The Democratic advocate., 1908-12-25
HE DEFEATED GARRETT
GILLIAN SAYS One SPEECH OF HIS
did The BUSINESS
First Serious Effort Of His Life, and
the Last

Strickland W. Gillian, who formerly
| had charge of the obituary and I'm
:! Memoriam" column of the Baltimore
American, is resident of Baltimore
county, a neighbor and warm friend
of Robert Garrett, and was very anx-
ious to have Mr.. Garrett succeed in the
/! late campaign. He was asked few
days ago the cause of Mr.. CARROTS de-
feat.
Il will tell you," replied Gillian.
II can conceal it no longer. Guilty
conscience is struggling for express
sion, and, murder-like, must out Here's
where she outs. 1 did it. With
scarcely any aid l did it. Not inten-
tionally, goodness knows. Perhaps
modesty would require of me less
sweeping claim, but modesty hasn't
the influence over me she once had.
I'm no longer on her payroll. can
treat her with contumely or any other
soft drink.
You see, I had never campaigned
before, and though l meant everything
| said, folks had their fingers crossed,
thinking, maybe, 1 was only chatting
them or trif1ing with their affections
They would listen with childlike glee
to a funny story, but when l went
to drive home the political point OF
the story l came heap nearer driv-
ing home the audience itself. l want
cd Mr. Garrett to be elected because
| am citizen of his district. and es-
TEEN him very highly-the more highly
since have had the benefit of closer
acquaintance with him. But he could
MT make sufficiently effective headway
in the campaign against the handicap
of my public approval. / liked him,
but l should have kept still about it
or else talked for Talbot. That might
have helped Garrett some.
II have in me, 1 fear, no mission
ary spirit. l am so dead willing to
have people believe the way they
over the returns, that seems to be
about the effect my preaching had on
them. l have a brother who once
to Utah to battle with the hirsute and
odoroYs Mormon and the voracious
10, but he had cornered all the mis-
sionary spirit Of the family. Each
of us cheerfully contributed to him
our share of that beautiful article.
He needed it, and we didn't. The rest
bit, find out what man likes to be-
lieve, and then do all we can to en-
courage him in that belief, just for
the JOY it gives him to feel that he's
right.
so when 1 got to Smallwood and
other happy human backwaters, where
the seething current of the worlds
progress doesn't erode mucn, and
VIZ ho odr nj fro fioy, couldn't La
bad enough to do them any harm un-
less that splendid soil they had lime
rescued from it's original chestnut and
huckleberry sterility should miracul-
cusly forget its cunning, hadn't the
heart to try to stir those people up to
revolt not only hadn the heart, but
1 hadn't the ability, neither has any
body else, and I'd hate the man who
eighborhood and make its people fret
and fume and turn pessimists.
Nowadays people make up their
voting minds at home and go to po-
litical meetings for recreation. The
newspapers are doing the educating,
we Of the platform are doing the anus
ing end of it. People will go for miles
to hear man do bull-fiddle solos on
his rusty larynx, but they'll make up
their minds in the chimney corner be-
hind newspaper.
"Yes, / fear I defeated Garrett I'm
properly ashamed of it, but in order
to save lot of confessing on the part
of the other campaign speakers and
cartoonists, I'll admit it.e Admission
free. If had known at the time that
| was hurting his cause should have
quit. | now believe one more thrilling
speech of mine would have made it
unanimous for the opposition. The
simple fact that Mr.. Garrett ran be-
hind his former vote, coupled with the
ether fact that this is the first cam
paign in which I aided is mighty
strong, and, in all probability, very
reliable evidence that 1 am the guilty
party"