The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1906-02-22

polls who shall in turn select dele
gates at the conventions to represent
them in state and interstate conven-
tions, and to legislate for them in
state and legislative bodies, and in
that way the people are all heard and
in each instance the individual acts
advisedly. In order to get ten per
cent of the votes in Iowa it would be
necessary to. have. agents in every
county of the state. Railroads could
maintain such an organization private
citizens could not afford to build one.
In some states l am told the name
at the head of the list of candidates
has never failed to receive plurality
vote. This is natural. Not one per
cent of the voters know the candidates
personally, and they vote as conven-
iently as possible. If the primary
law is intended to carry the govern
ment back to the people and away
from organization, then it ought to
forbid candidates. If the people I'M
trammeled are to select their officers,
then Office seeking should be forbid
den. Give the people chance. ''The
first state convention / ever attended
nominated William Larrabee for gov
ernor. l went as chairman of our
delegation and took the boys around
from one headquarters to another.
None of our delegation had ever met
any of the candidates, and l do not
think there were three men in our
county who had ever met any of them.
We sized them up as we'll as we could
and distributed our votes as we each
thought wise. l remember having
written the Northwestern railroad
asking transportation for all the dele
CATION except myself, saying that
some of the boys could ill afford to
pay their expenses. This was de-
clined. But after the convention was
over it was announced, as usual, that
the railroads had been in control and
had made the nomination. The fact
is, the nomination was made in tt
most idealway possible and at very
little expense to Mr.. Larrabee.
"Take my own nomination as an
illustration. The reports of the way
l was nominated, by those who knew
nothing about it. are amusing to those
who know all about it. There were
ten candidates in the field when my
name was suggested in such a way
that | had to either be candidate or
refuse. chose the former. 1t was
only twelve days before the conven-
ton, and most of the delegates had
been chosen. made four trips, as
remember it. One to Fit. Dodge, one
to Boone. one to Carroll and one to
Des Moines. wanted to meet Uncle
Dick Clarkson, and / wrote to L. M.
Mann and arranged that he would
take me over and introduce me. While
going to breakfast at the Slavery
house met Judge Hubbard coming
out. introduced myself to him,
though we had met, l think, three
times before. He asked me what l
thought of my chances. l told him
that knew little about it; to which
he replied in his inimitable way we'll,
the Northwestern road never has any
delegates, but it sometimes has a lit
tie influence, and other things being
equal we would rather help the men
that live on the line of the North
western road because they are our
neighbors and friends We visited a
minute or two, and in parting he said
Now Shaw, you may not be nomi-
mated for governor this year. You
know you are new man in politics.
You made splendid record last year
in the campaign, but you are a new
man in politics, and you may not be
nominated this year. l did not see
Hubbard again until after election.
He was not at the convention, nor did
he call on me, nor 1 on him. OF
course knew from what he told me
at the Slavery house that he had a
favorite. 1t was Mat Parrott, and he
was there then trying to get Uncle
Dick Clarkson to come out for Mr..
Parrott. Mr.. Clarkson, you will re-
member, seldom committed himself
in favor of any, but conducting the
then leading republican paper of the
state he sought to give all the candi-
dates an equal show. thoughhe did not
conceal his likes and dislikes. l met
Mr.. Clarkson and Cyrenus Cole and ]
think made a favorable impression,
for very soon the Register contained
the oft-quoted sentence, Keep your
eye on Shaw.