Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-06-28
HARDING THE POLITICIAN
One Of His First Delegates Talks
Of Hlm--Mrs. Harding Charm
ine-The Situation In 1888
Similar to the Present
BY GEORGE NOX Mccain

BY GEORGE NOX MCCAIN
HARRY Il. VESTAL, pharmacist
4 L and former newspaper man. of
West PHILADELPHIA, has known Warren
G.. Harding since young manhood.
Mr.. Vestal Is n native Of Marion, o..
and having lived there until a few years
ago, knows about all there Is to know
concerning the Republican candidate
for President.
lie was one of the Harding delegates
to the convention that first nominated
him for state senator. 1t was the
future United States senator's initial
entrance into politics.
Aftcrward Mr.. Festal was associated
with the senator at Columbus and got
to know him intimately politically. His
opinion of Senator Harding Is worth
quoting:
'Ile is one Of the finest men / ever
knew. IIc plays politics on the square.
| never knew him to do a questionable
thing in his entire political career.
"Whcn he was chosen as tho nominee
of the Republican party of Marion
county for state senator he was so
backward and modest that all he could
say when our committee waited on him
was, L lHuuh NOu'
''IIc is a fine campaign orator now,
but It has all come to him since he en-
tered public life.
Mrs. Harding Is an exceptionally
bright woman. In fact, do not know
Of another woman who possesses finer
traits of character and is more agreeable
and gracious than she is. They are an
unusually we'll mated couple
THE fact that the nomination of
l. Senator Harding has not been re-
ccived with vociferous acclaim by the
entire Republican party will recall to
the older generation similar conditions
following the nomination of Harrison
and Morton in 1888:
General BENJAMIN Harrison's selec-
ton was then, as In the case of Senator
Harding, a compromise.
His opponents were James G. Blaine,
John Sherman and Walter Q. Gresham.
Compromises rarely arouse popular
enthusiasm.
The result of the Republican National
Conventions work that year was re-
ceived without demonstration rather
with apathy.
Attempts to arouse anything in the
campaign were Intellectual. Criticism,
sherman and Judge Gresham, was gen.
eral and to the party leaders disheart-
cning
There were serious doubts during the
summer Of 1888 as to whether or not the
ticket would win.
TNHE nomination of Levi P. Morton
i who died within the last few weeks
for Vice President, was equally criti-
cized.
He was described as "a prominent
and wealthy banker, of high character,
with strong taste for politics and pub
lie life, whose assistance in raising
funds in previous Republican cam
paigns has been of great practical serv-
ice to his party
Mr.. Morton was opposed for the
nomination by William Waiter Phelps,
of New Jersey, in whose support
strong combination had been formed.
The unanimous desire, however, of
New York was for Morton, and as New
York then exercised more potent sway
than its delegation did in Chicago two
weeks ago. Morton was chosen.
The friends of Mr.. Phelps were al
most as greatly disgruntled over the
failure of their candidate as were the
friends of Sherman and Gresham.
The result was that the campaign of
1888 opened with a general feeling of
uncertainty, factional animosity and i'll
feeling prevalent in a good portion of
the party.
But in the end the factionalsm was
eliminated. uncertainty became GER
tainty and Harrison and Morton were
elected.
DENJAMIN HARRISON was, at the
- time of his nomination, better
known than Senator Harding. But he
had faults that are foreign to the pres
ent candidate.
He was reserved to a point amount.
! ing almost to frigidty. In the light of
latter day presidential experiences he
might be regarded as the original Pres
ident with the one track mind"
He was intensely practical and un-
sympathetic to marked degree.
He once said that he had never in
vestigated his ancestry to any consid
cradle extent for the reason that he
never felt much interest in it.
| Il received nothing from my ances-
| &.
But that was sufficient, for my father
died poor.
Il married young and my wife and
l took as our dwelling little house If
only three rooms. l remember we had
six knives and six two -prOnged forks,
six plates and a similarly slim equip
ment all around. My wife did her own
work and we were both never happier
in our lives.
My first fee as a lawyer, a 50 gold
piece, | received at the door of that
dwelling.
The home of the. Harrisons in In
dianapo!is at the time of his first nOmi :
nation was, as | recall, a very unpre-
tentious residence set back from the
street whose parlOr was very plainly
and ineXpPnsively furnished.
This point stands out conspiCuously
as on" memory of my visit to Genera
Harrison for the purpose of news
paper interview.
HIIATNCEY NJ. DEPEW in the Re.
- publican convention of 1888 wai
tn" platform star. just as he wa'
thirty-two years later in Chicago.
But when Mr.. Depew in his brillian
address before the convention in Chi
cago two weeks ago, as the dean of Re