Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1911-07-28

friendship and to secure from the
Commoner more than one compli-
mentary nomination to the presi-
dency
But indeed the Georgian kept step
it was adopted by the Democratic
party, for he is as loyal to his party
tenets as he is cautious about invent
ing new issues. It was characteris-
tic of him that when the prohibition
wave was sweeping Georgia he fore
bore to swell or stay 1t, contenting
himself with the sensible assertion
that If he were governor and a pro-
hibition bill were passed he would
sign 1t. At the time he was the
owner of a handsome hotel in At
lanta not the least attractive of the
decorations of which was bar said
to be the finest in the south. Not
withstanding the clamor of Prohlbi-
tfonists and the sings and arrows OF
outrageous journalists, Hoke kept
the bar going until the last bitter
moment. Perhaps this contributed to
his defeat for re-election-at any rate
the extreme Prohibitionists averred 1t
did.
Later history, however, deprived
the Prohibitionists of the laugh.
Smith after one term in retirement
turned about and handily beat the
governor who had beaten him, thus
showing that, unlike recent "hope
of the white race" he could come
back"
Walter Fisher Is LuckIess.
The most luckless official OF
the federal government today is
the secretary of the interior, Mr.
Walter L. Fisher of Chicago. Prob
ably he does not think so, and GER
tainly a noble army of martyrs, any
one of whom would be glad to hold
his place at what it will cost him,
look upon him as rather lucky than
otherwise.
But here are the facts: Mr.. Fisher
has been suddenly made the chief of
a department on which for nearly
two years the fierce light OF hostile
publicity has been blazing. He has
inherited quarrel in the inception of
he is the custodian Of masses Of cor
respondence and other official docu-
ments of the contents of which he
can have no possible knowledge and
yet any one of which Is likely with
out a moments notice to be flashed
upon him with a demand for instant
explanation of its contents. That
criy h,,i1 Of hn mt
partment, with its four doric porticos
without and it's narrow corridors with
in, packed with documents, probably
contains more evidence of colossal
frauds upon the government than all
the rest of the government buildings
put together. And over this mass Of
cOrruption-most Of which Is old
itself into earth-the new secretary
of the interior, a bright, alert, frank
man, with an encyclopedia knowledge
Of the seamy side of municipal af
fairs, rules and is expected to know
1t ALL
Just now Secretary Fisher is under
fire because a young newspaper wom-
an says that she saw in the files Of
his Office certain note, and the note
has since disappeared. The note was
written to his predecessor, Secretary
Ballinger, and filed by him. It disap-
peared, If at all, while the files were
in the custody of the private secre-
tary of Mr. Ballinger But for the I'M
fortunate Fisher there is in prospect
the severest sort Of grilling that a
congressional committee can inf1ict
Men who knew the secretary dur
ing his earnest and self-sacrif1cing
work for the betterment of Chicago
will not for moment think that he
was party to the disappearance of
this memorandum, postscript or what
ever you may call it. from the files.
Bryan's List of EIigibIes.
Mr.. Bryan's list of presidential
eligibles naturally has been the chief
topic of conversation among polti-
clans here since its appearance It
cannot be said that he is widely pop-
ular among members just now, but he
is generally respected and somewhat
feared. Everybody knows that he has
the largest personal following among
the people of any man in public life,
not excepting Theodore Roosevelt.
But like Roosevelt, his following
among politicians is much on the
wane.
There is more interest IN the names
omitted from the Bryan list Of pos
s1bilities than in those mentioned He
has gone SO far to find Democrats who
meet with his approval that he has
discovered some that few people out
side of a narrow locality ever heard
OF. Estimable as they may be per-
sonally, there are quarters Of the land
in which the names of Governors
Burke and Plaisted, or those of ex-
Governors Osborne, Glenn and Tyler
would hardly awaken shouts of Demo-
cratic enthusiasm until carefully iden-
tilted. Some orator once pleading for
the nomination of James G. Blaine
cried: Nominate him and there will
be no need for campaign biography"
With many of Mr. Bryan's candidates
the campaign biography would be the
first document needed by the national
committee. For example, there Is not
a clearer-headed, Drawer or more pro-
gressive jurist in the United States
than Judge Walter Clark of South
re Carolina, yet hazard the opinion that
outside of his own state there are