South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-09-20
WATSON IS BACKED BY
STATE G. 0. P. LEADERS
Move to Capture SenatorShip
Merely Reversal of Old
Time ManeWer.

the announcement of James l.. Wat
son at Rushville that he will be can
didate for the republican nomination
for United States senator to succeed
Sen. Kern, is an interesting story OF
the Vaccinations of the Fairbanks
Hemenway-Go Watson Healing
political machine in Indiana.
Watson started out as a presiden-
tial candidate. In Washington sew
eral months ago he stated that he
would be a candidate for president
and his friends became very active
for him. He had a substantial or
ganization in Arizona. Oklahoma and
Missouri. Outside of Indiana at one
time it appeared that he would get
more delegates than Fairbanks could
hope TO command if the latter got
the endorsement of Indiana republic
cans.
Fairbanks was on the Pacific coast
at the time the Watson boom got I'M
der way. After seeing interviews in
the press with Former Speaker Joe"
Cannon, eX-Rep. Mcguire of Okla
homa and other friends of Watson
predicting that he would get the dele
gates in their respective localities.
Fairbanks showed some alarm and
sent for Watson to meet him in Los
Angeles The conference resulted and
later was continued in indianapolis
after the return of Fairbanks. As
the result Watson agreed with Fair
banks not to be a candidate for pres
ident and in that way embarraSs Fair
banks and in return Fairbanks agreed
TO quietly give his support to Wat
son for senator. The deal involved
the agreement that the indianapolis
News, the Fairbanks organ in Indian
apolis, should cease to fight Watson.
Who Owns the News?
The News which processes to be in
dependent never fails to support Fair
banks or to play his political game.
1t is nominally owned by Fairbanks
first cousin, Delevan Smith. But there
is some doubt as to the ownership.
Close relatives and professional asso-
ciates of Fairbanks insist that he has
always had a silent but effective pro-
prietary interest in the paper since
1t was taken over from John III. HOlli-
day in the early nineties. 1t was
said that the acquisition of the News
was a move by Fairbanks to advance
his interests I'm his race for a seat
in the senate. He was not favored
by the Indianapolis Journal, then the
republican organ in Indiana, owned at
But whatever the real ownership of
the News, it has never failed TO sup
port Fairbanks or the men he cham
pionS and it is expected that with the
opposition of the News silenced by
Fairbanks, Watson will be able to
get the nomination through the aid
of the old Fairbanks machine which
seems to be coming back this year
with a suddenness and momentum
that is the wonder and admiration OF
practical politicians
AS the facts are underStoOd-Whi
pered in fact-among Indiana repub-
licans in Washington, Fairbanks is to
be put forward once more as the
quadrenial and perpetual candidate of
Indiana republicans for the republic
can nomination for president. Good
rich. another wheel in the old Fair
banks organization, is to have the gov
ernOrship Watson the senatorship and
Hemenway is to be chairman of the
republican national committee If
Fairbanks is nominated and will hold
the dough bag" Just what will hap
pen to Healing is not known. There
was a story aflOat some time ago that
the "Big Chief has been jestoned at
the demand of Delavan Smith of the
News with whom he had an alleged
quarrel But this seems to have been
a mistake. Or perhaps it was one of
those clever "frame-ups" of the Fair
banks machine to kid the progress
sives who have always objected to
the big Chief" When Healing was
in Washington recently he did a lot
OF quiet work for Fairbanks and pass
ed out the tip that Fairbanks had per-
fected a gigantic political machine
with a big campaign fund behind il
and that il would get under way about
December 1. The big Chief told
the newspapermen and others that
there would be something doing early
in the new year for Fairbanks.
So IL is assumed that the quarrel
with Healing was a little mimic affair.
political move" for the benefit OF
the "boobs" who believe that the re-
publican party in Indiana is really TO
be reorganized and that the old dis
cordant features are to be eliminated
and the progressiVes get look in
in the future. They have been told
there will be no more "Pittsburg con-
ferences' such as the one which
framed up the nomination of Hanly
for governor in 1904 and Hemenway
for senator But the men who par
ticipated in the "Pittsburg confer
ence''-Watson Fairbanks Goodrich,
Hemenway and Kealing-are all in
the front of the political leadership
this year and are going to get plums.
just WueTe the DIOSTtSSlNtS anu Anc
new DEAF republicans get off II is
hard 10 see. There have been no
"Pittsburg conferences" yet, but there
was The Los Angeles conference at
which Fairbanks and Watson set
tied the presidency and the senator
ship.
4 progressive republican from In
diana who was I'm Washington recent
ly commenting upon the way things
are going in the old HOOSier state,
said: al feel sorry for the poor old
progressive boobs who go around
those lovefeasts in Indiana and think
they are getting somewhere. Their
friends ought 10 take charge Of them.
see they are 10 be served with
burgo at the Indianapolis love feast.
They think they are getting, in burgo.
something Ircw and palatable. What
they are really going 10 get is the
same old stuff that has been ladled
out 10 them for years-nOt burgo, but
something that sounds like il but
tastes differently-tO wit: "buncko.'
MAN HANGS HIMSELF