Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-06-24
PAYNE VS.. HARDING DEBATE.
rNo,-ola REPRESENTATIVE

The Representative has a letter from
Lieutenant Governor Harding that
rather surprises US: but the letter is
manifestly genuine and 1t is called out
by something already said in the paper,
so we pass 1t on for the benefit of such
of our readers as may be interested.
The letter is as follows:
Sioux City, Iowa, June is. 1915.
Payne & Son, Nevada Representative.
Nevada. Iowa.
Gentlemen have read with a great
deal of interest Your editorial an
nouncing the candidacy of Senator Al
len In this article you merton my
name in connection with the governor
ship campaign. In it you also say:
IN other words we do not like at this
time a division of the republican party
into sleep and goats. even tho we may
look upon Mr.. Harding as a goat
l am somewhat disappointed because
of your apparent lack of knowledge
of sheep and goats as displayed in
this article. I spent several years OF
my life on the farm and became very
we'll acquainted with the habits of
these animals A sheep is a very gentle
animal and inclined to stay in its
own pasture. A goat is just the OPP
posite. 1t jumps over fences and
browses around on nearly every con-
ceivabie article. 1t sometimes eats tin
cans.
Applying the habits of the two ami
mails to the party record of the gentle
men spoken of in your article. you
have picked the wrong fellow for the
goat. I have always been republi-
can and supported republican candi-
dates and republican principles, as an
nounced In republican platforms from
time to time. Brother Cosson has dis
played goat tendencies by jumping out
I Of the republican party over into the
bull moose pasture, by ignoring the re-
publican platform and setting himself
up as q platform.
Permit me to say to you, that II l
become a candidate for the republican
! nomination for governor l will be a
republican when the race is over. II !
am chosen as a candidate Of my party,
| / will be perfectly willing to have the
platform prepared as by law provided
and will stand upon the platform.
l have never violated, in spirit or
action. a party platform pledge. l have
never violated my oath OF office and
| if I should be nominated and elected
governor of Iowa I will not violate my
oa,n CT office. My people running
back for good many years were sturdy
| stock. None of them ever acquired
great national reputation. They have
! been lava biding citizens. When their
country called for help, they responded,
that is they volunteered: they were not
| dra fted. The same kind OF blood
courses in my veins. / am not an agi-
I'd mr..
Since reading your article in which
you display your ignorance on agri-
cultural subjects, am not surprised
that you got such poor vote when
| you ran for congress from your agri-
cultural constituents.
Yours truly,
w. L. Harding.
Mr.. Harding's endeavor to turn a
reference to sheep and goats" from
the domain Of public morals to that of
animal i1usbandTy Is cute. and he is
entitled to all the benefit he can get
out of it. What is sober and definite
in his letter is to the effect that others
may have the republican platform any
| way they want it, II only he can have
! the nomination for governor, and while
] he is quite devoted to the republican
party as an organization he has not
the slightest suggestion of what the
party should stand for or what a re-
publican governor of Iowa should
stand for-furuther. of course, than for
the perpetuity of the government and
for the maintenance OF the PARTY. The
letter, therefore, indicates Mr.. Hard
ing to be just about the sort of poll
tician that we have taken him to be;
and It will serve, at least in part, to
explain why-without having any rea-
son in the world for personal quarrel
with him-we have thought him to be
man lacking in fitness to be either
head of the republican ticket IN the
state or governor of the state.
| In the last thirty years sanitary