Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1916-08-18
Meredith and Harding.


Here is singular thing that makes
one think of the old couplet: "Thrice
is he armed that hath his quarrel just;
and he but naked, though locked up in
STEEL" etc. The singular thing is that
Ed Meredith, man of affairs and not an
experienced public speaker, came down
here and addressed an audience that
hung upon his words, not one leaving,
and repeatedly interrupted him with
hearty applause; then came the lieuten-
ant governor, bland, polished, expert
enced in all the wiles of the politician
and the arts of the orator, and spoke
for more than twice as long, and fall
ed to elicit single hearty round of ap-
plause. Instead, he received frequent
ly that deadliest of all deadly signs for
a public speaker, the faint and half
hearted clapping of half dozen hands.
Nothing so surely marks speech as q
failure as this faint applause; absolute
stiffness may mean breathless interest,
but faint patter of hands means that
a few friends are doing all they can for
the speaker, but that the crowd de-
clines to help. Mr.. Harding's best
friend would have to admit that while
he had good audience, it was cool and
Indifferent in the extreme.
Now, why does not Harding, polite
ian, orator, man of the world, diplo-
mat, and by nature leader of men,
produce and leave with his audience the
favorable impression left by Mere
dith, plain business man, without any
of the tricks of oratory or the graces
of diplomacy? l think it is because
these men insensibly .radiate an inf1u-
ence that they cannot control. They
may say what they please, but Hard
ing gives the impression that he is a
twentieth century Joey Bagstock,
"sly, sir, devilish sly" and ready to
vote against prohibition or for it,
against hard roads or for them, with
equal facility and willingness when in
terest may dictate, while Meredith
gives the impression of thoroughly
honest man, enthusiastically sure of his
own ideas and willing to live or die in
following them out.
Mr.. Harding is foolishly mad at the
Register and Leader and Gardner
Cowles, its publisher.
Mr.. Harding doesn't seem to realize
that if his record was right the Regis
ter and Leader would be powerless to
hurt him, so he hammers away while
his audience looks at him and wonders
how a man of his caliber ever came to
be chosen lieutenant governor of Iowa.
For an experienced speaker and an
orator of ability, MIR. Harding cuts a
poor figure on the stump. Not OILY is
he in the fatal attitude of defense when
he should be assaulting the enemy, but
he seems to have total misconception
of the attitude of his Iowa audiences,
at least in this part of the state. He
seems to pose as clever sleight-of.
hand artist and take pride in fooling
people. instead of trying to impress
them as an able man who has ideas
that he believes will benefit his people
and upon which he will stake his po
litical fortunes, to stand or fall by
them. Since his speech here many
democrats who had thought favorably
of him because of Meredith's attitude
upon prohibition and Harding's sup
posed championship of dirt roads) hav'
announced that they will have no NOR,
of him and will support . man who hal