Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1912-05-28

posed for denomination by Mr.. Paul
e. Stillman, who represents Greene
county in the state legislature. Mr.
: Stillman's abilities are of such or
der as to have won him the speak
ership.
When another was in and Mr.
Woods was out the evils of long
tenure in Office were among his cam
paign assets. Four terms in con-
gress were too many for any man
thought Mr.. Woods; he would be
we'll content with only two.
Now, very humanity, Mr.. Woods
believes he should be given another
term in congress; suave, smiling
and debonair, Mr.. Woods is saying
little either from study or rostrum,
but his friends, and especially some
of his newspaper friends, are saying
a great deal. They are disposed to
regard Mr.. Stillman as poacher
and trespasser upon the Woods pre-
serves. In gentlemanly and parli-
amentary language, as BELTS a
friendly contest, they are now sham
ing Mr.. Stillman and his friends be-
cause of their designs upon Mr..
Woods seat.
A very general impression is
abroad that Mr.. Woods is polit
ician to his finger-tips. His friends
glow with pride when his prowess
as hunter of voting men is under
discussion. they cannot follow with
the sye the legerdemain by which
the political trick is turned, but the
result they view with unbounded
enthusiasm. Hence, the connoisseurs
of Tenth district politics pay Mr..
Woods the tribute of being smooth,
very, very smooth.
But this impression is wrong. The
Woods newspaper organs are now
broadcasting the information that
Mr.. Woods knows very little about
shrewd political lodges and profess
sional politicians and that he cares
less. His newspaper friends are say
ing that he has cast his lot with the
rank and file republicans, while the
commissioned officers of Tenth dis
trict politics are to be handed bob
tailed discharges and given dishon-
orable dismissal. With the rarest
naivette and with perfectly straight
faces the politicians are being de-
nounced at Woods headquarters
with words of scorning. The patter
of the wire-puller, we infer, is a
jargon as meaningless to Mr. Woods
as thieves English. The delicate
flavor of the humor of the situation
will not be lost upon Mr.. Woods
devoted band of workers from field
marshal down to water-boy.
The Woods organs are pealing
forth grieved, not to say anguished1
queries Why should Mr.. Woods be
turned out? Why should he be
treated precisely as he treated his
predecessor in office? Mr.. Woods
desire to invade congress four years
ago led him to oppose man who
earnestly wished to continue in his
Office Mr.. Woods ambition was
laudable and his right to displace
another, if he could, was beyond
question. He won by being a
younger, gamier, and more adroit
man than his opponent. If his rival
enjoyed any advantage in mental
equipment and statecraft it was
more than offset by his lack of ath-
letic training. In the leg-wearying
game of tracking down the voters
one by one Mr.. Woods left the other
far behind. Mr.. Connor's agile
young opponent gave him an eXhi-
bition Of nimbleness such as he new
er before had seen capitalized in
politics. Mr.. Conner had none of
the aplomb of recruiting sergeant
and he suffered because of it. The
| Woods bag of tricks, as a politicians
layout, could not be beaten Mr.
Woods was unawed either by gray
hairs or achievements. He should
not now don the white uniform of a
non combatant and attempt to
jockey for sympathy and advantage
upon his record.
Viewing Mr.. Woods record care
fully we cannot see wherein he hasl
special claims of any kind upon the
voters of this congressional district.
Mr. Stillman, the other man in
the case. does not appear to be eth
er windy Or winded. He is not
breathing hard nor is he showing
any signs of distress. While leg
islator of some experience, he has
not yet blaZoned his claim of out
shining Holmes, Dolliver and Con-
nor. The claims of his friends are
made with moderation and are full