Sen. Kennedy Tells Clarksbu[r]gers That GOP Neglects Welfare of West Virginia
Help Pledged By Candidate For President
Need for New Federal Administration Stressed by Massachusetts Statesman
BY A STAFF WRITER
April 19, 1960
"Dynamic" is the adjective best suited for describing the speech making power of United States Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who aspires to become President of the United States.
A coffee-drinking crowd variously estimated at up to 1,500 persons instantly recognized the great Senator's abilities Monday morning and they became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop as the young New England statesman began a brief political address in the ballroom of the Stonewall Jackson Hotel.
"I want to express my appreciation to all of you," the Senator declared as he opened an inspiring address which convinced every person within range of his voice that Jack Kennedy is one of America's most capable young executives and that he'll fight fearlessly for the top spot on the Democratic ticket this year.
Jack Kennedy let it be known early that he isn't afraid to be on the ballot with any living American and that he thinks all of his opponents should be on the ballot and not ganging up against him through another candidate.
"This primary is important," Senator Kennedy told his audiences. "There is no state in the United States that is more in need of a new Administration than West Virginia. We need a new Administration to take off where Harry Truman and Franklin D. Roosevelt left off."
Senator Kennedy charged that the present Administration is neglecting the economy of West Virginia and that the people are suffering as a result, and he emphasized that if he is elected President of the United States he will do something about West Virginia's plight.
The Senator stressed that the Area Redevelopment Bill and part of the Defense Act give the Administration power to help West Virginia in ways that the Administration isn't doing so at present.
"This is an important primary for West Virginia because this situation needs attention," the Senator asserted. ["]This is an important primary too because the Presidency is so important"
The speaker told those present that they should be thinking more about the needs of the State and Nation than "where I go to church on Sunday." This was an obvious reference to the fact that some forces are fighting him because his religion is Catholic.
"West Virginia needs action on the Community, State, and National levels," Senator Kennedy asserted. "It needs action such as no other state does. A Democratic Administration is your only hope in this campaign."
"I think we are going to win in West Virginia," the Senator said near the conclusion of his address.
A few minutes later Kennedy talked with the writer after giving instruction for the day to members of his staff in Washington. He spoke several minutes by telephone, dictating the work that was to be done.
"What did you think of your reception, Senator Kennedy?" he was asked.
"It was very friendly," he replied. "We had a very warm reception."
Asked if he though[t] he would carry West Virginia, he replied: "I never like to predict. I am hopeful that we will do very well." He smiled as he said this, apparently indicating optimism that he will come out on top.
"Will labor support you?"
The Senator told of his help for labor as a Labor Committee member for 14 years.
"Economic development has been the big factor in my own state of Massachusetts," he pointed out. "I ran on this program in 1952," he point out. "I ran on this program in 1952," he continued, as he told of the importance of the Area Development Bill and one part of the Defense Act which may be used to help in economic crises.
"Economic development is your Number One problem," the Senator declared. "There is need for action on the community, state, and federal levels," he reiterated.
The Senator claimed that there are five or six things which the federal government could do for West Virginia, but which the federal government isn't doing.
The Administration's opposition to proper coal research is one of its greatest failures so far as West Virginia is concerned," the Senator charged.
Senator Kennedy meets the issue of his being a Catholic by pointing out that the issue was m___ long ago by the U. S. Constitution's guarantee of religious liberty and by its provision for "separation of Church and State."
He pointed out that he has proved by 14 years of service in Congress and by his service in wartime that he is a loyal American and that he will do what is best for America.
The crowd was estimated up to 1,50 persons. In the crowd which saw him at the hotel were many Catholics, but it also included many Protestants, who obviously were pleased and impressed by Senator Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy was warmly greeted by the employees in the Hazel-Atlas plant of the Continental Can Company when he toured the plant Monday.
His visit to Clarksburg sounded the keynote for a Central West Virginia political campaign which will echo from the West Coast to the East Coast, and from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico.
Senator Kennedy wants to be President of the United States, he's convinced that he's qualified for the post, and he'll battle the Humphrey forces for every vote in the West Virginia primary.
Victor Gabriel and J. Frank Wiseman, co-chairmen for the local Kennedy campaign, were on the platform and helped with introductions as Senator Kennedy appeared. In accordance with long-established custom for principal speakers, Harrison County Democratic Chairman Ben B. Stout introduced Senator Kennedy.
Candidate's Wife Tells of Results of Monday Survey Between Clarksburg and Charleston
BY A STAFF WRITER
Mrs. Hubert Humphrey is convinced that her husband, the distinguished Senator from Minnesota, will win easily in the May 10 West Virginia primary but that won't reduce the tempo of the campaign which she and her husband are making.
Mrs. Humphrey gained the conclusion Monday as she drove from Charleston to Clarksburg in a station-wagon campaign in support of her husband.
She stopped at filling stations, garages, country stores, town stores, and restaurants from Charleston to Clendenin to Sutton, to Buckhannon and then to Clarksburg, and almost everywhere she met optimistic supporters.
"You husband doesn't need to worry in this area," Mrs. Humphrey said she was often told as she stopped to pin badges on residents along the way.
"Everyone was encouraging along the way," she said in respect to the Democrats and some of the Republicans contacted. "there were quite a few Republicans who sometimes turned down a pin or a button," she continued.
Two of the Humphrey sons, Bob, 16, and Douglas, 12, assisted with the campaign tour Monday, and they will do so today. Another son, Skipper, or Hubert III, is in school in Minnesota, and Nancy, 21, is a student nurse in Northwestern Hospital, in Minnesota. Marvin Crouch of Cabin Creek District accompanied them on the trip here.
Mrs. Humphrey says that she feels the women's vote will be very important for her husband in the West Virginia primary but that she's not confining her campaign to women. She interviewed dozens of men yesterday concerning her husband's chances.
"I find that men are just as interested in a candidate's wife as women are," she declared, "and the men seemed just as anxious to get the recipe for beef soup." The reference was to a beef soup recipe which has become a standard part of the Humphrey campaign literature.
Mrs. Humphrey said that the beef soup recipe, which she and her husband found quite effective in the Wisconsin campaign, was handed to scores of people along the route of her travels Monday. The recipe entitled "Muriel Humphrey's Recipe for Beef Soup," follows:
Over one and a half pounds stew beef or chuck and one soup bone with cold water in a heavy three quart sauce-pan. Add salt, pepper and two bay leaves. Heat to bubbly stage. Turn heat low and add one half cup chopped onions, one cup each chopped celery and cabbage, four or five medium sized carrots, sliced, and a pinch of oregano. Simmer at least two and a half hours, or until meat is very tender. Remove bone and bay leaves and cut meat into bit sized pieces.
Add contents of a No. 2 can Italian style tomatoes, one tablespoon Worchestershire sauce and one beef bouillon cube. Simmer for one half hour longer and serve.
Mrs. Humphrey, who intends to spend much time in West Virginia before the May 10 primary, said that she's profiting by the lessons she learned in two months of campaigning in Wisconsin. She pointed out that she found coffe[e] parties very effective in Wisconsin and that she believes they'll be equally effective in West Virginia.
"Sometimes," she declared, "we had as many as 90 people at a farm coffee party."
Mrs. Humphrey says that she is pleased with the beautiful West Virginia terrain and with the friendliness of the people.
As she begins her campaigning today, she plans to go to the birthplace of Stonewall Jackson on West Main Street.
The remainder of today's schedule follows:
8:00 a. m. - Breakfast with Harrison County Democratic Executive Committee, and prominent local Democrats. Gore Hotel. Ben Stout will be Toastmaster. Mr. Stout is Harrison County Democratic Chairman.
9:30 a. m. - Press Conference - Stonewall Jackson Hotel.
10:30 a. m. - Coffee Trailer Reception - 16th and Hamill.
12 noon - Lunch - Dining Room Stonewall Jackson Hotel - Hostess Dora Gay Baughman will introduce Mrs. Humphrey to guests lunching at the Hotel.
2:00 p. m. - Coffee Trailer Reception. East Pike and Expressway.
3:00 p. m. - Leave for Bridgeport.
3:30 p. m. - Coffee Trailer Reception - Benedum Civic Center - Main Street, Bridgeport.
4:00 p. m. - Leave for Grafton.
4:30 p. m. - Reception in Grafton Democratic Woman's Club.
6:00 p. m. - Kiwanis Club Dinner in Grafton.
7:30 p. m. - Leave for Morgantown.
8:15 p. m. - Arrive Morgantown - go to Morgan Hotel.
8:45 p. m. - Visit at Fire Hall in Westover. Contact Tom Little or John Camp, Mayor.
By A STAFF WRITER
While the political eyes of the Nation were focused on Clarksburg, West Virginia more so than at any time since 1924, two arch rivals for the Presidency set up headquarters within a stone's throw of each other Monday on West Pike Street.
The Humphrey headquarters is in the Latstetter building and the Minnesota Senator's picture and banners advertise it in the store window.
On the opposite side of the street, in the 300 block of West Pike street and in a room formerly occupied by a hobby shop, the forces of U. S. Senator Jack Kennedy have filled the windows with Kennedy literature and J. Frank Wiseman, co-chairman of the local Kennedy drive, says that this headquarters will be open and in full swing today.
Oldtimers in the political field pointed out Monday that not since John W. Davis came here from New York in 1924 to receive official notification that he was the Democratic nominee for President has so much political spotlight been on the Harrison County seat.
In that summer week in 1924, Clarksburg was host to scores of newspapermen and Democratic leaders and thousands of other persons. Goff Plaza then had far fewer houses than at present, and circuses were sometimes held there in the large open field that made up the right hand side of Goff Plaza as the motorist proceeds East, a crowd of thousands gathered to hear Davis, a native son of Clarksburg, accept the nomination. During his address rain fell in torrents, but many remained until the final word.
It was something of this political spirit that pervaded Clarksburg Monday as U. S. Senator Jack Kennedy appeared here in person and the equally zealous Humphrey forces, awaiting Mrs. Humphrey's arrival here, put the final touches on before the opening of the Humphrey headquarters.
Several metropolitan papers, including the New York Times, were represented by staff members as Jack Kennedy eloquently asked for support and strongly denounced unfair attacks upon him. The great wire services, the Associated Press and United Press International, had key staff writers traveling with the Kennedy team to send out ten[s] of thousands of words of press about the Northern West Virginia phase of the political battle that may decide the Presidency of the United States.
A gay, festive spirit prevailed at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel as the crowd gathered to hear and greet Senator Kennedy. It's a rare occasion that a political speaker has had an ovation from a local hotel lobby crowd, but Senator Kennedy, one of America's most outstanding leaders, got that ovation as he left the elevator and headed for a waiting bus to go to the Continental glass plant here for a tour among workers.
Monday's events served only as the beginning of pre-primary activities in the Humphrey-Kennedy political battle. The prediction of this writer is that this Presidential scrap will overshadow any other developments in the West Virginia political campaign. The respective forces are enthusiastic and they will work diligently for the success of their candidates.
West Pike Street, Clarksburg, will be eyed by every resident of the Nation who is interested in politics, within the ensuing two weeks. The sparks for the campaign fire are burning, and it will be a great blaze before the May 10 West Virginia primary.
Before an enthusiastic crowd at the Humphrey-for-President campaign headquarters last night, Mrs. Muriel Humphrey cut the blue ribbon that announced the formal opening of Senator Humphrey's West Virginia office.
More than three hundred friends and neighbors from the Harrison County community dropped in to visit with Mrs. Humphrey over coffee and donuts. And most of the crowd had a chance to chat informally with Mrs. Humphrey over the course of the evening.
Ladies of the Harrison County Democratic Committee served as hostesses for the Pike Street event.
Mrs. Humphrey apparently made a very convincing impression on the Harrison County people with whom she spoke. "She's such a wonderful person," and "Doesn't she have a warm and friendly smile?" were among the comments most often heard.
Mrs. Humphrey, however, was not the only representative of her family to attend the reception. Douglas Humphrey, 12 years old, was on hand to distribute some of his Senator father's campaign pamphlets. Senator Humphrey has often referred to his son Douglas as "the most effective campaigner on the staff."
Mrs. Humphrey arrived in Clarksburg shortly before 6 o'clock last evening. In addition to appearing at the reception, Mrs. Humphrey addressed the Candidates' Meeting sponsored by the Harrison County Women's Democratic Club.
Serving as junior hostesses at the Humphrey reception were the Misses Barbara Minehart, Mary Kaye Minehart, Linda Holden and Susie Woolard. Junior host for the affair was Master Robert Berman.
Approximately 100 persons present Monday night at the Harrison County Courthouse for a meeting of the Harrison County Democratic Women's Club heard pleas for the presidential campaigns of both U. S. Senators Hubert H. Humphrey and U. S. Senator John F. Kennedy.
Mrs. Humphrey, the Senator's wife, explained why he wants to become President, told of his travels, his work for the Democrats and for the nation. She also gave the background of the Humphrey family life.
Former Prosecuting Attorney J. Philip Clifford presented the case for U. S. Senator Jack Kennedy, who had been a Clarksburg visitor earlier in the day. Clifford spoke eloquently and with conviction as he pleaded the Kennedy case.
Circuit Clerk Raymond C. Wolfe and County Clerk Harley A. Wolfe gave explanations for new voters and for absentee voters and conducted a question and answer session on voting.
Mrs. Mirth D. Kuhl, president of the club, presided.
A number of state and local candidates were introduced.
Among the candidates here for meetings Monday was C. Donald Robertson, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for Attorney General. Robertson has spent most of the past month visiting other parts of the state.
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