Evening star., 1924-12-15
FLO w E r. S
For the Living
4 -------.--- =
Tom Taggart.
BY GEORGE AIDE

Some people think you can indict
q man by. calling him political
boss" IT he 3iS shrewd enough, and
| careful enough to build up a success
| full organization there must be some
| thing wrong with him. Why?
The opponents OF Tom Taggart have
tried to belittie his influence and use
| fulness by calling him Boss Tag
CART" Have they ever stopped to
| consider that no one can get a po-
| litical rulershfp, extending over many
years, in q State like Indiana except
! by rendering service to the voters
and pulling for the welfare OF the
| Common We have no large
| cities In Indiana, no slums, no dis
! trfcts with half -assimilated foreign
| ers. no herds Of undecided citizens
| waiting to be. told what to do next
| Our. electors are free-thinking and
given to jumping fences. Those who
| decide every contest have to be shown
and will not respond to the crack Of
a whip. The Democrats are even
more jealous Of their individual free
dom than are the Republicans. And
yet some people will tell you that
and has bossed Indiana for a good
part Of that time.
OF course he has not done anything
! OF the kind, but II you insist that he
has named candidates and forced
their election, then you make him re-
sponsible for such United States Sem
| ators as David Turpie and John Kern
and such governors as Tom. Marshall
and Sam Ralston. The recent Demo-
if "a 6of 90 ny
Carleton McCulloch, is one of the
most learned and honored citizens in
the State. If you accuse Tom of do
ing the picking you will have TO admit
that he picks men of big caliber who
serve their constituents honestly and
efficiently.
What Tom has tried TO do at all
times is to keep his party in state
of preparedness and he has favor
ad the selection of candidates who
could win on their merits. If the
| representative Democrats all over
Indiana have looked to Tom for ad-
vice and friendly guidance IL was
because they had faith in his judg-
ment and realized that he knew more
about the situation than they could
possibly know and was a square
shooter. For a good many years the
partisans Of Indiana have hunted Tom
when he was quite willing to be let
alone to manage his large private
undertakings.
Tom was in the United States Sen
ate for while. He talked little and
voted right, without much regard to
party line-ups.
He helped to build the Dixie high
way through our State and has ac-
lively promoted every sort of enter
hh n
pleasanter and more attractive region
Under his direction French Lick
Springs has become magnificent
show place and a popular health re-
sort.
He is kindly, friendly, witty.
hospitabIe, diplomatic. considerate
charitable in his judgments, quick in
arriving at conclusions. loyal to his
friends and inclined to make allow
ances for his enemies. He is liked
by regiments of people because Of
his genuine human qualities.
One story of his "bossing" must be
told - 1t is only within recent years
that Indiana has made adequate pro-
vision for the higher institutions of
learning-Indiana University, Purdue
and the State Normal. The nearby
Statea.of Illinois, Wisconsin, ,Michi-
gan and Ohio were spending millions
oit A@sAcH ois uiiiNoi silies' "Hiie IN
diana Jagged behind. Tom had been
watching the situation and he de-
cided that something had to be done
He went to indianapolis while the
legislature was in session and invited
the Democratic. members of both
houses over to dinner at the Deni-
! son Hotel. which he owned. After
the feed he got up and begged the
legislators to vote for liberal and
permanent appropriations for the
three schools. He did more than any
other citizen of Indiana to protect
and encourage the interests of high
er education. That's the Kind of a
boss he Is.
OF course, he came up to wealth
and influence from a humble start.
America is still the land of opportunity.
Copyright. 1924, by the Bell Syndicate, Inc