Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-01-17

SENATOR PQINDExTER

washington, D. c., Jan 1s.-One
more sturdy ,trse In the growing
ma tangled fofest Of presidential
timber-Senator Miles Poindexter
Of washington.
Some facts about him. are pre-
ssnted here, mot In any partisan
snirit but in the belief that every
candidate for the presidential nomS
inatsou deserves to have his claims
1T forth. The Haskin letter. has
already written up q number OF
vould-be presidents Of both parties
and will continue its canvass OF
possible presidents even II this In
wolves. as now seems not improb-
able. the writing up of the entire
senate and . large percentage OF
state governors. Never in the his
tory of the country have 80 many
rood men offered their services to
the nation in the highest capacity.
Nearly everyone has now lost count
Of the more or less avowed candi..
dates for the presidency, while an
accurate count Of presidential pos.
sibilities and favorite sons would
be a lob for the census bureau 1t
is a heartening proof Of the won
derful self-confidence Of our public
men, 1t has been said that no
president except Lincoln ever faced
such a ticklish job as our next
president will face, and yet there
is a goodly company Of men who
admit they are equal to the situa-
ton.
Senator Poindexter is preeminent
among these. He has frankly an
uounced his own candidacy. He
does not pretend that enthusiastic
friends are pushing him into the
scrap despite his own reluctance.
He wants the job and says so. At
the same time, he does not conceal
the fact that thsre is a crowd be-
hind him to back him up in his ef-
forts to get it.
Some of these friends and back
ers have kindly furnished an out
line of the senator's careerr and q
sketch of his character, which de-
rives additional interest from the
fact that he is not as.well known
] to the public as some OF the other
laspirants. The senator is Of south
ern descent, was born in Memphis
and educated in Virginia. He was
denied the boon of undernourish-
ment in childhood, which is so val
liable to presidential candidates
and it is not of record that he ever
performed any hard manual labor
On the other hand we learn thai
when he obeyed Horace Greedy:
behest to 60 west, at the age of %
he landed in Walla Walla, Wash.
with only $40 to his name. This il
surely a point in his favor, as il
also the fact that he did not le
anyone take his ten dollars away
from him, but hung onto it ant
made it grow.
Of sensational features, but wholly
creditable. He got married, be
came a prosecuting attorney, {
Judge, congressman. and finally {
Isenator.
| An unusual and interesting fea
ture of his candidacy is that hi
physical qualifications for the jol
are frankly advanced as of som,
importance Most of the candi
dates to date, like DNraeli, ar,
standing exclusively on their heads
Proven administrative ability" il
the chief qualification. advanced OF
behalf Of every one of them. Moth
ing is offered to prove that the.
are physically fit to stand tn,
strain and effort of running a ma
ton at high speed. Surely, this i
an oversight. Physical examina
tons for presidential candidate
would seem odd, but they woul'
surely represent wise precaution
The administration of an intelli
gence test in addition would be
positive impudence, and yet
might serve as valuable check o.
some of the claims put forward TO
some of the candidates. If a sol
der has to prove that he is physi
cally and mentally sound, why no
a presidential candidate?
At any rate, Senator Poindexter'
friends, while by no means failin
to point out his preeminent menta
gifts, think it worth while to men
ton also that he is six feet tw
inches tall and novorf,,1 x,or