The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1914-10-02

WILLIS, THE
REACTIONARY
Frank r. Willis, Republican candi'
date for governor, was first nominat
ed for member Of congress in 1910. II
was at time when the Republican
party was in revolt against the Taft
administration, because Of the fact
that Taft, Cannon, Aldrich and the
rest Of the standpat Republican outfit
had failed to carry out their pledge
to the people given in 1908 Ralph
d. Cole was the Republican member
Of congress from the Eighth district
end was a candidate for denomination.
Cole had stood by Joe Cannon and
the standpat outfit, and Willis and his
cohorts assailed him along that line,
Willis claiming to be a progressive
| Republican. He succeeded In deceiv-
ing the Republicans that he was a
progressive to the extent that they
gave him about 400 majority over
Cole and nominated him as Republi.
can candidate in the Eighth district
At that time the Democratic candi-
date, and the Democratic party gen
orally, knew and charged that Willis
was the same kind of a standpat Re
publican that Cole was and is, but
Willis, to use a vulgar expression
got by with it" and was elected to
congress.
During the campaign Willis went to
Marysville, o., to attend the opening
Of the campaign in that county, at
which the great standpatter, Senator
Foraker, spoke. AS usual, Foraker
denounced everything progressive and
stood by the old order of things. He
was a standpatter and made no bones
of it. After Foraker spoke, Willis
was called upon and he came forward
and said that he was proud to belong
to a party that had such a leader as
Senator Foraker, that he always had
admired him and believed ia him.
Evidently, Willis forgot that Golfers
Weekly and other journals had shown
that Foraker was the representative Of
all the privileged interests while he
was in the senate, that he had been
the representative of the patent med
icine interest, and that he represent
ed the railroads and other corpora
tions who were fighting all the pro-
gressive legislation that had been CIV
en- under Roosevelt's administration,
but still he admired him and was
proud to belong to party that had
such a leader as Foraker. And the
next day there appeared in the paper
copies of the famous Archbold letters
showing that Foraker had been the |
paid attorney for the Standard Oil |
company and had received thousands |
of dollars from that company for rep
resenting them in legislation, and |
Foraker has never denied the truth |
of these letters. This came too late |
in the campaign for the voters to
know that Willis position was with
reference to Foraker, or he might not
now be sitting as a member of con-
gress from the Eighth district.
Supported Calamity Mann.
After Willis was elected, President
Taft called a special session of con-
gress. The Democrats met to select
a candidate for speaker, and they
unanimously chose Champ Clark. The
Republicans met and chose
James r. Mann of Illinois, who had
been Joe Cannons right hand man,
rs their candidate. The progressive
who would not follow the
leadership Of Victor Murdock Of Kan
3as, met to choose a candidate for
speaker. Willis met with the stand
)at crowd, to which he really belong
I'd, and which the Democrats charged
le belonged to during the campaign.
Willis was there voting and stand
ng by James r Mann, the standpat
who was simply Joe Can
IONS shadow, and represented every
hing that was odious and detestable
n standpatism. So standpat was Mr.
damn that he was one of the bakers
ozen of representatives who refused
0 vote for the joint resolution for
he election of United States senators
y the people.
All Things to All Men.
Willis was aligned with Mann in all
he fights in congress. He was one
f Mann's lieutenants and has voted
18th him and fought with him. The
ght in the Republican party came on
/ 1912, and where was Willis? He
ad claimed to be a Progressive in
91O, and yet he was upon the ticket
eaded by President Taft. Willis
so claims to be spell-binder and
his 1910 campaign he went all over
le district making speeches and, IN
le primary campaign through which
Q has just come, he boasts Of having
loken in eighty-one counties. Yet
this campaign of 1912 he did not
AXE one single speech or raise his