Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1920-08-06
HARDING AS A CANDIDATE.

<1o "a VAN
The Republicans of Ohio will make
strenuous efforts in this campaign to
maintain the record of their state which
has already furnished four Republican
presidents. Senator Harding has not
been as conspicuous in public life as
either of his predecessors as presiden-
tial nominees.
Hayes was distinguished in the L.
gal profession which he left to enter
the Union army in which he won re-
nown in several great battles of the
Civil war, notably South Mountain and
Cedar Creek, and he rose from the rank
of major to that of ma ior general. He
was twice elected to congress, was two
terms governor of his state and was
thus well known in the country. when
nominated for president.
Garfield had had remarkable ca
reer. Reared in small log cabin, he
struggled with poverty, drove a mule
on towpath to earn money, was de-
tcrmined to get an education and sue
ceeded, became teacher and later pres
ident of a college; he was a member of
the state senate, was distinguished in
the army, especially by his brilliant feats
at Shiloh and Chickamauga; was made
brigadier general but left the army to
go to congress where he served 16 years,
| L
in the house; was elected to the sem
ate but before his term began he had
beeA elected president. -
| Mckinley had no time to become a
great lawyer, but he had a good war
record, was ~ years a member of con-
gress-always leader in the house
and was the author of the tariff bill
that bears his name; he had been gov
ernor of Ohio two terms, and being
thus prominent and by reason of the
tariff and free-tra issue he became
an available candidate.
William II. Taft, when nominated,
had worldwide reputation as an en-
inent lawyer and a United States cir
cult court Judge, as governor general
of the Philippine Islands and as sec
rotary of war under President Roose
welt.
Warren G. Harding is well known,
honored and beloved by all classes and
conditions of people in the great state
of Ohio which has population nearly
twice as large as that of the thirteen
original states when the union was
formed; he had long been prominent in
political affairs; he was four years
state senator, Lieut. governor one term,
and he carried the full vote of his
party in his run for governor of Ohio
in 1910. and was defeated on strict
party lines. 1t was evidence of his
popularity that he was selected as the
candidate of his party in that historic
contest. In 1914 he was elected U. S.
senator for term that will expire on
the day when he will assume the office
of president.
1t is alleged against Senator Hard
| ing that he has not been in the front
rank in debates, and people are apt to
measure members of congress by their
prominence as speech makers for that
gets their names into the newspapers
and before the public. But the great
work of devising and framing legsla-
ton and of defeating the enactment of
pernicious laws is mainly done by men
who rarely appear in debates. Justin
S. Morrill,, who represented Vermont in
the house and senate forty-three years,
was not debater, but he was stu
dent, worker in committees, and at
every session he delivered able and in
structive speeches upon pending meas
ures, and he secured the passage of
many important ones. Industry and a
thorough mastery of the subjects relat-
ing to revenues and finance gave Sen
ator Aldrich of Rhode island com
manding influence in the senate for
many years and made him the acknowl-
edged American authority upon those
subjects. lie rarely addressed the SEN
ate further than to explain point or
give a reason for the vote he was about
TO cast.
Senator Harding has not spoken as
often as several senators have done,
but he is described as an attractive and
effective speaker. He always com
mands attention by his clear, concise,
well framed sentences and by the pa
triotic sentiments that they express. He