The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1916-03-17
Dwindling Jim

It is just ten years since Jim Watsons politi-
cal stature began to dwindle.
Twelve years ago in the election of 1904, the
year of Roosevelt's great majority, Watson was
reelected to congress from this district by ma
jority of about $500. Following this election
began the historic fight of J. Bennett Gordon
against "Our JIM" At the election of 1906 as a
result of Gordon's expose of Watson's record in
congress, he barely scraped through for another
term with 1900 majority.
In 1904 Wayne county endorsed Watson by a
majority Of 1000. In 1906 it repudiated him by
giving him the pitiful minority of only 346.
Watson saw the handwriting on the district
wall He quit district politics for the state arena.
In 1908, after persuadng one of his best friends
not to seek the office by the tale that he was
down and out in the sixth district and it was the
governorship or starve, he won the nomination
for governor on the Republican ticket. AS is
we'll remembered Taft carried Indiana that year
for the presidency by 10000 majority. Watson
lost it for governor by $4,000.
Again Wayne county registered her protest
against wisconsin. He only received MAORI
/
by $500 votes.
Down and out in both district and state IT was
up to Watson to do or starve. And he didn't
starve. Impressed by his past actions in behalf
of the people he represented while in congress,
the big interests gave him lucrative job lobby
ing in the famous Payne-Aldrich tariff session of
1909. Following this Watson returned to Ind
lana, extensively remodeled his house at Rush
vile and boosted of how much he had cleaned up
lobbying at Washington. People who remember
the infamous disclosures of the Mulhall investi-
cation obtained splendid insight into "Our
Jims" career as lobbyist.
In the 1910 election Watson, for once in his
political life, was not candidate for political
office. Judge w. O. Barnard however, who had
succeeded Watson in congress in 1908 and who
had voted for the Payne-Aldrich tariff BILL in this
election was badly defeated and the district for
the first time in years was represented in con-
gress by Democrat, the present incumbent
Finley Gray.
In 1912, however, Watson jumped before the
political lmelight and shown publicly as he never
before had That was the year he was one of the
ringleaders in that saturnalia of political Chi
canery known as the National Republican Con-
vention. From the time he tried and partly sue
ceeded in this districts convention to defraud
Roosevelt's supporters of their honestly elected
delegates down through the entirely successful
similar attempt at the state convention and on
down to the gigantic scale of political fraud and
downright stealing of the peoples rights at the
infamous Chicago convention, Watson consistent
ly stood for Taft and all that was bad and rotten
in the Republican party.
The result? Taft was nominated and Roose-
welt on the Progressive ticket beat him in Indiana
100000 to 100000 votes.
Wayne county, Watson's Nemesis, gave his
candidate, Taft, 1000 votes and Roosevelt re-
ceived 4,4O0. And Watson campaigned in the
county for Taft, too.
1t is no wonder that after this series of
whacks from Wayne Watson at New Castle