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W -J K * v i" i \ S s* " ^ '** « ' e * ~ '* . X i-V ' V ' ^ '•-'•*'• '"'HV-": * "~ V" '-;'• '-;• THE M HENHY PLAINDEALER, THURSDAY, SEPT. 27, 1928 " - . ^ V;.;- 'VZ'V> ^ fTpr^? . .i^r; ?.,1T' -»i^.'3"• •-••'>*"• • V--• 'te"-f0-' rs^POUTI C A l » i ; A D V ERT I^ I N <5 The Story ept the «*r iWV£-.U ,•# £k' ^ * V »' ft •.•.-••• -.'-' - : ' - t » *•*' •*- f' If Floyd E. Thompson in nor s FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE OF TFfE SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS FLOYD E. THOMPSON DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF x In Floyd E. Thompson, the Democratic Party has a candidate for* (governor whose nomination was the result of a statewide demand for a change in the administration of the public business. His simplicity, his honesty, his industry and his courage are traits whjch have endeared him to the people of Illinois. In presenting him as its nominee, the Democratic Party feel§ ^ itiat it is honoring itself and rendering a service to the State. 1 His nomination in this period, of treachery and corruption af- --fords the voters of Illinois an opportunity to vouchsafe to themselves a progressive,, efficient and incorruptible administration of government. Floyd E. Thompson worked with his father on a farm unUf December 25, 1887, within three mileS of the spot where his *reat-great-grandfather, John Thompson, settled before Illinois ! lecame a state. He grew to manhood on a farm north of Rood- • louse, and in 1911 went to Rock Island county, where he now • fesides. He is the oldest of the five children of Albert Alonzo v iuid Sarah Edwards Thompson, who reside in Whitehall. r Floyd E. Thompson worked with his fathei>tt a farip untif "he graduated from Roodhouse high school in 190/, valedictoriaia of his class. During the summer vacation in 1906 he began tjp reayl law and he continued his private study during evening® |md vacations until 1911, when he was admitted to the bar. He J ~ taught school from 1907 to 1910 and edited and published the East Moline (Illinois) Herald and practiced his profession dur- " j|ig 1911 and 1912. In the latter year he was nominated and elected State's Attorney of Rock Island county, the.first Demo- * crat ever elected to that office. In 1M6 he was reelected by a majority of 2,300, the only Demoeratever reele<jte4 to any countv office in Rock Island county. - - ^ • 4 - L u v • Prior to 1912 a corrupt political machine had gained corjf •» trol of some of the offices in the city and county of Rock Islan^ and the law-enforcing agencies had bryken down. Floyd R. Thompson had been electej on a pledge to correct these condi-' tions and he began the task in earnest. For two years he strug- f gled against the opposition of the group in control of the board of supervisors and the treachery of the sheriff. Strenuous effortf were made to discredit and frighten him, but these assaults served only to stimulate him to greater effort. Many of the "gangsters fled from the community and others were driven front, f on trol of local politics. Much of the time he fought singly. ~ feanded, but when Flovi E. Thompson left the State's Attorney's office in 1919 there was no crimp ring in control in Rock°r Island county. He had Jtept his pledge to divorce politics fro® . * crime. - * ' ; 'After war was declared in 19lV, thousands of workmen were employed at the Rock Island Arsenal in the construction , of new buildings on Arsenal Island and in the manufacture ol A munitions in the shops. To afford the necessary rigid war-timit protection for these employes and the government property^ the War Department created a half-mile zqne around this mill* ' tary reservation. Because of his record as a tireless and fearlegff frrosecutor, and on account of his familiarity with local cond^t »» ions, the Government naturally turned to State's Attorney Thompson to keep this military zone free from vice and crime. f v faithfully and vigorously he discharged this difficult assign-' inent and won the praise of Colonel G. W. Burr, who was commanding officer of this military reservation - until February. 1918, and of Colonel L. T. Hinman, who succeeded him, and also of United States Marshal V. Y. Dallman, who assigned deputies to Rdjck Island to aid the county and city police officers in the Arsenal area.' In addition to doing double duty as prosecutor,,- he also served as the api>eal officer of the District Api>eal Board and as an active aid of the State Council of Defense. April 1, 1919, Floyd E. Thompson was elected^ justice of the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy. He was then thirty-one years old and was the youngest man ever elected to that position by a vote of the people. When he assumed his duties there was an accumulation of twenty-eight cases assigned to the Fourth Judicial District, but he applied himself so assiduously to his task that he disposed of his regular assignments and those accumulations before the October term convened that fall. • In June, 1921, Justice Thompson was reelected to the Supreme Court for the full term of nine years. His majority in the district was 11,426, though the Republican candidate for1 president had carried the district seven months before by 49,566. He carried his home county of Rock Island for the fourth time, his majority being 4,688, as against a plurality of 16,700 for Harding. His successive victories in'this Republican county are conclusive proof of the high regard in which he is held by those wfeo know him best, .belli a# a private citizen and a public official. 1 / At the June term, 1922, flioiigti oftly 34 years old, he be- • came Chief Justice and soon came into national prominence. He has been faithful to his trust and has devoted all his time and ability to the public business. At no time during Ins nine yeara on the Supreme Court has any case assigned to him gone over the second term of court without (an opinion being submitted. He has written opinions in 643 cases in addition to all his other duties on the court, a record equalled by few and surpassed by none. The leaders of the Bar are free in their praise of the <juit- ' ity» af his work. • - Justice Thompson has always been active in civic,'fraternal4 and professional affairs. Helias served as president of the county fair board, his country club, and other civic organizations. He is a member of the Elks, Odd Fellows, Eagles, Knights of Pythias, Moose, Modern Woodmen and Mystic Workers, and has served in the offices or on committees of all these fraternal societies. He is active in the work of the Sons of the American ^Revolution and the Sons of Union Vetettuas^He is a member of the American Institute of Criminal (jjaw and Criminology, a charter member of the American Law Institute, and one of twelve recognized authorities on criminal law chosen as advisers to the reporters who are preparing a uniform Code of Criminal Procedure. He is in great demand as a public speaker and has always been generous with his time in this service. He is never too busy to help boost any worthy project. v ~In 1918 he was married to Miss Irene Condit Worcester of Hoodhouse. She is a graduate of Roodhouse High School an3 of Illinois Woman's College at Jacksonville. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the League of Women Voters, the King's Daughters, the Rock Island Woman's Club, the Rock Island County Tuberculosis Society, the Young Woman's Christian Association, and the First Methodist churcli of Rock Island, and active in all the work in them. They have one daughter, Mary ^llen, who attends public school. v , Yielding to a general demand, Justice Thompson announced his candidacy for Governor of Illinois on February 14 ' 1928« . At the primary election in April Justice Thompson was nominated for governor on the Democratic ticket without 6p- • Floyd E. Thompson will speak at a dinner honor at Justen^ Hotel at 5:30 on Friday, October 5th given in Every citizen of McRenry, man or woman, democrat or republican, is invited to attend this dinner and hear the democratic candidate for governor expound his views of our state government. Tickets at Jos. W. Fretind's, Ray McG^e's or Bolger's Drug Store. y$l per plate* position. In his stfeech of acceptance at the State convention, which attracted wide attention, he said among other things: "You have invited me unanimously in an open primary election to take the leadership of the Democratic party and marshal under its banner the hosts who want to restore our beloved Illinois to her place of honor in the great sisterhood of states. No weightier commission could be laid on any man. I would be vain indeed did I not feel my own unaided strength inadequate 1 to the task, but I am confident you represent thousands of voters who long for the day when they need no longer apologize for the ignominy the allied forces of greed and dishonesty have brought upon them. 4 'I accept the nomination with a deep sense of its unusual significance and of my responsibility to my party and my state. Many and grave are the tasks ahead, and all the resources of ability and patriotism at our command will be taxed in their solution. Confidence in our government and those who admin ister it must be restored. We must erase from the doorstep of the State House the legend, 'To the victor belong the spoils of office.' and carve in indelible letters across the portal our slogan, 'To the victor belongs the responsibility of honest public service. ' "Important as other issues are, all of them fade into insignificance when compared with the issue of honesty and industry in public service. The red flag of anarchy invariably follows the black flag of political corruption. Every government of the people that has fallen, fell by the hand of that political monster, Graft. Americans must purge their national, state and local governments, and drive the crooks from high places, or oar heritage will be lost. "The revelations of the past seven years in Washington Springfield, Indianapolis and elsewhere, challenge the manhood and womanhood of this nation to immediate action. The question is bigger than parties. It is a test of strength between the forces of evil and the forces of good. Party lines must be forgotten and all who believe in decency and honesty must join hands against the common enemy. "If you expect me to brand every Republican as a rascal and to claim for the Democrats a monopoly of virtue, you will be disappointed. I know my Republican neighbors, and my contact and experience with them tell me that they are guided by the same sense of duty that directs the action of my fellow Democrats, when they are challenged by the forces that seek for their own selfish gain to undermine this government. When our forefathers established this government of free men they built on the theory that our people were by nature honest and that they would reflect that honesty in their government. It is to that element of our people on which these buildersjiepended that I shall direct my appeal in this campaign. "If I did not feel that something more is involved in this Contest than the mere gaining of another office you would not find me on this platform. I shall carry this fight directly to the . people of my beloved state because I feel that the time has come when the voters must choose between a rule by themselves in the interest of the whole people and a rule by a corrupt political organization in the interest of a few spoilsmen. Confident that the right will prevail, I accept the solemn responsibility of lead ership in this contest, with a pledge that every ability I have and every effort I make will be used to advance the material and moral welfare of my fellow citiiens and my native state." • ; 4' , ' • ; * " • 'i-'-'VH k. -«|i *'riM is •A . \> :-'4 . $ * i "-A* i <2 i ...^*feiK