-tooth comb. My paper was a
political sheet representing the party op-
posing the candidacy of Mr.. Shaw. Very
naturally 1t was desirable to discover the
weak points in the political arrnor of the
republican nominee and mako tine most of
them. My business was to dig up the weak
spots and give publicity to them
After spending a number of days in
benson and In other towns in the county,
In conference with leading democrats, 1
| shook the dust of Denison from my feet
and notified my paper that the only grounds
upon which Mr.. Shaw could be attacked
were the broad grounds of party affilia-
ton: that he was republican and stood
Tor republican principles. and. therefore.
democrats should not support him
1t had been assumed at the outset that
the task of digging up campaign material
with which to make it warm for Shaw
would be a comparatively easy matter
MI Shaw was a banker, lawyer and a
real estate man. He had lived in Crawford
county for many years, loaned money to
farmers and in various ways taken a hand
in public affairs. That he had made enc
mics and participated in transactions
to be of value for political purposes was
quite certain. We expected to make Shaw
look like Shylock of old.
What 1 actually did find was this: That
l.. M. Shaw had loaned hundreds of thou
sands of dollars to farmers and Others
covering period of twenty years. and that
in all that time he had never force losel n
mortgage He had never pressed any
creditor to the point that it embarrassed
him. On the contrary, 1 found numerous
instances where Shaw had stepped in and
voluntarily assisted people wlo had prac-
tically no security to give, taking his
chances. He had never exacted high rates
of interest. He had given literally toward
all enterprises; never failed to contribute
toward the erection of a church in his
county. no matter what the denomination
| or where located. In his practice of the law
his record was such any man might
envy.
II have had some experience in political
campaigns, but 1 confess L left Dension
chagrined that professionally the assign
ment had PANIED out a failure of the first
there were some bankers, lawyers and real
estate men of the type of Leslie M. Shaw.
Since that day have been great admirer
of Mr.. Shaw"