Evening star., 1921-12-22

or compiled were oddities of South
ern Life and Character" a volume OF
southern humor; The Spanish -Ameri-
can WI ar. written concurrently with
the events. and his latest work. Com
promises OF Life" compilation OF
editorials from the Courier-Journal.
Held Seat in Congress.
His service as public official was
confined to fractional term in Con-
, gress. He accepted seat there in
1867. at the wishes of Samuel j. Til
den, with whom he was closely allied
Mr. Watterson refused denomination
for the full term. Frequently urged
to run for high office. he always re-
! fused, maintaining:
Il shall stay where | am. Office is
not for me. Beginning in slavery 10
end with poverty. il is odious to my
sense of freedom
i From 1872 TO 1892. however. he sat
at all national conventions of the
, democratic party as delegate-at t.
large from Kentucky He presided
over the convention that nomina ed
Tilden. in 1876. and was chairman OF
the platform committee in those OF
! 1880 and 1883
Mr. WatterSon opposed William Jen-
nings Bryan In his candidacy for
President in 1886. but in 1900 the Cou-
rier-Journal gave him lukewarm sup
/ port In 1908. however. what Mr.
Watterson denominated as the free
silver heresy" being "as dead as Afri
can slavery" III the United States. he
became warm supporter Of Bryan.
Denounced German Leaders.
When the storm of the European
war broke over the world Mr.. Waiter
son assumed an uncompromising stand
in support of the cause and ideals OF
the entente allies, declaring his belief
! that their cause was the cause ci
freedom and democracy, and thar OF
/ the central empires that of autocracy.
. His attitude was terSely set fo,th
| in single sentence, that appeared al
/ the end of practically every editorial
| he wrote on the subject for many
! months. ITO hell with the Hohenzol-
! lerns and HapsburSS."
, His Srathing Indictment of the Ger
man leadership was interpreted by
many of German blood in this country
as an attack upon themselves. and
! brought a storm of denunciation about
his ears. To these Americans of Ger
{; man blood Mr.. Watterson made an
swer that presumably they had come
j to the United States to escape the
| thing he asserted the German rulers
| were endeavoring to fasten upon the
rest of the world. and warned them
that il they identified themselves toe
!
! rulers by giving 1t support they would
later regard their course with regret
Sold Newspaper Interests.
| In 1918 Mr.. Watterson sold his in
| terest in the Courier-Journal to
Judge Robert W. Bingham of Louis
willie, who also purchased stock OF
other owners. and WatterSon retired
| from editorial responsibility and
; place. accepting for several months
, the title of editor emeritus. In the
spring of 1919 he resigned that posi-
| ton and since then he lived wholly
retired life, interrupted only occa-
! sionally by a letter to newspaper or
| a public topic or an interview grant
| ed to some rowing reporter.
One example of his characteristic
style is found in a letter, written in
October, 1921. regretting that. age
rendered inadvisable his attendance
upon the Confederate reunion a,
Chattanooga. ut cannot be long" hi
, wrote, when we shall meet on tina,
| beautiful shore, and. when we meet
be sure the Bonnie Blue Flag will be