Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-24
Politics at Large

| COLUMBUS. Ohio, October "a
/ Years ago Booth Harrington wrote a
| delightful story which he called THE
/ Gentleman from Indiana" The Demo-
Gratis in their cleanup" campaign In
| the Hoosier State this year are suggest
! ing that 1t is time to revive the gen.
| tlemen from Indiana. Unkindly. they
suggest that gentlemen IN Republican
Indiana politics have been out OF
fashion. They point. not with pride,
| but with scorn, to list OF "a or 20
Republicans. either Office holders in the
| State or party leaders, who have been
| indicted within the last few years on
various kinds of charges, running from
| violations of the banking laws and con-
| spiracy against the State to plain, or
f! binary political corruption. One Repub-
| lican governor was jailed, McCray, and
the present governor, Ed Jackson, was
! indicted for conspiracy, along with
George v. Coffin, Republican county
chairman, for conspiracy to bride
| McCray, when he was governor, to APP
point their candidate county prosecutor
McCray. to his credit be 1t said, resisted
| the bribe. Jackson pleaded the statute
| of limitations when his case came up
for trial and got of. So did Comm.
CLYDE Walb, former Republican State
chairman. is In jail now, having been
found guilty of violating certain laws
| of the State, and former Mayor John
Duvall of indianapolis has been con-
yicted of political corruption, and ms
case is now on appeal. These are JUST
| samples of the conduct of some OF the
Republican officials which has made
| indiana a byword for political corrup-
| ton.
In Indiana, it has been said, all men
are authors or politicians, and some are
both. When it came time to clean up
| the CITY of Indianapolis, the people, IN
| a non-partisan effort to better cond1-
tions. selected Meredith Nicholson,
widely known as novelist and writer
on public affairs as member OF the
| CITY council, and he is functioning to-
day as a member of an entirely re-
ivanped council. The council makes up
| the budget for the city and controls the
money bags. 1t has nine members.
| About year ago seven members OF the
city council we're indicted for mall
| feasance in Office. One OF them was
convicted, five others pleaded guilty
and we're let off with the payment OF
| fines and one was acquitted. These IN
dicted councilmen had an arrangement
with the prosecutor whereby they would
resign from Office and permit others 70
be named in their places.
| Those gentlemen chosen to NIL the
vacancies in the city council were elect
| ed, one by one, by the council itself on
recommendations from city commit
| tee which secured the town for men OF
standing, irrespective of their party al
| filiations. Mr.. Nicholson, by the way, Is
Democrat The new council mas
| functioned with great satisfaction TO the
city and its election is regarded as an
| important step in the cleanup pro-
gram.
Louis Ludlow, for many years a
correspondent for many Ohio. KENTUCKY
| and Indiana newspapers IN washington,
is a candidate on the Democratic ticket
| for Congress in the seventh district,
against the Republican incumbent,
Ralph E. Updike. Ludlow, formerly
president of the National Press Club
in the National Capital, is campaigning
arduously in these final weeks before
election. He has the support Of all
the Indianapolis newspapers, all OF
| which also are supporting the Repub-
lican national ticket. He is running
in a strongly Republican congressional
district, located In Indianapolis. Up
dixie served overseas In the World war
and is making the most OF his service
record.
But Updike was one of those Re-
publican leaders who apparently zen
under the domination OF the ku hIuA
Khan several years ago, when D. Q.
Stephenson was the boss of that or
ranization. 1t is charged now that
Stephenson's black box" containing
his private papers, held letter, or con-
tract. signed by Updike, In which Up
dixie pledged himself to make appoint
ments ito any place that may De
OPEN" in accordance with recommenoa-
tions made by Stephenson, including
the postmaster at Indianapolis. Steph-
enson is in jail, serving life sentence
for the murder Of an Indiana girl under
particularly brutal circumstances. ANY
former connection with Stephenson Is
decided liability In Indiana tooay.
The Stephenson "black box is IN Ine
hands of the grand jury and the county
prosecutor, Stephenson having ordered
its surrender In the hope that he might
eventually win q new trial and escape
from his present Imprisonment. Ac-
cording to reports, there have peen
MANY uualms in Indiana breasts over
what the 'black box" might .proouce.
Rut there is a suspicion on the part
Of some people in indianapolis that pc
fore the box was turned over 10 Cne
authorities some of the contents hao
mysteriously disappeared. ~
Indiana has been noted for its Iac-
tional Republican differences. AS
rule however, the Republicans in ma
tional campaigns have gotten together,
and this seems to be the case now;
Senator Watson, although he opposed
the nomination of Hoover, would nave
little to gain by the States going Tor
Smith. If it did, who doubts but wnat
the anti-Watson group would nmmeol-
atelv begin to chant. watson douole-
crossed" the ticket? Former Gov. Good
rich. an anti-Watson Republican, was
one of the first of the Indiana Repun-
licans to leap on the Hoover pane
wagon. Now, according to Repuplcan
State headquarters in Indianapolis, MI.
Goodrich has been taken into the bosom
~ that organization, as least for this
campaign. Watson has so strong
hold on the situation in Indiana that
there seems little prospect OF any real
effort to unhorse him, certainly az
present. He has four years more OF his
present term as Senator In Wasning-
ton.
I'm in Wisconsin the Democrats are
wooing the La Toilette Progressive vote.
II, that state and in other States the
Democrats are making play, not only
for the La Toilette vote, but also for
the German American vote. Some of
the the Republicans are saying that the
| followers of Senator La Toilette IN
wisconsin perhaps have forgotten the
ROACH ride that Democrats gave the
late Senator La Toilette when there
was a demand for his expulsion from
the Senate, in 1917. because OF his
st. paul speech in September OF that
wear. which his critics insisted was pro-
| German. When a resolution OF tne
Minnesota Commission OF Public Sa1ety
| was laid before the Senate urging the
exn,,lsion of Senator La Toilette, Sem
ator La Toilette delivered an address
| defending himself and the right OF free
| .N~.~-t- cr...nko,. ranl,iYacnra of Arkansas