South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-05-22
STATESMEN GREAT AND
NEAR-GREAT
BY Fred Kelly.

" no. NV WV MAY - wv
ously there must be some reason
why a man should become the attor-
ney general of his state and the
youngest attorney general in the
country at the age of 29-this is TO
be followed up by getting himself
elected to congress, when only 50.
Lurking somew here there must be,
! say, a reason, or reasons.
For the purpose of this little in
quiry, we shall deal only with those
causes which are plainly visible 70
the naked eye.
Before proceeding further il may
be only fair to state that the subject
of our discussion is Representative
Royal c. Johnson. of South Dakota.
Just in a nutshell, the primary rea-
sons for the rise Of young Royal
Johnson in public life. appear to be
a pair of spectacles and a pair Of
twins
The spectacles were his own and
the twins were not. In fact the
twins did not belong TO anybody
They were not twins at all, only
imaginary twins. but they were re-
sponsible in a large measure for their
supposed parent being a member Of
congress and being the subject Of
this piece that we are now engaged
in writing.
Johnson was a baseball player. He
played primarily in college, but in
summer sold his service for mere
sold to semi professional teams in
mis- native state. His specially was
catching behind the bat. Being g
wee trifIe near-sighted he found it
advantageous to wear a pair of nose
glasses Now, at first thought ii may
seem like a hazardous undertaking
FOR a man wearing nose glasses to
stand up and permit a pitcher TO
hurl balls rapidly in the general di-
rection of his face The people Of
South Dakota took that view Of IL,
and marveled. Yet the facts were
that Johnson, with his glasses on.
was in no more danger behind the
bat than if he had confined his play
ing 20 such games as hide and seer,
dOminoes or drop the handkerchief.
Because catcher wears a heavy
wire cage over his features and even
the humblest onlooker at a ball game
stands more chance Of having his
face ruined by a ball than the man
behind the bat. still, il was the first
time the people of South Dakota had
seen a catcher wearing glasses, and
they talked about it. Soon Johnson's
name was a household word through
cut the state. as the catcher with
the specs"
Then he set out 10 run for attor-
rey general TGs pail playing did
not necessarily qualify him for the
job he was seeking but it had served
TO get his name up. Everybody
knew who he was Many took the
view that a man who would catch
behind the bat with nose glasses on,
would be a courag eous. outstanding
young attorney general.
However. that alone would not
have elected Johnson. The thing that
really made certain his election was
the pair of twins. He was out tour
IT. TIE state AlAdlNAAA- 1itNNNiANos W AAtl y
actually happened back home was
the birth OF a young son. Some mer-
~ friend wired Johnson that the son
was twins This report was taken
seriously and went all over the O te.
Everybody felt 90 sorry for johnson
and Vet so proud Of him, that all ar
guments put Up by the opposing can-
didate aVailed nothing at all. People
I felt that a Young man who was sud
denly called upon in the midst OF a
campaign 10 provide foi SO MANY
newcomers in his family. was entitled
I TO their most serious consideration.
/ Then the word got out that thc
twins were not twins at all But 4
I was too late TO do any harm. The
voters minds were made up. They
/ had determined 10 elect johnson. ard
they did So. regardless of his only %
years
That was why he became the
Youngest attorney general in the
United states Having got his chancc
I he made good. And today here he is
the most boyish looking member II
/ congress.
TIE reader who has pursued tne
story 10 this point now knows prsc-
tically as much about Royal c. Jol.r-
son as ! co.