USA > Indiana > Public men of Indiana : a political history, 1890-1920, v. 2 > Part 13
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In his youthful days he was well acquainted with and greatly interested in the work of the eminent naturalist, John Muir, who at one time lived at Indianapolis as a contemporary of Henry Schlic- mann, the eminent Egyptologist. No man in
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Indianapolis has ever had a greater popularity, at elections or in every-day life, than he, and he enjoys the highest respect and confidence of all his congressional and other associates in Wash- ington.
Among other lawyers of a later generation who were highly respected at home and well known in other parts of the State were C. C. Shirley, J. C. Blackledge and Lex J. Kirkpatrick. It is no in- vidious distinction that prompts a mention of some- thing of the personal, political and judicial career of the latter, since in many ways his accomplish- ments are also those of others.
It often happens that political exigeneies make it important that political parties should select high grade citizens as candidates for public offices to the end that their organizations may have prestige and respectability with all classes of voters, and they sometimes invade the sanctuary of the Church in searches for candidates who, though having an iden- tification with one religious sect, will not be offen- sive to members of others. These delicate searches are not common in the Democratic party, but one was made in Howard County in 1890 and Judge Kirkpatrick was "drafted" into the service of his party to make the race for judge of the Circuit Court, composed of the counties of Howard and Tipton where a Republican nomination is usually equivalent to an election.
He was of a family of religious people and main- tained the faith that had been inherited and in- pressed from that source. He was also well known
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for his quiet, studious, industrious and temperate habits, and as a lawyer who loved his profession and preferred the enjoyment of his work above that of political participation. While his nomination was without his consent he reasoned that he could not afford to offend those who had so honored him or those who had been chosen to fill places on the ticket with him by declining the nomination, and being thorough in everything he undertakes decided that he would make a diligent effort to be elected, and that it was not an undignified thing for a can- didate for a judicial office to get in close contact with voters, that they might judge of his tempera- ment and qualifications. He was elected by a hand- some majority and on taking the office soon con- vinced the members of the bar and litigants in his court that the voters had made no mistake in their selection. He was a patient, painstaking and just judge, and was greatly aided in his work by the thorough education and knowledge that he had acquired. On retiring from his judicial office he was unanimously chosen as president of the Bar Association of his county and is a member of others in high standing. He upholds the wisdom, dignity and usefulness of lawyers as against the criticism that there are too many of them in the public stations.
Bernard B. Shively, of Marion, became and still is prominent among the younger generation of lawyers of Grant County and it is predicted will in the future maintain and expand his good record of public service already begun. He was elected to
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the general assembly of the State as a Democrat, overcoming a large Republican plurality and was soon found in a leading position in the enactment of legislation of public importance. Among other measures that he proposed and successfully urged was the Public Service Commission. He was chosen by his colleagues and Senator John W. Kern to make the speech nominating the latter for United States senator, and in its delivery revealed high oratorical attainments that led to his being called to make many public addresses in the political campaigns that followed. His father, Marshall T. Shively, was a pioneer citizen of Grant County and a relative of Vice-President Thomas R. Marshall.
George Washington Rauch was born on a farm near Warren, Huntington County, Indiana, Feb- ruary 22, 1876. His parents were Philip Rauch and Martha A. (Jones) Rauch. He attended com- mon schools, Valparaiso Academy and Northern Indiana Law School; admitted to the bar in 1902, began practice in Marion, Indiana; elected to the 60th, 61st, 62d, 63d and 64th congresses (March 4, 1907-March 3, 1917) from the Eleventh Congres- sional District of Indiana.
Upon his retirement from Congress returned to Marion where he now resides. Since retirement has been engaged in practicing law and looking after business interests.
His father's people came to this country before the Revolutionary War and were among the early pioneers in Ohio. His mother's people also came
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to this country before the Revolution and were pioneers in the early settlement of Indiana.
The distinguishing features in connection with his service in the House of Representatives are as follows: Served as a Democrat for ten years from a district that was strongly Republican. At the time of his retirement he stood next to the ranking member of the Committee on Appro- priations.
The documentary evidences of his legal qualifica- tions consist of certificates of admission to practice before the various courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.
Judge Robert W. McBride was elected judge of the 35th Judicial Circuit of Indiana in 1882, and served until 1888; was appointed by Governor Hovey judge of the Supreme Court to serve out the unexpired portion of the term of Judge J. A. S. Mitchell and to serve until the next general elec- tion, and did so; was born January 25, 1842, in Richland County, Ohio; educated in the public schools of Ohio and Iowa; taught school in Iowa in the winters of 1859-60, 1860-61, and 1862; enlisted as a soldier in the Union Army November 27, 1863, in the Seventh Independent Company of Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. His company was assigned to duty as the bodyguard or mounted escort of Abraham Lincoln; was mustered out, with his company, September 9, 1865. In 1867 was admitted to the bar, in DeKalb County, Indiana; practiced law in that county until 1890, with the exception of the six years when serving as Circuit
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judge; moved to Elkhart, Indiana, in 1890, and re- mained there until 1893, after his term as judge of the Supreme Court had expired, and then removed to Indianapolis. In 1893 formed a partnership in Indianapolis for the practice of law, with C. S. Denny. In 1904 was offered the position of counsel for the Loan Department of The State Life In- surance Company, accepted it, and has been acting as counsel for the Loan Department of the com- pany ever since.
Is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, and a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
John W. Spencer, a native of Posey County, was elected prosecuting attorney of the first judicial circuit in 1890 and took up his residence at Evans- ville in 1891 to administer the office, the counties of Posey and Vanderburg composing the judicial dis- trict. His vigorous prosecution of law offenders attracted great attention in Southern Indiana. Upon retiring from the office he engaged in the general law practice at Evansville.
Governor Marshall appointed him to fill a vacancy in the office of judge of the Circuit Court and later to fill a vacancy on the Supreme bench, and while holding that office he was also nominated in 1912 for judge of the Supreme Court by the Democratic State Convention and elected. By virtue of his appointment and election his term of service on the Supreme bench was for nine years and during that time he was chief justice. His opinions are models of clearness and sound reason-
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ing and fill many of the pages of over twenty volumes of the Supreme Court reports.
Douglas Morris was born on a farm in Henry County, attended the schools of his district and the Knightstown High School from which he grad- uated in 1878 and the following year entered Asbury (now DePauw) University and completed a three-year course, graduating in 1882, and then took up his law studies in the office of Harrison, Hines & Miller in Indianapolis, and began the practice later in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he practiced for a time and then returned to Indiana and located at Rushville and built up a lucrative practice to which he gave his exclusive attention until 1898, when he was elected judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, composed of the counties of Rush and Decatur, and served for one year, when the circuit was changed to the sixteenth composed of Rush and Shelby in which he served out his six years term. €
During this service in 1902 his brother John M. Morris was elected judge of the Circuit Court of Henry County, a rare coincidence, two brothers serving as Circuit judges at the same time in ad join- ing counties.
In 1910 Douglas was elected as Supreme judge on the Democratic ticket, having been of that political faith all his life. His carcer as Supreme judge was marked with great industry and his opinions rank high. He wrote the dissenting opinion in the "Marshall Constitution" case.
William E. Cox has been, and yet is, one of the
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most conspicuous men in Southern Indiana, a native of Dubois County, residing at Jasper. His life began on a farm in the eastern part of that county on September 6, 1861. He acquired a common school education and took a short academic course and then taught school for five years. Then attended and graduated at the University of Lebanon, Tennessee, and later took a post-graduate course at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and located in the law practice in 1898 at Rockport in Spencer County, but soon after moved to Jasper. Was elected prosecuting attorney, serving the State for four years in the prosecution of criminals, and broke up a notorious gang of "White Caps" that had taken the law into their own hands and perpetrated many outrages and crimes in Southern Indiana, sending large numbers of them to the State prison. Was the Democratic nominee for Congress in 1906 and elected, and re-elected for five more terms. Was an ardent supporter of President Wilson in the World War and in every way that it was pos- sible to support him and looks upon that service as the greatest in his career. At the end of his congressional service resumed his law practice and says, in looking over his past life, he is well satisfied with it and would not change it much if he could and is pleased to live in quiet peace with his family in the county of his birth.
Harry C. Sheridan, of Frankfort, Indiana, is known by more lawyers of Indiana than any other by reason of his association with them in the per- formance of his duties as referce in bankruptcy,
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a Federal position that he has held for nearly a quarter of a century, his district comprising fifty- two of the most populous counties of the State. At the same time he has kept up his law practice in the State courts and especially in his home county of Clinton and surrounding counties, where he had gained high rank as a lawyer before his appoint- ment.
He is of the class of sons of pioneers whose parents were not able to give them college educa- tions, but gave them the best that the common schools of early days could furnish. With this foundation and the training that he acquired by attendance at the old Battle Ground College, a Methodist institution that has long since passed into history, he considered himself well enough equipped to begin the study of law and very soon found that the actual trial of cases was about the best method of acquiring legal skill that could be resorted to. His adversaries were his best teachers, and they were members of one of the best bars in the State, composed of such able lawyers as Leander McClurg, Captain Sims, Judges Palmer. Kent, Claybaugh and others. Clinton County was one of the last of the central Indiana counties to have railroad facilities to its county seat, and now it has more railroads than any other outside of Indianapolis. The Big Four, as it is called, passed through the western part of the county during the Civil War. Colfax, then called Midway, was the nearest railroad station to Frankfort. The Logans- port, Crawfordsville and Southwestern, now the
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Vandalia, was constructed in 1869 and soon after what is now called the Lake Erie and Western fol- lowed. In later years the Indianapolis division of the Monon and the Clover Leaf were constructed. The early settlers of Clinton County were mainly from Ohio and it has always had a splendid citizen- ship.
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CHAPTER XXVI
THE INDIANA DUNES
T 1 HE people of Indiana and the residents of
Chicago of the nature loving and scientific class are indebted to Thomas Taggart for the deter- mined effort he made while a United States senator to have the National Government set apart the territory bordering Lake Michigan that has not yet been covered by manufacturing plants for a National Park. Since that time the legislature of Indiana has made provisions whereby part of it may be appropriated for a State Park. Not else- where in the world are there such immense dune formations, nor is there at any other place so ex- tensive and magnificent a natural display of plant associations. The dunes are of all ages, ranging from those which are still "alive" and in motion to those which have been dead for countless years. The region includes nearly every variety of natural environment, and has gathered within its limits plants from the far north and the far south, swamp plants, and desert plants, plants of highlands and lowlands. It has attracted botanists from all over the world. But even more important from a prac- tical standpoint, the dune region has served as a wonderful playground and health resort for the
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DUNE PICTURE
people of the Northern Indiana cities and the city of Chicago. The following description of this terri- tory is from the pen of the gifted William F. Gingrich.
The Indiana dune region extends for twenty-five miles along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
Located within an hour's ride of three million peo- ple it is to a great majority of them an undiscovered country. Travelers glance casually out of the car windows as they speed along between Gary and Michigan City. They note that the appearance of the landscape is somewhat unusual. They do not know that among those hills of gold, and green, and purple there is a wealth of beauty and interest, in some re- spects unequaled anywhere in the world.
DUNES INTEREST SCIENTISTS
A few years ago a party of European scientists traveling in this country, when asked what points in America they most desired to see, replied "Niagara Falls, Yellowstone Park, the Grand Canon, and the sand dunes of Indiana."
Truly, it would seem that our own dune region, like the prophet of old, is not without honor save in our own country. But we are beginning to know about the wonderland that lies at our very door.
For many years artists and writers have gone there for and have found inspiration. Now, when the destruction of a large part of the region seems in- evitable, visitors by the train load make daily pil- grimages to duneland to marvel at its beauty, and to wonder why they never knew it before.
EMBLEM OF NATURE'S BEAUTY
Indiana duneland is a place of excessive contrasts. Visitors are impressed by the everlasting struggle for existence and by the signs of endless change ap-
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parent on every side. It is a wild, wind-tossed region of shifting sand and flying clouds.
It is a place of drowsy calmness and repose. Today there is the thunderous pounding of waves upon the sandy shore. Tomorrow there will be sunshine and the singing of birds. Change, ceaseless change is the order. "Eternal as the hills" does not apply here, for the dunes are of relatively brief existence. Slowly, but irrepressibly, they travel before the wind. Vegetation which stands in the line of travel is doomed to burial and suffocation.
Forest trees a century old have thus been interred to remain hidden for another century or two until the ever onward moving sand leaves them again un- covered, standing gaunt and shattered giants on nature's battlefield.
SOME "FAIRLY PERMANENT"
Some of the Indiana dunes are more or less per- manent, being anchored down by dense growths of vegetation. Geologically considered, however, their existence is of brief duration. They may have all the appearance of being fixed dunes, but should a tree be uprooted by the wind, a "blow-out" is started. Successive storms widen the breach, and it is only a question of time until the whole dune is carried off piecemeal and scattered.
The nature of the vegetation on the Indiana dunes is most remarkable. Perhaps in no equal area in America, if indeed in the world, has been found a greater variety of plants and flowers. Just why vegetation indigenous to the far west, the arctic regions, the southland, the mountain, and the prairie should be found here in such close association is for the scientist to explain.
We are amazed to see the cactus of the south- western desert, with its exquisite yellow blossoms
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and its prickly spines, growing beside the showy pink lady's slipper. The northern rose, whose natural home is in distant Canadian forests, mingles its frag- rance with the delicate perfume of the tiny twin flower. The bearberry, usually sought on craggy mountain heights, looks down into shady pools where the white water lily opens its petals to the sun.
PLANT AND FLY TRAP, TOO
In the marshes is found one of our most peculiar plants. Because its tumbler shaped leaves will hold water it is called the pitcher plant. It is even more remarkable for its fly catching propensities, and the way nature has provided it to entice and capture various species of insects is indeed curious.
The trailing arbutus, rare or unknown in the sur- rounding region, is found here in profusion. Bitter- sweet and winterberry are carried off by the armful, to be preserved for Christmas decorations. From the time hepatica beds first carpet the sunny slopes until the red and gold of sumac and maple come in the fall, hill and swale are covered with a profusion of color. Even after the first frosts have cut down the tenderer flowers the incomparable fringed gentian is there to reflect a bit of the autumn sky.
Most of the larger wild animals have long since disappeared front this region, although timber wolves and the American eagle are said to have been seen here in recent years.
FEW ARE LIVING THERE
The dune region is almost without permanent human inhabitants. On the lake shore a few hardy fishermen obtain a rather precarious living from their nets. Their brawny arms and swarthy skin bear witness to the toughening effects of Lake Michi- gan's wind and wave. The fierce struggle for exist- ence has left its mark upon these simple fisher folk
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as well as upon every other living thing in the region.
Each summer sees an increasing number of tem- porary residents in duneland. People from the sur- rounding country, and especially from Chicago, are beginning to appreciate the dunes, and no day is too hot nor too cold to keep them away, for the dunes are attractive at all seasons of the year.
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CHAPTER XXVII
FOREIGN RELATIONS
TN closing this volume the author ventures his views upon a subject that was much discussed in the presidential campaign of 1920, and if a his- torian may indulge in prophecies he predicts that it will be kept alive in the next and until the rela- tions of this country to other nations of the world are fixed upon a basis of permanent peace.
No history of the past sixty years has yet been written in which the personal and political views of the author in the interpretation of recited facts have been entirely concealed, and this may not be free from the same fault if it may be a fault when it is considered that it is a political history.
President Wilson's endeavors to maintain the neutrality of the United States and his policies in regard to the freedom of the seas while the war between the Allies and the Central powers was raging were regarded as having popular approval in his re-election in 1916. The people of the State of Indiana, however, cast a majority of votes against him, elected two Republican United States senators, a full congressional delegation and all State officers.
One of the causes that contributed to that result
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was the belief that war against Germany should have been declared when the Lusitiana was sunk in mid ocean by German submarines; another, the almost solid vote of German sympathizers who justified its sinking, and who have not yet become reconciled to the fact that the war that was declared in 1917 was justified. In their blind hostility to Wilson they ignored the fact that in all his mes- sages and declarations he distinctly pointed out that the United States had no war to wage against the people of Germany, but only against their im- perial rulers, and seemingly they have yet to be informed that upon the close of the war the Ger- man people framed a new form of government based upon Republican principles and American ideals, of which he was the proponent. Their minds were so poisoned by the newspapers printed in the German language in the United States that it was but natural that they should sympathize with their kindred of their native land and in a measure uphold its old form of government. Under these circumstances it was not a difficult matter for Republican politicians to capitalize their sentiments in 1920 and keep them in the same lines that had been formed in 1916.
Another class of voters were impressed in 1920 with the argument against "entangling alliances" and persuaded to believe that the Democratic party under the leadership of Wilson had departed from its traditional policies of adhering to the Monroc doctrine that was enunciated by a Democratic presi- dent and was most vigorously asserted by one of
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that political faith when President Cleveland in 1895 compelled the quick departure of English war vessels from Venezuela harbors. That doctrine prevented any interference by European powers with affairs in the Western hemisphere, and if it was reciprocal in its character it might have been invoked by European powers to prevent the United States from interfering with their affairs. But it was never contended by any one that it would de- prive the United States of the right of self-defense against the aggressions of any foreign power that menaced or destroyed the lives, liberty and prop- erty of its people, nor that it had the effect to prevent the association with other powers in re- sisting aggressions, even though such resistance incidentally aided other countries that were at war with the aggressor. If it could be held to have any application whatever to conditions that existed when war was declared by the United States against Germany that declaration ipso facto operated to suspend if not to entirely abrogate its force, and the question arises whether it can be revived so as to prevent the consummation of the purposes for which the association with foreign powers was formed.
Our American armies marched and fought with those of the Allies in a common cause against a powerful aggressor to a common victory, when "entangling alliances" were neither feared nor thought of, but the pretended fear of the creation and consequences of such alliances soon became a post-war product to excuse the performance of
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the sacred obligations that the victors owed to each other and to deprive Wilson of the halo that sur- rounded him, and was clearly the offspring of per- sonal and political jealousies. Nevertheless his noble aims and great achievements will endure and live in the memories of his countrymen and the peo- ples of the entire world long after the fear of "entangling alliances" has faded away and his jealous antagonists have been forgotten.
During the course of the terrible war he laid down a series of principles embodied in what was termed his fourteen points, in which there was a general acquiescence, not only among the American people, but, as an able historian has said, "In the hearts of the peoples of Europe beyond the con- fines of Germany, indeed, the announcement of these principles affected the temper of Germany and Austrians also; for on the whole they were but the principles of clear justice." These fourteen points were :
(1) Open covenants of peace openly arrived at.
(2) Freedom of navigation of the seas.
(3) Removal as far as possible of economic barriers.
(4) Adequate guaranties for reduction of arma- ment.
(5) Impartial adjustment of colonial claims.
(6) Evacuation of Russian territory and unham- pered opportunity for Russian development.
(7) The evacuation and restoration of Belgium.
(8) Freeing of French territory and restoration of invaded portions; the righting of the wrong done to France in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine.
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