The Washington times., 1933-03-30

fTanKlln was now m6mOer
Of the firm of Marvin, Hooker
& Roosevelt, a combination
that was to endure for good
many years. He became, as
Judged by the standards of the
times, a successful attorney and
q highly respected citizen, Civ
ing much of his though and
attention-which he has al
ways contended is a duty-to
civic problems.
More and more he found
himself spending considerable
part of his time in his Hyde
Park surroundings, entering
into community activities and
carrying on in the tradition of
his grandfather, who had been
trustee of the school. and of his,
father. who had served as town
supervisor.
Fight to the Finish
Consequently it was not en-
tirely surprising that the local
political leaders, in casting
about for th1 logical man to
run for office from that dis
trict, should suggest to Frank
lin that he enter the campaign.
It had long been the custom to
select a man whose family roots
had been impedded deep in the
soil of that section for genera
tions to make the futile at
tempt to wrest control from
Republican domination and
place it in the hands of the
aspiring Democrats. Franklin
naturally did not welcome the
prospect of weeks of intensive
work that could end only in de-
feat. However, when finally it
was put to him three days be-
fore the party's convention that
his candidacy for State sem
atorship, whether he was car
ried down in defeat or swept
into victory, was no more than
his patriotic duty, he deliber-
ated for "a hours and pledged
himself to fight to the finish.
No one in political life took his
nomination seriously. I don't
know how good he himself ac-
tually thought his chances were.
but once he said, "I'll win this
election" there could be moth
ing in my rather prejudiced
eyes, but success in the offing.
Campaigned in Auto
Franklin's opening gun in
his fight for the State senator
ship had repercussions that
were to resound over the
countryside for days. He had
the temerity to start off on his
round of speech making in an
automobiles mechanical men
ace which, from the farmers
point of view, had been in
vented for the express purpose
of hurting dust in his eyes,
driving his wagons off the road
and making his horses run
away. Not content with tempt
ing fate by the introduction OF
this unpopular innovation moth
ing would do but Franklin must
further jeopardize his chances
by choosing a bright red open
model which he and Richard
E. Connell, perennial nominee
for Congress from the twenty
first district. hired for the du-
ration of the campaign. AS a
matter of fact there was more
than a whim behind his de-
cision to use a car instead OF
the conventional horse and
buggy. He knew that in the
time that was left to them they
could not possibly cover the
district effectively by adhering
to the accepted method of elec-
tioneering. Franklin had dis
tinct feeling that in order to
win he must put himself into
direct personal touch with
every available voter and only
by moving quickly was there
any hope of accomplishing this
end.
Back Seat" Talks
am told there was a good
deal of merriment in the Re-
publican camp whenever news
Of Franklin's activity drifted in
as it did from time to time.
Bob Hunter and Lou Payne,
then seated in the enemy saddle,
used to describe Franklin's
"back seat" talks as so much
"fruitless chatter" None the
less Mr.. Connell and my son
went on undisturbed by these
derisive jibes. holding forth
whenever any one would listen
to them. They would make as
many as seven a speeches a day
delivering them from town
halls, public squares. apple or
chards or standing sometimes
on ton Of haystacks. Any spot
that could yield even handful
of votes became their happy
hunting ground.
Their issue was "bossism,'
advocating in short the end Of
the corrupt rule Of political
bosses. It was a p0n"'Hr theme
to rail at then as it is today
and today as then, it was an
ample target at which to shoot.