Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-18
Again the Man From Ohio. =

Again the Man From Ohio
United States Senator Warren G
Harding Of Ohio, who for some time has
has been looked upon az possible in.
gredieut IN the Republican mix-up for the
Presidential nomination, next year. has
formally announced be will be = candidate.
And ID his announcement he distinctly
s,ys hc NIL DC bona fidc candidate, and
not nerr snchor for his Stsfes delega-
tion m The convention. tn hold it IN place
until schemIng leaders decide where i
shall 60 in order - insure 20 them the
largest amount Of political prestige and
profit.
To the country IN general, Senator
Harding Is not intiYatciy known. beyond
the fact that he rsrfcscnts his state ia the
United States senate the only public
otFre OUTSIDE his State ever held by him.
His biography IN tho Congressional
Record. prepared by himself. Is rlodcstly,
br1cf. bong as follows Warren G Hard
Ine. Republican. of Marion, Ohio. was
boTn IN Blooming Grove Morrow county,
Ohio. November =, 1852 has been a
newspaper publisher since 1854: was mem
her Of The Sevcnty-fifth and Scvcnty-sixth
Ohio General Assemblies Is Senator from
the Thirteenth district. 1S99-I903. and
lieutenant-govcrnor Of Ohio in 1908 and
1905, elected to the United States Senate
November 5. 1914 His term Of service
r1ll expire March 3, 1921 Hr might
have Included that he was the Republican
candidate for governor Of Ohio, IN 1905,
hut was defeated.
But the fact that Senator Harding is
an Ohio man" imparts sddtiona sig
niecance 70 bis candidacy, by reason Of
he fart that Ohio rivals Virginia IN the
distinction Of beng the mother Of Presi-
lents or course. this. from a practical
noint of view. viii rot make any difference. 4
out IN y1ew Of the uncertainties Of political
trend II may count hcavIly il his favor
Much viii depend upon the conditions
that may prevail when the Republican
National Convention Of next wear enters
fairly upon the task Of making s selection
from the half-dozen or moro candidates
that VIII be formally presented
II Is difficult to understand why Senator
Harding should have been considered SO
serio,1sly IS 4 Presidential possibility IS
70 encourage him TO the extent Of formally
announcing himself as candidate for the
favor Of the Republican party Ii this re- /
Epect be differs from other public men who +!
have secured the great political prefer /
nent Of a nomination for President in /
circumstances that gave little or no previ- /
1us indication Of such result He secns |
very nearly IN class with President james
&. Polk ID this respect, but Polk was /
politically prominent by reason Of having
se-ved as governor Of Tennessee and rs
Speaker Of the House OF Representatives
He was candidate for the nomination for
Vice-P President al the Democratic Nation
al Convention Of 1914, and was taken up at
the last minute by the opponents Of Van
BureD as the man who could beat the
latter
Senator Harding also differs very ms
.eriaIlv from the other men from Ohio
uho have been nominated for President
General William Henry Harrison was nom
mated BY the Wings, IN 1910, on account
II his distinguished record Ii the War Of
ls12 and n the Indian wars. Rutherford
B. Hayes, the next Ohio aspirant, was
backed by fine record IN the Civil War.
and bv service In the House Of Repre-
sentatives and three terms as governor Of
hls state. He was 3 candidate Of some
prominence IN the Reuubhcan National
Convention Of 1876. and was presented 10
the body IS the man who had thrice
beaten the chosen champions Of De-
nhocracy" il his contests for governor, one
of his victims having been that popular
Democratic leader, Allen c. Thurman
He started IN the baIIoting with 81 votes,
and his friends stood by him tenaciously
until the opponents Of Blaine concen-
tratod their support upon him IN order 10
prevent the nomination Of the man whom
they hated most.
Nor wall Senator Harding prove II any
9sslsC q counterpart o. IaTu6ld, al1oLler
Ohio man, who succeeded Hayes II the
Presidency. Garfield was not candidate
for the nomination, but went To the Re
publican National Convention Of 1880 IS Z
delegate from Ohio, in personal charge Of
: he campaign Of John Sherman. That was
the convention at which occurred the
contest among the friends Of
General Grant, Sherman and Blaine, and
the 500 "inmortals'' went down to defeat
with the banner Of Grant proudly floating
10 the end. Someone gave a vote to Gar
ield early II the balloting, and On the
Both ballot d majority Of the convention
swelled this lone vote into an effective
maiority. But Garfield was not unknown