s
vol. xvm, NO. X
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, SATURDAY, MARCH IS, 1902
ESTABLISHED IN' 1886
LANCASTER'S, MAN FOR, GOVERNOR
Being a Brief Sketch of Henry H. Wilson, Educator, Lawyer,
and Publicist, whose Name will
be Submitted to the Coming Republican State Convention
To be the governor of the great state
of Nebraska Is o, worthy ambition, fit
and proper lodgment in the bosom of
any man. No other position within
the gift of the people of the common
wealth, not even that of United States
senator or congressman, offers so many
and such great opportunities for the
exercise of executive ability, talent,
good, hard sense and tact for the
employment of those qualities which
distinguish the man o' brains and
character from the fommon run of
humanity, which go for leadership in
the affairs of a community.
The governor is a czar in his domain.
In him is vested a vast power. He
may rule with a rod of iron, he may
use his great office to build up a per
sonal political machine, he may. bend
its power and influence to the promo-
tlonk6f 'his selfish "schemes 'of 'prefer-"
- ment and aggrandizement. On the
other hand he may be a man keenly
alive to the fact that the power placed
in his hands is a trust to be used, not
for the working out of his private
ends, but for the good of the people
generally. With man constituted as
he is, the personal equation cannot be
eliminated. The element of self-interest
that enters into the law of self-
preservation is too vital a part.
There is an intoxication accompany
ing the possession of power that sets
reeling the head of the weak, but gives
poise to the strong. Vanity is a sav
ing grace bestowed on man that he
may the better avoid the pit of self
abasement. It Is not in Itself a fault,
but too long worship at its shrine un
fits the devotee for the more serious
duties of life. That man is the bet
ter ruler, be he king, president or gov
ernor, who preserves with the dignity
of his position, the calm, judicial
frame of mind necessary to fairness
and Impartiality of administration.
Nebraska has had both kinds of
governors. It has had men in the
executive chair who might well have
been spared from the call to duty. It
has had there men who combined with
the sense of personal obligation the
higher instinct of the debt owing the
public. The ideal governor, however,
has not yet taken the oath of office.
He may not, In fact, be ever found.
It Is one of the weaknesses of our
political system that the strongest
men are rarely found In public posi
tions. This is due to three causes, the
dlstastefulness of engaging In a strife
for office with all that candidacy there
for entails; the unattractiveness of it
, in a financial sense, and the fact that
with two strong men and one weak
man in a convention contest the odds
of victory rest with the latter because
of the prevalence of the spirit of com
promise. Strong men, men of character and
standing, have quite often sought, but
seldom won the prize of a gubernato
rial nomination. This year, if public
sentiment Is to be read aright, only
men who fulfill these requirements
need apply to the republican conven
tion. Recognizing this fact the re
publicans of Lancaster county have
undertaken to present as a man for
the occasion Henry H. Wilson, an at
torney of Lincoln.
A man so widely known as Mr. Wil
son scarcely needs an introduction to
the people of Nebraska. Yet there are
some things about his personality that
many may be interested In reading
because they have not known him as
one must to appreciate one's fellows.
The ordinary man finds biography dry
reading. This is not a biography.
.Mr. Wilson has lived in Lincoln for
twenty-nine years. With its social and
professional life he has been thor
oughly Identified. With the political
side of affairs he has not been in such
close touch. He-.isj an ardent, republi
can, staunch in the faith, and while
adverse fate, a reliance entirely upon
his own efforts to maintain himself
while at school. He graduated in 1STS
with the degree of Ph. B., and eight
years later his alma mater made him
an A. M. Two years as principal of
the hlsh school of Seward ended his
eareer as an educator.
At odd moments he had been mas
tering the rudiments of law. and In
18S0 he entered the office of Lamb. Bll
Hnssley & Lambertson. For a number
of years he was the junior member of
the firm of Lamb. Kicketts & Wilson,
later Rieketts &- Wilson, a connection
lasting the unusual period of seventeen
and one-half, years, and is now the
head of-the -partnership of Wilson &
Brown. This brief -history of his rise
from a hoy on the farm to leadership
HENRY H. WILSON.
V J
his voice has been often heard in the
political forum, his energies have been
devoted to the achievement of suc
cess in his professional career.
It has been a long and toilsome
journey to the eminence Mr. Wilson
now occupies. He was a product of
the soil. At the age of thirteen the
burden of work and management of his
father's farm fell upon his shoulders.
The meagre advantages of a country
school in the earlier days of Nebras
ka were all that fell to his lot. His
desire for betterment led to two terms
in normal schools, and then he became
a school teacher. His first venture as
the trainer of youthful minds was in
an Irish settlement in the Platte bot
toms In Sarpy county. In 1873. when
a boy of nineteen, he registered as a
student at the state university. In the
preparatory department. The next
five years were busy ones for the eager
young student. It was a struggle with
at the bar Is eloquent of the sturdl
ness and determination of the man.
Many of Mr. Wilson's friends are In
clined to pin their faith to his nomi
nation because of the fact that he Is
a native of Ohio and heir to all the
political luck that tradition has af
fixed to nativity In the Buckeye state.
He was born near Fremont, Sandusky
county. January 1, 1854, and is the
seventh child of a family of nine, an
additional indication of coming suc
cess. His parentage Is composite as
regards nationality, but in him the
Scot, with all his strength of charac
ter, pertinacity and robust manhood,
predominates.
In all his instincts and feelings Mr.
Wilson is still a young man. This is
traceable to the inborn enthusiasm
that is so marked a characteristic. For
a number of years he has been an In
structor of the law class of the state
university, and this intimate associa
tion with young men has been the
fount from which he has renewed his
youth. As nn instructor he 1- wry
popular.
In all the years of his activity In
Lincoln Mr. Wilson has Invariably
stood for that which Is soundest mor
ally and best for man. He Is an Inde
pendent thinker, firm In his convic
tions, with the ability to expound his
beliefs and defend his principles. Some
or these qualities bar men from hopes
of iKilitlcnl preferment, and the pos
session of them has heretofore shut
the door of political ambition to H. II.
Wilson. That It pays even In politics
to be honest, sturdy and unflinching Is
proven by the fact that In the present
crisis of the party many have turned
to Mr. Wilson and asked him to stand
for governor.
Like all men who have the gift o.
oratory Mr. Wilson has a dramatic
quality of utterance and a poise that
have been mistaken by many indif
ferent observers for austerity. Pro
fessional life, with a man of studious
habits, has a tendency to enwrap one
In a mantle of self-concentration that
can easily be mistaken for aloofness
While in fact" Mr. Wilson Is a man of
keen Interest In his fellows and an act
ive concern In. affairs, he has had the
misfortune to be misunderstood by
some In matters which a closer per
sonal friendship soon diypels. That
this is true is proven by the high
esteem and wide popularity he has
achieved In those fraternal, profes
sional and social organizations In
which he has been most active.
The duties of a governor are manl
fold. He must not only be able to In
telllgently und tactfully guide the ship
ot state In matters of pure adminis
tration, but he must hold himseh' i.i
readiness to make speeches on any oc
casion. The better speech a governor
can make on great. occasions the bet
ter he serves his state In the social
aspect. Mr. Wilson can not only
make a speech, but he can make ait
exceedingly good one. He has been
prolific as a writer and adds to the
grace of oratory the gift of expres
sion. This is not so necessary In a
chief executive as honesty, fearless
ness, ability and character .ill of
which Mr. Wilson possesses but it Is
a quality not to be despised.
It would be a financial sacrifice for
Mr. Wilson to accept the office or gov
ernor, but he has attained that posi
tion In life where honor beckons more
alluringly than money entices. He
very frankly says that he would like
to be chief executive. He believes that
he could serve his fellow-citizens ac
ceptably and honorably, and he would
gratefully accept the trust. Beyond
the twinge of disappointment that In
effective effort brings, he would not re
pine In defeat.
His candidacy rests' In the hands of
the republicans of the state. If they
desire a man of his character and
standing, if they wish a man not
marked with the brand of any faction,
one who has kept himself aloof from
the disturbing Influences of recent
years, here is the man. This Is not a
plea for Mr. Wilson's nomination, but
the recital of some facts about the man
that may lead to a better understand
ing of him and a clparr conception of
his availability. H. T. DOBBINS.