Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-12-27
+ frederic Easkim' S LETTER
PALMER FOR PRESIDENT

"oShAA6SOAs -. W. 0SC. LOs-<A.
Mitchell Palmer, the attorney gem
eral, square. blocky, white haired,
~ years old and a horse for work,
has one decided advantage over the
host OF competitors for the presi-
dental nomination. He is in an
Official position which is steadily
keeping him more In the spotlight
than il any other candidate. While
this is IN advantage from the stand
point Of thai, vital thing, publicity,
it carries with It IN element Of
great danger for, in the spotlight,
any mis-step is revealed to the
multitude.
The recent meeting Of the Rspub-
lican national committee in Wash
ington has called forth q large as
softment Of candidates Of that par
ty. They are now In the open beat
ing their tom-toms, each in his Pc
culiar way attempting to attract
votes to himself. The Democrats
are to assemble in Washington
early in January at the jackson
dinner which precedes each cam
paign, and all aspirants are asked
to appear and each will be allowed
to make = bit Of a speech by way
OF a workout. But so far the DEM
ocratic entries are limited in num-
Der, McAdoo and Palmer being of
In the lead
The friends Of these two are al
ready pointing with pride. The
advocates Of McAdoo are urging
him as the Roosevelt of Democracy,
the man OF proven punch and ex-
ecutive ability. In fact all the can
didates Of both parties are bearing
down hard on this matter Of ex-
ecutive ability. Everybody seems
to have made up his mind that the
situation requires a man Of proven
administrative capacity.
The "A" in the name OF the at
torney general stands for Alex
ander. 1t was the name Of . one
time conqueror, to be sure, and Mr..
Palmer il q Quaker and therefore
indisposed to the usages OF force.
But his friends call him ''the fight
ing Quaker" and, to indicate the
character Of the man, recite, like
Othello. the adventures through
which he has passed.
The ancestors of Palmer came
with William Penn from England
in 1852. The tenaeity Of the strain
is shown in the fact that the faith
OF the Quaker il still intact in the
Palners of today. When the attor-
ney general is in the midst Of his
family the the and thou" of the
old sect is constantly used. Mrs.
Palmer 10 q Quaker also, and glides
constantly from one form of ad-
dress to her husband to another
when speaking to non-Quakers.
Alexander Mitchell was born in
Moosehead, Pa, which is hard to
find on the map, but grew up at
Stroudsburg, in the Pocono noun
tains in northeastern Pennsylvania,
which is one of those comfortable
towns OF three or four thousands
where everybody knows everybody's
else's business. He went to Swarth-
more college, where he was the
room mate OF Governor Bill Sproul,
now the Republican chief executive
Of Pennsylvania.
Palnasr studied law and worked
as = stenographer TO pay his way.
He became q court stenokrapher,
which indicates that he was pretty
good in shorthand. Woodrow Will
son still makes pothooks in the
transaction OF his daily duties and
so does MIR. Palmer. He sometimes
hands his stenpgraphic notes to his
secretary-a 1.-the young man nam
ed Robert T. Scott-tO transcribe,
and thereby creates an impasse, for
shorthand Of yesteryear is not like
that Of today.
Over on that side OF Pennsyl-
vania which borders New Jersey
are counties Of Pike, Monroe, Car
bon and Northampton: According
to the friends OF Palmer there used
to exist, among the machine Demo
Gratis of that part of the state, an
agreement under which the right
to furnish the congressman from
this district should rotate among
these counties. Palmer set out to
smash this machine agreement and
got himself elected in 1908 and re-
elected in 1910. 1t was his first
grapple with the machine.
Following that success, he tao
killed. the Guffey machine which was
state wide. He ran for national
committeeman and, when Guffey