The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-10-20
From Congressman to Governor
BY SAVOYARD,

James z. Watson is a leader in con-
gress, a fine public speaker. an excel
lent organizer. the Republican whip,
and the personal representative of the
Republican speaker on the floor of the
house. where a good deal of dirty work
has to be done. and all must admit that
the Hon. Watson does it with fairly
clean hands. especially when the job is
as filthy as that ship subsidy steal.
Jim Watson may be said TO be from
the "Old Burnt" district, next to the
Ashland district, the most famous in
the Ohio valley. He beat the Great
Director for congress in 1894 and was
beaten by him two years later. Hol-
man was the first man who served thir-
~ years in the house, and he was a
great man, mainly because at the
country crossroad he could make the
average citizen think that William :.
Holman was just a little better frieno
to the man who works with his hahus
and struggles for a living than any
body else. Jim Watson beat him lol
congress in 1894 because that was lile
year the Democratic party retired ~ ON
politics and sent the Pops 10 40 'hen
stunt in the political arena
Mr.. Watson is a candidate TOT gov
ernor of Indiana. What he wants WIN
it l cannot imagine. only ohe
ernor of that state was a colossal fig
ure while in office and circumstance
made the oDnortunity for him. AS gov
ernor Mr. Watson would take the dry
rot and never be heard of again. The
thing of going from congress TO the
eovernor's mansion ia come TO operate
in our country like the stewardship of
the Chiltern Hundreds in England, an
honorable road out of politics. 1t is
no longer the way to the senate.
Doubtless J. Frank Hanly knows that.
There was a time when to be gov
ernor of a sovereign state of this union
was a much bigger office than to be a
member of congress. but that was
when the federal power was a great
deal modester than it is now. Henry
Clay left the United States senate to
take a seat in the Kentucky legisIa-
ture. l believe something like that
hCppened to Caleb Cushing, though he
retired from the national house to go
to the Massachusetts legislature. De
Witt Clinton Was senator in congress
and mayor of New York at the same
time, and he regarded the office of
mayor as the more important. How
different it had become in 1867, when
Allen G. Thurman was the Democratic
candidate for governor of Ohio. He
had been in congress twenty years
earlier and had voted for the WilmOt
proviso. He was the best lawyer in
the state and the greatest debater of
his time. He was nominated for gov
ernor and very nearly elected. 1t was
that Vallandingham was
to be senator if the legislature was
Democratic. The main issue was rub
bling the word white" out of the suf-
frage clause of the Ohio constitution.
That proposition was beaten by $4,000
majority. and the word white is in that
to this day. Thurman
made such a splendid race for COVER
nor that he was given the senatorship
that Vallandingham had earned. 1t
was a calamity all around. Had Thur
man been elected governor it would
have been the last of II. B. Hayes;
Vallandingham would have been sent
to the senate whence, | have little
doubt. he would have gone TO, the
White House.
Proctor Knott might have remained
i'm congress to this day had he not
the senatOrship through the
governors mansion. Jonn w. Steven
son got to the senate by that route,
but Leslie, McCreary, Knott, Buckner
and John Young Brown all failed, as
did w. o. Bradley on the other side of
the political hedge. It is true that
Gov. Beckham is nominated for sena-
tor in a primary fearfully and wonder
fully conceived and conducted, but
Gov. Beckham is not yet senator.
Benton McMillin's is a east in point.
He came to congress in 1879 and was
made a pet by the setheaded by Will
liam 3. Morrison and that had for its
Carlisle, Mills, Hurd and
Tucker later reinforced by Turner the
Breckeuridges, Wilson and men ike
those. He got a knowledge CT the tar
if by absorption. and became r1em-
Der of the ways and means. They