Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1925-11-26

Of a thousand men, five hundred
are hopelessly stupid, four hundred
hopelessly indifferent, ninety rattle
Drained, nine can analyze and sense
the moving factors of the world, and
one is best capable and wishful of
marshalling those forces, putting
them in harness and boldly grasping
the reins to drive. Such man is
Curtis of Kansas, the man to whom
Coolidge must look for the salvation
William Allen White says President
of his power and prestige, providing
always Presidential power and pres
tige are destined to be preserved, and
the head of the nation be restored as
leader of our political destinies.
White may speak truly. He may
prove prophet. The avowed deter
mination of Dawes to clip the wings
of the Senate and thus re-establish
leadership in the executive head of
government may make the Kansas
editors prediction die-a-borning; but
if the upper house stands firm under
the fire of our. hero with the rever-
sable pipe, if the Senate give def
ance to the rawlings of the mob, then
unquestionably the President must
grasp a hand such as that of Curtis
to lead him safely across the politi.
cal rapids.
His Rise to Power
Why Curtis? Because he is. the
one outstanding figure in Washing
ton that must be reckoned with.
Borah with his brilliance and indie
pendence casts his shadow from the
Hudson to the Golden Gate; the ma
ton knows and admires him; the peo-
pie like his fighting power; but they
ana;lyze him. They can't analyze
Curtis. Curtis moves behind the
scenes. No calcium operator has yet
been found quick enough to throw
the spot light upon him. He moves
with the self-reliance and silence of
the panther, and is equal in determin-
alton to attain his objective. He
knows men, he knows life, the senses
moving impulses. From the great
heights of his Western mountains he
views the mass of struggling human
ity below, quick to put his finger on
the forces that make the mannequins
squirm- and wiggle Charles Curtis
is a full size man, just as he is no
mans man, despite the oft repeated
inuendo that he has reached the pin
nacle of preferment while running
errands for the railroads. Half his
life has been spent in getting other
men jobs. 1.-THE riff raft of the ma
tion," cry his enemies. "They all
died poor" replies Curtis, writing a
master brief in four short words.
Curtis himself has not too many dol
the master politician of his time. If
the time shall come when he must
help Coolidge probably he will do Sc
because it is part of the game, just
as resisting populism was part of the
game, just as combating Roosevelt.
tian Progressivism was part of the
game, just as standing unflinchingly
against Wilsonian democracy was
part of the game, and not because
this big silent man from Kansas re-
garded or even now regards any of
these issues or any of the men be-
hind them as at all important. Too
astute perhaps to say so, Curtis
seems to view the passing of the
throng, with a kindly sympathy, an
easy confidence but mild disdain
Perhaps there is something in his In
dian blood that makes him instinc-
lively impervious, while outwardly
broad, simple, persuasive and home
ly in manner. If you would know
the brick consider the mixture. -.
Inherits Fighting Instinct
The daughter of White Plume, a
Kaw Indian chief was the great
grandmother of Curtis of Kansas,
his great grandfather being French
man. His grandmother, Julie Pap
pan, lived on an Indian allotment
close to North Topeka, Kansas. There
among the Indians, Charles Curtis