Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-19
BY A. b. MACDONALD.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
FORT WORTH, Tex, August 10 CN.A,
MAJ To learn two facts I came to
Texas.
Who is this multimillionnaire, Ross S.
Sterling, who is trying to beat Jim
and Ma" Ferguson for the governor
ship of Texas; what are his chances.
and what is the secret of the strength
Of Jim" and ma" Ferguson?
How is it that Ferguson, once i'm
peached and literally kicked out of the
governorship, therefore ineligible ever to
hold Office in Texas, was able to elect
his wife Governor, and now is running
her again for that office?
What is this thing called Ferguson
ism" that is the main issue in this
campaign? BY what strange power has
Jim" Ferguson held 10000 voters in
Texas through 16 years of bitter attack.
and how is he now able to draw a crowd
of $4,000 to hear him speak-in spite of
the fact that every big newspaper In
Texas is against him?
Editor Defines "FergusOnism."
asked the editor of one of the lar
gest newspapers which is fighting for
Sterling for Governor, What is Fergu-
soniSm?"
Everything you can think Of that is
he answered.
Another editor. whose paper is neu-
trail. but leans to Sterling, was asked
the same question and he replied
This race Is a contest of persons and
personalities. Ferguson is a cemagogue,
but he is an orator of the old school;
witty, he knows all the tricks of han
ding a crowd; he is intensely human;
he appeals to the common people, plays
upon their heartstrings, while Sterling
is rather cold and distant, no orator,
but a business man OF great ability.
The fact that he has millions makes
many stand aloof from him.
80 there you have the main issue
on one hand old Jim Ferguson, with
his long hair, stirring people almost to
a frenzy with his platitudes about
heaven, home and mother, and on the
other Sterling, efficient, cold man Of
business"
Successful Rich Man" Type.
met Sterling, silently aloof, in loose,
baggy trousers, big, towering man,
more than feet and weighing perhaps
$50; his face rudy and square-jawed
and successful rich man" sticking out
all over him. I introduced myself and
asked him for an hour, at least.
why should give you an hour Of
my time?" he demanded.
He was not discourteous; in fact, he
was very polite, but his hard-headed
business sense saw no use spending
time for an interview that might not
repay him in votes.
That night I heard Ferguson speak,
and introduced myself to him as he
was pushing through vast crowd on
the Dallas fair grounds. He put his arm
around my shoulder and, in the most
kindly tone, said: Come along up here
on the stand. They're waiting for me
now, but when I'm through I'll give
you all the time you want"
When he did finish, he was as wet
as If he had fallen into the river. He
had to catch train, and thousands
were pushing up to shake his hand, but
"Old JIM" as he calls himself. did not
forget the stranger from afar, even
though he knew the story was to write
wouldn't get him a single vote.
Those two incidents may help ex-
plain why Ferguson is so popular in
Texas that he has carried 200 900 votes
in his vest pocket for is years, can
count upon that many to start with in
the run-od primary election next Mon
day and why the wiSeSt Of political
prophets are predicting that Ma" Fer
guson has a good chance Of being the
next Governor of Texas.
heard Sterling make a speech. 1t
was stilted and cold, but full of hard
facts and good business sense, and he
outlined a fine program he would carry
out If he were elected.
Mr. Sterling is SIS. His forebears, on
his mothers side, came to Texas with
Stephen r. Austin's colonists. He had
to work In the cotton patch from the
time he was big enough, and the only
education he ever had was in little
one-room country school.
When he was not yet IA, he and his
brothers bought schooner and he
sailed it, freighting farm produce to
Galveston. Then he opened little store
on Double Bayou, near Anahuac, and
when he was % he married.
Got Start in on.
When oil was discovered in the Hum
BILE district in Southern Texas, Sterling
opened a store there. After a while he
bought two producing oil wells, and that
was the beginning of his huge fortune.
He built up the Humble Oil & Re-
fining Co., built a railroad to his re-
finery, and became a power in the oil
business. In 1925 he sold his oil bust
ness to the Standard Oil Co. for mil
lions. He solid his railroad to the
Southern Pacific.
Those who knew the Humble Co
when Sterling owned it say it was an
almost perfect business organization,
Big business men throughout Texas