Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-07-05
urrent matters, make this statement:

current matters, make this statement:
when Woodrow Wilson was made
the Democratic candidate for the gov
ernorship Of New Jersey, in 1910, there
were many citizens who did not cor
daily indorse the nomination. Out
side New Jersey itself. the fact that
this distinguished educator had been
persuaded to enter public life was
generally acclaimed as the beginning
of better things in a sadly corrupted
commonwealth: within the state, how
ever, the prevailing atmosphere was
one of distrust
1T was not that Mr.. Wilson was a
lifelong 'schoolmaster,' practically in
experienced in politics and presumably
disqualified for handling the exceed
ingly practical problems that would in
evitably come up for solution. 1t was
not that he was not widely known, at
least politically, and that his definite
remedies for the existing evils were
not generally understood. The un-
pleasant fact was that the men chiefly
responsible for Mr.. Wilson's nomin-
alton were leaders of the Democratic
machine in New Jersey. And 1t was
no sc cret that these politicians had
forced Mr.. Wilson upon a convention
chosen some other mafff With .ex-
Senator James Smith, Jr., Of Newark,
and "Rob" Davis, Of Jersey City, yali-
antly fighting for the president of
Princeton university, the average citi-
zen could hardly, understand how Mr..
Wilson's election necessarily implied
the destruction Of boss rule.
"All this, in view Of the happenings
of the last nine months, seems rather
grotesque, and, in fact, this attitude
was equally ridiculous a year ago. For
Woodrow Wilson's whole career furn:
ished a sufficient rejoinder to these
suspicious Probably no American
citizen ever went into public life with
q more intelligent comprehension Of
existing evils or higher ambitions to
eradicate them. From his earliest
days Mr.. Wilson has been a Democrat,
with both a large and small ID; and q
slight glimpse into his ancestry shows
that he comes legitimately by his mill
tant spirit. On both his fathers and
his mothers side. Mr.. Wilson is Of
Covenanting blood. His father, the
Rev. Joseph r. Wilson, Presbyterian
clergyman, was the son of Scotch par
ents who came to America from the
North of Ireland; his mother, Jessie
Woodrow. was the daughter of an
Carlisle, England, and the descendants
Of long line Of scholars. Both Mr.
Wilson's father and mother, in ad-
dition to making him virtually a pure
blooded Scotsman, contributed certain
definite traits to his character. His
father was bold, aggressive, fiery, q
good hater, and a stalwart upholder
Of the cause in which he believed
Though born in Steubenville, Ohio, he
spent the greater part of his mature
life in the southern states, and ac-
quired great distinction during the
war, as an unbending advocate of the
Southern cause. He was fond Of pub
lie life, was pulpit orator Of distin-
guished eloquence. and prominently
led his church in the discussion Of
on the other hand, was quiet, gentle,
reserved. and scholarly, the constant
companion Of her son, and especially
made happy by his early manifested
fondness for the things Of the mind
All his life, Governor Wilson has felt
these two tendencies pulling him in
opposite directions. His ambitions
have constantly alternated between a
desire for active public life and lik-
ing for the quiet consultations Of schol-
arship.
I'm his earliest experiences, evident
ly the paternal strain in his heredity
got the upper hand, for. after his four
years at Princeton, from which Mr..
Wilson was graduated in 1879, he
took law course, went to Atlanta,
Ga, and opened an office. In those
days the law, in the south, was the es-
and craftsmanship were in dissolubly
nd ffo oh inf af
traction then for Mr.. Wilson. Two
years experience. however, disillus-
ioned him. The practice of law.
he discovered, was incompatible
with that spirit of independence
which he regarded as indispen-
sable to efficient service. Instead OF
actively appearing in the court room,
Mr.. Wilson spent the larger part Of
these two years writing the first draft
of his book on Congressional Govern
ment.' Soon he found himself, as a
graduate student, at Johns Hopkins
specializing in politics and govern
ment; and. in the next twenty years.
he ascended in his academic career
until. in 1902, he became the president
of Princeton university. Here he dis
played the same aggressive qualities
that have marked his administration
as SONeTUOT, anu TIE ODJtCtS lOu6ht
for in both cases were the same-the
democratiZation of life."
."And so, as a result of the assertion
of real leadership by a governor Of
great intelligence and force, there
must be recorded a real miracle In
politics; New Jersey is a Progressive
state. It's legislation is as far 'ad-
vanced' as that Of Oregon, California,
and other western commonwealths.
But 1t is Progressive not only in meas
ures, but in methods. Governor Will
sons real service is that he has dissi-
pated a great American governmental
superstition: the idea that political
parties should work under a divided
leadership: that a governor, elected by
public opinion on certain definite is
sues. should divorce himself from pub
lie opinion and those issues imme-
diately on assuming office. He has
shown the necessity of uniting. under
centralized party control, both the exc
cutive and legislative branches, and
has proved that. once such a central
ization Is established, the power Of the
boss system disappears. That is Mr..
Wilson's great contribution to the SOL
ution Of our political problems"