Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-06-21
Folk and the American
Women.

w Ol11NlIs
Governor Folk as has been remarked by both
his friends end his enemies, is a born politician.
He knows what will catch the popular fancy, He
understands how to deal in the open and yet
achieve the same results that other candidates for
Office get by machine tactics, bribery and padded
registration lists. He knows, first of all, that
the American woman counts for great deal in
American political life.
The influence of mothers sisters and sweet
hearts is worth striving for. and almost without
exception it is on the side of the reform Governor
Of Missouri Feminine approval is not thing
that Mr. Folk set out deliberately to capture 1t
came to him incidentally, because he is the type
of to appeal to the imagination of woman
He is naturally chivalrous; but even his most
devoted friends thought they detected just trace
of shrewd design in his motive when he made
his memorable speech in Salt Lake City.
AS rule the Mormon women are the homeiest
most forlorn and unattractive women earth
The lady whom Mr.. Folk was requested to take
out to dinner was by far the ugliest of those
present at the banquet that was rendered him by
the City Fathers. She was the wife OF promi
nent man, the daughter of another prominent man.
Her approval might be of value.
When the Governor arose to respond to the
Mayors address of welcome, his opening remarks
something like this:
''The fame of your splendid, heroic women has
spread from ocean to ocean. We have been told
of their devotion to principle their sef-sacrifice
their religious zeal; but no one has ever deemed
it necessary to tell of their beauty their grace
and culture, their charm of manner and person
atty" At this juncture he turned and paid the
broadest and most extravagant compliment to the
lady beside him. It manifestly the first com
pliment she had ever received
When the Governor was safe in his room at
the hotel with a few of his intimate friends. one
of them twitted him about his remarks anent
the beauty of Mormon women in general and his
scare-crow companion in particular Mr.. Folk re-
piled to this friendly railery with apparent Sc
robustness:
1.-THE lady is beautiful don't take back one
word said. You may not be able to see 1t: but
that depends entirely your standards of beauty,
and your standards may be all wrong"
Like the Irishman's attitude with regard to
whiskey" one of his friends retorted. Some
whiskey is better than other but it is all
good"
mo" the Governor insisted. There some
ugly woman in the world, plenty of them, but
they are not Mormon women" And his friends
never did find out whether he short sighted
His appeal to the women of the West in general
was made along entirely different lines. The APP
peal was made at the Portland exposition, on the
afternoon of Folk Day. The special day had been
widely advertised and the crowd on the grounds
was one of the largest of the entire exposition.
In the course of his speech, he read extracts
from dozens of letters he had received from Mis-
souri, wives and mothers with regard to the en-
forcement of the Sundayclosing law. The tenor
of all these was the same: God bless you for
putting the lid on, My husband cannot now
81 end his Surdeys in the saloon and as result