! Lorimer, the New Illinois Senator s
. Former Street Car Conductor,
Who Cot His Start !n Politics by
I Organizing His Craft, Is Known
as the "Blond Boss." ?
XaAA AAA A AAA AAA A A A -
. Father of a Ship Canal From Chi
cago to the Gulf Breadwinner
From an Early Age Good Mixer
and Popular Loyal to Friends
traitor, and his pursuit is relentless.
The foes of ex-Senator Hopkins ex
plain the downfall of that gentleman
as an effect of that very cause. They
aver that it -was Lorimer who made.
Hopkins senator in the first place, and
when Lorimer was trying to nominate
Yates over Deneen they accused Hop
kins of trying to carry water on both
By JAMES A. EDGER.TON.
THE main facts about William
Lorimer, the new senator from
Illinois, are that he was born In
England; that he is forty-eight
years old; that he came to the United
States in childhood; that his father,
who was a minister, died when the
lad was ten years old; that from then
on he has been a breadwinner; that he shoulders. These are the charges, and,
whether true or not, the result is the
same. Hopkins is out, and Lorimer is
in. The "Blond boss" turned the trick
in the face of a plurality for the for
mer senator in the primaries.
Perhaps the Democratic vote for
Lorimer is explained by that very
fight for governor, in which It is
charged that after Deneen was nomi
nated Lorimer threw his forces to
840 acres, 1 1-2 miles from Summit.
700 acres fenced in five pastures run
Ining water between each pasture, fair
buildings, 72 bearing fruit trees-will
pekp S vears straio-Vit. Alan koiro fnr
rocacy of this gigantic undertaking j and 4 0 d j
!e attention "was paid to him even e , Tr
jj. r. xoung.
203 N. 14 St., Corvallis. .
' 6-4-4 tw.
had little or no schooling; that he sold
papers, blacked boots, wheeled salt in
the packing houses and was a horse
car conductor; that he became a ma
chine politician and is now known as
the "blond t boss;" that he has been
widely and vehemently denounced as
being a representative of the vicious
elements and "the interests;" that nev
ertheless his private life is notably
clean and his family life ideal; that he Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic can- j
does not smoke, drink or swear; that didate, and ran him a hundred thou-
he has eight children, to whom he is sand or so ahead of his ticket. After- j
devoted; that he is a large man, se- ward an anti-Deneen bipartisan com-1
rene, unruffled, a good mixer and pop- bination organized the legislature, and !
tilar; that he never goes back . on a Lorimer is given the credit for that. '
friend; that he has been in congress These intricacies of state DOlitics have 1
seven terms; that he is known as the peculiar twists. After all the battle
hich was In the interest of some
f.iicago corporation. Billy Lorimer Is
If Chicago and for Chicago.
The Ship Canal.1
Of all the things Lorimer has done
or attempted to do for his own town
:he dwp waterway project liithe most
momentous. When he first began the
aov
little
la his own city. Gradually, however,
hk-a.sro began to awaken until today
he ship canal from the lakes to : the
a:f is about the livest wire in the
''C'o west. After fighting for "it
n-'i many congresses and on the
U tivr .Illinois the new sena
; the pV:iure of seeing a great
ion i in Chicago in its be
. -,-':,! i both President Taft
na-1 .1. nr. an spoke in Its fa-
r-t ie is in the senate hg
let- a Mil harder fight for his
t " d nys that he will carry
u -,'.!. Ft hH advo.-acy of this
!fYe"t pi!tenTi.e mn"h can -be
i him. There are many exam-
For Rent
"father of the deep waterway project"
cf a ship canal from the great lakes to
the gulf; that he is a fair speaker, but
prefers to work on the quiet, and that
his election as senator came as a sur
prise at the end of the longest dead
lock in the history of Illinois.
This is but a skeleton outline, but it
gives an idea of the man. His career
is not commonplace or usual by any
means, and perhaps the strangest
thing in it is that he, a party boss,
was elected to the senate by a combi
nation of Republicans and Democrats.
Another striking feature about Lori
mer Is that several times his enemies
ihave gleefully proclaimed that the
"blond boss" was down and out. . Tet.
between the new senator and the gov
ernor, both Chicago men, by the way,
and former friends, one of Lorimer's
first moves after his election was to
make a call at the executive mansion,
and the Interview between the arch
enemies was so cordial that the Chica
go papers at once figured out an of
fensive and defensive alliance.
Waving His Candidate In.
One of the most spectacular political
stunts ever pulled off by Lorimer was
the nomination of Dick Yates for gov
ernor nearly a decade ago. It was on
the third ballot when the cause that
the Chicago man. espoused seemed lost
and, according to report, another man
I,
Li
If wsm&h -A- i
WILLIAM LOHIMER, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS.
at the next turn of the wheel he won
greater Victories than ever. His pres
ent triumph is a case in point. He
had fought Deneen both in the prima
ries and at the polls, and Deneen gave
him a drubbing each time. "That is
the end of Billy Lorimer!" yelled
everybody. And now look at him
one -minute dumped in the gutter and
left at the rear and the next on the
front seat of the band wagon at the
head of the procession!
Serene and Canny. ;
Lorimer in his acceptance speech
blandly and benevolently handed out
bouquets to everybody, even his foes;
looked as innocent and cherubic as a
blond boss could; said he was a Repub
lican, but loved the Democrats who
had jumped the fence in his behalf;
talked for tariff revision downward
because it had been promised in the
platform; spokp a good word two of
them, in fact for his deep waterway
scheme and looked so serene that no
one would have dreamed that he had
just pulled off a deal without a paral
lel in the history of American politics.
For an ex-street car conductor who
had got his first start in politics by
organizing his craft it was quite a
piece of generalship. Lorimer is .dis
tinctively a politician. The convolu
tions in his gray matter are not in
vain. They stand for something. He.
Is crnny. as becomes one of Scotch
blocd; which' he is. although born in
Manchester. He plays the game. and.
win or lose,, he is not a quitter. His
was actually nominated. Suddenly
Lorimer appeared on the stage waving
a Yates banner. He kept it up until
the convention was stampeded, and in
the confusion the third ballot, was nev
er counted. A fourth roll call was or
dered, and the day was won for Yates.
The act by which the new senator
first forced himself into general notice
was almost as spectacular. It was in
1892, and he was a delegate to the
Minneapolis convention. Illinois was
for the renomination of Harrison, but
Lorimer would not be bound by the
delegation and voted for James G,
Blaine. As Blaine had hosts of friends
in Chicago, the rising young politician
lost nothing by the move.
A third incident shows a streak of
independence in Lorimer that would
not be suspected from his reputation
as a machine man. It was in the days
just after the Maine had been blown
up in Havana harbor and when Tom
Reed and the administration were try
ing to prevent or at least delay
declaration of war. Lorimer served
notice on Reed that he would lead a
revolt, which he did and forced ac
tion. He pulled off a similar coup in
his salad days as a kid congressman.
Though he was supposed to keep si
lent, he made .so warm. a fight for the
Chicago public building bill that.' in
spite of everybody else who was look
ing for pork, the Windy City won the
day. It must bo said for him that he
has always stood up for Chicago,
Much of the criticism of him has been
loyally to his friends is both his j due to his championship of his friends
strength and his' weakness. So long as' and of Chicago interests. When Hoose-
they stay by him he -stays by thein, j velt led the fight for ..meat inspection
no matter rwhat else they may do. it was Lorimer who rushed to the sup
This had laid him open to many at- port of the packing bouses. Only re
tacks. On the other hand, he has a tently the Michigan delegation was in
long memory for his enemies. Let a j high dudgeon becaufie Lorimer bad
friend double cross him or play the fathered a scheme at Sault Ste. Marie
.crarif,
7
; Money To Pay Warrants
Notice is hereby given that there is
money, on hand to pay General Fund
Warrants endorsed to November 22,
1904, and all endorsed street warrants.
Interest will stop on same from this
date, June 5, 1909,-.
Z. H. Davis, .
6-5-10-17 . City Treasurer.
Daily Gazette 50 cents per month
Why not take it. .
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MRS. WILLIAM LOUIMEK. -
pies of poetic justice in the world, and
not the feast of these is the general
belief In Illinois that it was. his cham
pionship of the deep waterway that
was the deciding factor ip gaining for
Billy Lorimer the senatorship. It
would be an interesting psychological
study to know whether he had such a
result m view when he began the
seemingly hopeless fight. Why hot
give him the benefit of the doubt and
believe that he was actuated by public
spirit rather than private ambition?
Or perhaps both factors entered, as
they do in most men. In writing of
many men I find that there is some
thing good in all. Just as there are
other things to be deplored. In strik
ing a balance between the two some
times the scale tips, one way, some-:
times the other. In Lorimer's case
that ship canal when It Is carried
through, as It certainly will be, will
redeem much and blot out much. It
will be a monument ever enduring, one
of which the greatest and best might
be proud.
In the end we are judged by oiir
most conspicuous deed, whether .it be
of good or of evil. -The deep waterway
will certainly be the most conspicuous
deed of Senator William Lorimer.
Who can tell but that It may even
swallow up his reputation as a "blond
boss?" , - l-
Getting at the Real Man.
Fame plays queer tricks on; us all.
And we who most abhor the political
methods of men of the Lorimer type
are forced to applaud efforts for the
public good such as those shown in his
long battle for this enterprise that Is
to bless the future. I am not seeking
to excuse Lorimer. I am only seeking
to do him justice. A character sketch
that shows personal or partisan bias Is
not worthy of the name. The effort
should be to get at the real man and
set him forth as he is no more, no
less. Kindliness and sympathy go a
long way in getting at another's view
point and angle of vision. TJntiJ that
viewpoint ' is gained a fair estimate
cannot be made. I am frank to say
that my first feeling as" to Lorimer
was one of repugnance.' Looked at
more closely, there is gold beneath the
dross. This Is not said of him because
he Is a United States senator. It would
be just as true If he were still a west
side street car conductor, although
there would be no palpitating Interest
In him .as such. These things can be
said of him and for him: He has made
his own way: he never loses his tem
per; In his home he is what every
American man should be; his word
never goes to protest; he sticks by his
friends even though they go to jail; he
is constructive and for his own town,
and he has fought through good and
evil report for at least one public work
that will benefit mankind. - u
Such things weigh. They contain
substance and have meaning. Perhaps
I have omitted the one element that
counts for most in the world, though
It may be rated "at more than its
worth Mr. Lorimer has plucked the
golden apple of success. That is the
credit side of the account, and why
cast up the debit? The papers have
been full of it for years, and 'it is gen
erally known of men. , r '
No sketch of Senator Lorimer would
be complete that did not incliide Mrs.
Lorimer. She was born in Canada,
and he married her when he was a
street car conductor. The same loyalty
that has held him to his friends and to
his city has welded him to his home,.
In the life of this man there is none of
the sickening story of the successful
man outgrowing the partner of his
humble beginnings.
In personal appearance the "blond
boss" is like his name auburn of hair,
red of mustache, a good fellow and as
democratic as sunshine. Here Is hop
ing that his most cherished ambition
may be fulfilled and that he may Iiv
to build the Chicago ship canal. .
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