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Show M BHIS Is o. story of two men -who aro H fighting one of the greatest political H due's In the Presidential campaign, 11 K and tlicy are focmcn worthy of each Eu 8tcc1, Tllcy are Gov- Franklin -iTw"' 01 Jcruoy and former United 'mWr Sciiator James Smith, Jr. They aro fig" "a t0T tho twclvo electoral votes of lm Stato and for tho control of tho I K!,e government, which was for many ara in tho hands of the Democrats, and K y wrested from them after they K reacncd the zenith of their power and loved thoy had Intrenched themselves fond tho noHSibllltlcs of displacement cr tho election of 1802. jKjth are very big men In their home , PM at Newark. Both wero born in tho i By where they llvo. and tho skillful W?iPUlatlon of cach was the foundation Ifftnls political fortunes In tho State. Both Br6 "ntors of tho Common Council of MWjrk. Both contributed to tho making jjjj Governors boforo they hud become -rBiJn politics outside of their own r" Smith. Jr.. reached tho hoight of ,WifP tlcal proiulnonco through making .'Governor and then talcing a United -IK" Snalorshlp that tho Governor ho jWg- niwle wts after. K'iainkl'n Murphy reached tho pinnacle B.ll?o,,arty fluno through making a 'K. i itC3 6cnator and then' contcihlng IBS, wltn accertlng the Governorship. iKr? aro hoth essentially business men ' ml larao sense. jkK James Smith, Jr. Rkprolth started In llfo as a poor boy. tr oi lr,sh descent and his parents e.evQ"t Catholics. Ho today holds a Eh5re8.ented to him by tho Catholic JBEfvL of America as a mo3t worthy Kilrr St the church In Now Jersey. T..;.. J,fe ho cultivated a placid, good-vlKinc. good-vlKinc. J?omeanor. Ho was novcr known UK h,a temper. Today ho la a big. K',1111111 with a faco that 1q a strangor K i!J wrl'iklo or scowl, and -with a 3,c?1,.vo,C0 that attracts attontlon moment ho Hpeaks. lnvn.tcrcd tho dry goods business ns IK i i I?an' nnd 300,1 thereafter aban-HV. aban-HV. int and becamo Interested In tho rttwaLnes8- Ho 110 w owns tho larg- ni !shment of Ita kind In New Jor-Mit Jor-Mit Rmui? 0I. th0 largest In the world. -BtnShi,th . talc'2a 11 f0 casy- wlien ho ii 'i0 lols no on0 liow It When 3 ?Wkto?u& he. 'sh-cs all of his f rlonds lBhS trannA h0 has held hla own K onJ tqucnl.ffnd ov0l-whelmlng odds. KmiT7 lAat Mr- Smlth had any 'iESra, al".bltlons when ho mado his lid ni.4 lhe Primaries In his own olmnrn was successful, rfnd thon JKbS? Afn.lf wro after him to become a iKotn in 1,1 0 Commfm Council. Ho was "sEtr it , ,nanntir and always a pcaco-flBt pcaco-flBt ho arS 84oated to him one day Im It for nJor .avor. Ho could have ccl? i,?ak,n,f' nnd 1,0 could have m&a&S?!ut Nw Jorscy at 'iBraynes L Hav"es 'ur cnndldate., Mynta Wbnam,ado the candidate and P'nl the bnUh was tho power Knber of ,innc' Ho was nlreadv a D;.R,q tho l i0'nJn?,n Council. Ho now rd ol Kra?d ho head of the mllmo u :lcM of Newark was, Mf'nB "ho nniin Sm'th8 manipulation intb bccam nrol,uc of tho Stato. TMr t. CThcna cnbcr of tho Stato con mbs or ?h0 rLi"10 timc tho WKfliat4 Biih ,lato commlttoe bcamo with ,th man who had for " many years been sending thorn a good-sized good-sized check In each campaign, signed "Jamos Smith. Jr." Tlmo ran on, until the great contest of 1602 In tho Democratic party between Hill and Cleveland. The lato Judge Leon Abbott Ab-bott was Governor and still tho political power In tho State. Ho nnd tho powerful head of the Board of Public Works had always worked together. Abbott decided to send delegates to tho Chicago convention conven-tion Instructed for Hill. "Very well," said Mr. Smith, "wo can but try." "What do you mean?" asked Gov. Ab-VolU Ab-VolU "I mean Just what I say." said -Mr. Smith. "We can only try, but I havo my doubts." Smith tried and Abbott tried. But tho Democracy of New Jersey would listen to nothing but Cleveland. Hill was strong with the politicians; ho was weak with the people when Cleveland wa3 in tho race. "What folly," said Smith, finally, "to try to beat back that great army with a switch." . But Abbott would not listen, and Smith turnod awav quietly and went to work. He led tho Cleveland movement, and tho Now Jersey delegates wero Instructed for Cleveland. x Gov. Abbctt then decided to go to tho Senate. Mr. Smith refused to eay whother ho had a candldato. The Governor Gover-nor was tho loader of tho Stato In name only, but he did not realizo 1L The real loader was tho head of tho Board of Public Works of Newark, and James Smith, Jr . know he was leader. Whon the tlmo camo to elect a Senator It was all done Just as quiotly as was thp selection selec-tion of tho Mayor irf .Newark many years boforo, onlv this tlmo Smith said: "Mako mo vour United States Senator.' Thus, In "ten vcars an Alderman had becomo a member of tho United States Senate, and ho had dono It simply by shrewd and quiet manipulation, Mr. Smith, although a plain business man and no orator, was a conspicuous flguro in tho United States Senate. It is a fact that every newspaper sketch of Mr. Smith printed when ho was elected concluded with a paragraph llko this' "Tho new Senator from Now Jersoy is not a speech-maker, and will not be heard from much in debate; but ho will shine In committee work." Mr. Smith decided to fool tho nowspa-pora, nowspa-pora, and ho i made a number of speeches that wero commented on widely. He supported sup-ported President Cleveland in his Venc-j:uelan Venc-j:uelan message, and opposed him on the lncomo tax feature of tho Wilson bill. Ho bolted Bryan In 1S9G and went to Europe. Ho camo out for Bi-yan in 1DO0, and held his organization In the Stato both times. Ho went to St Loula In 1501, urging Mr. Clovoland for President, nlthough tho delegation was 3olId for Parker, and ho held a letter from Mr. Clovoland forbidding him to present his namo to tho convention; and still ho held his organization. When tho Parker tldo became too strong to bo resisted In tho convention ho voted tho delegates for Parker, and less than a month lator turnod up in tho Inner councils of his party as a meiriber of tho oxccutlvo, or campaign commltto of tho Democratic National commltteo. Gov. Murpliy. Gov. Murphy is email In staturo and large In generosity and in fortune. Ho loft school when ho was sixteen years of ago, In 1B81, and enlisted In tho Thirteenth Thir-teenth New Jersey volunteer Infantry as a privato. Ho camo out In 1SC5 a lieutenant, lieuten-ant, with plenty of experience for meeting meet-ing tho difficulties of life. Ho began work In Newark with a varnish manufacturing manu-facturing concern. Ho dovelopod It into one of tho greatest works of its kind in tho world. Ho has largo plants In New- ark, Chicago, Cleveland and Paris. This" has been his life work. Politics has rather been his recreation. Ho becamo chairman of tho Stato committee com-mittee In 1001. These woro tho darkest .days for tho Republicans of New Jersey, ' aud Essex county, in which Newark is locatod and in which Mr. Smith then, as now. was his opponent, was tho Democratic Demo-cratic stronghold. Go. Murphy began to uproot Mr. Smith with candor and open mothods. It was these weapons pitted against finesse Tho county of Essex casts more than 72.000 votes In a Presidential election. elec-tion. Tho Stato becan to turn at tho first election following the passage of the Wilson bill. Under Mr. Murphy's lcad-oishlp lcad-oishlp it went for McKlnlev In 1S36 by tho thumping majority of S7.000, and even In 1900 Essex county stood like a wall, giving McKInloy 20.000. or more than a third of tho Republican plurality In tho Stato. It Is believed that In this county tho struggle for tho Electoral vote of New Jersoy this year will bo decided. There would seem to bo no possibility of tho Democrats gottlng a safe majority in tho Elcctral college If Now Jersey can bo held for Roosovelt That Is the problem prob-lem with which the3o two political giants aro wrestling today. Gov. Murphy Is a nuavc and agreeable man. Ho Is a member of many well-known well-known clubs, and Is fond of art and literature, lit-erature, a? i.. ii.M...ii.ii.i.)miH.ii-t if PI He candidly opposed tho olectlon of Mr. Cortolyou as chairman of tho Republican Re-publican National committee. Yet thero was no man who Is giving Mr. Cortolyou moro loyal oupport. Mr. Murphy is rather reserved In his manner. He likes to tako tlmo to think. During the present campaign ho can be seon frequently taking a hasty luncheon at tho Hoffman Houso or tho Fifth Avo-nut Avo-nut hotel, and all tho time ho is thinking think-ing out some problem of politics. At the same tlmo Mr Smith can be soon lunching at tho Waldorf-Astoria, and ho always has company. Ho says ho thinks whllo he 13 talking to others. Unlike Mr. Smith, who dependa almost entirely upon himself to manipulate the State, Gov. Murphy has around him several sev-eral Intimate and confidential friends. Tho most conspicuous of theso Is United States Senator John M. Dryden. Sonalor Dryden, besides being the pres- i ldent of a largo llfo Insurance company, y) la one of tho most conspicuous men In 4 , the financial world In and around Now i ( M York. He is tall and gravo, but ho has t, become In tho few nhort years of his sor- i,r vice probably one of tho best known of ) M tho mombors of tho Senate whose terms M havo been limited. Senator Dryden la , , . one of tho best Judges of an Investment ') security In tho Stato of Now Jersey. He mm Is also one of tho best Judges of a thor- ( J , oughbrcd horse. , ( While Gov. Murphy Is grave and ' thoughtful, Senator Dryden Is dignified. t , M but also ''sunshiny." Ho can toll a good n mm story, and ho Is a mighty good Judge of jl whether action on a political question la ' jlH going to tako well with tho voters. I (Copyright. 190-1, by T C. McClure.) |
