Hon. James E. Watson

              Hon. James E. Watson
'The most eloquent man in the House of Representatives.''
-SPEAKER JOSEPH G. CANNON
HON. JAS. E. WATSON
JAMES E. "WATSON is the most eloquent man in a state renowned for orators of national repute. He is pronounced by Speaker Joseph G. Cannon to be "the most eloquent man in the House of Representatives, on either side of the Chamber." As evidence that the Speaker meant what he said, when he made this declaration at Omaha, Neb., in October, 1906, it may be added that Mr. Watson is the chosen associate of Mr. Cannon in his speaking tours of the country. He is the greatest campaign speaker Indiana has ever produced. The qualities which popularize him on the stump fit him admirably for the platform. Of splendid voice and presence and great personal magnetism, he can grip and hold an audience as can few other men conspicuous in the political life of the nation.
Mr. Watson is one of the best known members of the National Legislature. He is whip of the republican side. He is a member of the great committee on Ways and Means, and Merchant Marine and Fisheries. He was chosen by President Roosevelt from among all his colleagues to be the recipient of the President's open letter to the country, which is recognized as being the President's most important contribution to the literature of the last campaign.
Among Mr. Watson's topics is one upon which he is especially well qualified to speak: "The Life and Times of President McKinley*" He sits in William McKinley's old committee room. He was the friend of the President and the champion of the measures for which he stood, upon the floor of Congress during the life time of the martyred President. He knew McKinley personally and well. He speaks of him with a familiarity born of personal friendship.
Mr. Watson has the two elements that go to make a strong platform figure: well-earned reputation and ability to "make good." He has a national reputation because of his conspicuous public career, which serves to attract hearers. With a crowd before him he is absolutely certain to hold their attention from beginning to end of his speech.
In 1904 Mr. Watson spoke before an audience of four thousand people in Tomlinson Hall, Indianapolis. Hundreds of people were standing. Yet for two hours he commanded an attention so intense that one could almost hear a pin drop from the beginning to the end of his speech.
If you have any doubt as to Mr. Watson's charm as a speaker, or his standing in national affairs, communicate with the member of Congress representing your district. We will abide his answer.
LECTURE SUBJECTS
Our Ideals — National and Individual.
Our Martyrs.
Wm. McKinley, Soldier and Statesman.
The Intellectual Development of the United States.
Abraham Lincoln.
The Halls of Congress and National Legislation in the Making.
COMMENTS
FROM LESLIE M. SHAW, EX-SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
"Hon. James E. Watson, of Indiana, is one of the most eloquent men in public life and in addition he has good sense.   You can quote the above if you desire."                               Very sincerely yours,
L. M. SHAW.
FROM GEORGE EDMUND FOSS, CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS
"I congratulate you upon securing Mr. Watson as. a lecturer. He is a man of splendid ability and great power as an orator, and I am sure will delight every audience before whom he appears."
Very truly yours,
GEO. EDMUND FOSS.
FROM SENATOR E. J. BURKETT, OF NEBRASKA
"Congressman Watson has no superior as a platform orator. Everybody who hears him is delighted with him, for his speeches are entertaining, instructive and inspiring"                           E. J. BURKETT.
FROM WM. L. BRYAN, PRESIDENT INDIANA UNIVERSITY
"Honorable James E. Watson is recognized as one of the leading orators of the West. His high position in the councils of the nation, his intimate acquaintance with the great men and the great affairs of the day, as well as his charm as a public speaker, make him one of the most attractive and interesting public speakers of the day."                                                                                                                 Yours very truly,
W. L. BRYAN. FROM THE PERU (IND.) REPUBLICAN
" 'A brilliant address by a brilliant man/ This expression is certainly a suitable one for the discourse delivered at the Webb Theatre, last Sunday afternoon, by Congressman James E. Watson, and the Y. M. C A., under whose auspices the meeting was held deserves the hearty commendation of every citizen of this city for having brought such an able orator to Peru for this occasion."
FROM THE INDIANAPOLIS (IND.) STAR
"During the four days many notable speeches have been delivered by the Vice-President and the veteran campaigners who are sent to assist him, but the general verdict of those who heard all of the speeches is that Congressman James E. Watson has carried off the oratorical honors and has earned the title of Indiana's foremost orator. His speeches at South Bend and Terre Haute arose to the supreme heights of eloquence and left an imprint on the thousands of his hearers which will never be effaced."
EDITORIAL FROM THE MUNCIE (IND.) STAR
"Another feature of the speech was the clearness of the speaker's enunciation. Not a syllable was slurred in the entire speech, and nobody at even the farthest end of the hall could fail to catch the words and discern their meaning.
Still another feature of Mr. Watson's admirable speech, viewed as an oratorical effort, was its absence from tautology and repetition. In the entire speech there was but one repetition of three words, and that so aptly caught that it was scarcely noticeable.
Mr. Watson is not a boisterous speaker. He does not roar like a bull of Bashan. But his voice is pleasant and sufficiently variable to relieve any monotony. It is clear and reaching without fog-horn qualities. It never splits. Its highest flights are without loss of power and sweetness. The rhetoric of the speech was flawless, and the best grammarians would have had a task to point a bit of false syntax. College students and teachers of English should have boen close listeners to Mr. Watson's speech; doubtless many of them were."
FROM SENATOR BEVERIDGE, OF INDIANA
"I beg to say that Mr. Watson is personally known to me as a very forcible speaker and as an orator of recognized ability."                                                                                               ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE.
FROM THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL -ACCOUNT OF STATE CONVENTION
" Mr. Watson was in magnificent form. Knowing his reputation as an orator his hearers expected great things of him, but his address exceeded their expectations. But it was the personality of the speaker that made the address what it really was and gave Mr. Watson his remarkable hold upon his auditors. He was in splendid voice and the audience, the occasion and the conviction that what he said was right, inspired him to a dramatic intensity that enabled him to sway the great crowd at will. One moment he had his hearers cheering and applauding in a fervor of patriotic ardor and the next he had them laughing and shouting with an appeal to their sense of humor and the rediculous. Mr. Watson's entire address is recognized as one of the most masterly efforts ever made from a political rostrum in Indiana. Eloquent, inspiring, convincing, the speaker left nothing unsaid that might have been said of the principles, policies and record of his party, and yet when he had finished, the audience was reluctant to have him leave the floor.
Senator Fairbanks, when he responded to the calls of his name at the conclusion of the chairman's address, paid Mr. Watson a graceful compliment that voiced the sentiments of the great crowd. The Senator said: ' I feel that it should be my first duty, as it Is my pleasure, to congratulate your chairman and to convey to him the thanks of this magnificent audience for the splendid address he has given us. I feel it is due Mr. Watson to say that I regard his address as one of the greatest, most eloquent and best speeches that has ever been delivered in this historic edifice.' This tribute from the senior Senator provoked a demonstration so prolonged that Mr. Watson was compelled to rise and bow his acknowledgment"
FROM H. S* BOUTELL, MEMBER OF CONGRESS
"Hon. James E. Watson, of Indiana, is one of the recognized leaders on the Republican side in the National House of Representatives. As a member of the great Committee on Ways and Means, as the Republican Whip and confidante of the Speakers, he is always listened to in the House with the keenest interest. As an orator, Mr. Watson combines ripe scholarship, fluent diction, picturesque imagination, with a very forcible and pleasing delivery, all of which are heightened by his imposing presence and absolute sincerity. On the lecture platform he will draw crowded houses in any community."               Very truly yours.
I am, with best wishes.                                                                                  H. S. BOUTELL.
FROM CHAMP CLARK, OF MISSOURI
" I have heard Hon. James E. Watson, of Indiana, speak both In Congress and out and regard him as a very earnest and eloquent speaker.   I have no doubt in the world that he would give good satisfaction."
Yours Truly.
CHAMP CLARK FROM VICE-PRESIDENT FAIRBANKS
" I am pleased to say that Hon. James E. Watson. Member of Congress from Indiana, would be an admirable person to deliver a lecture In your course during the ensuing year. He is a speaker of great power and a man of high attainments."                                                                           Very Respectfully,
CHAS. W. FAIRBANKS
FROM SENATOR FORAKER, OF OHIO
"I take pleasure in saying that Hon. James E. Watson is a very strong, accomplished and forcible speaker. I am sure that he will give you very great satisfaction if you should engage him on your lecture course."
Yours very truly,
J. B. FORAKER
FROM THE LATE SPEAKER HENDERSON, OF IOWA
"I beg to say that I could have few names suggested to me that I can more cordially endorse as an orator than Hon. James E. Watson. I have heard him many a time on the floor of the House and elsewhere. He is an accomplished orator and will thrill your audience from ear top to toe top with a big lodgement In their brains and a still greater lodgement in their hearts, of good solid influence."                     Very truly yours,
D. B. HENDERSON
FROM GOVERNOR HANLEY, OF INDIANA
" Since becoming Governor I have made it a rule to issue no recommendation for any person or institution to be used for commercial purposes. I have known Hon. James E. Watson, however, so long and so intimately, and have such great admiration for his ability as an orator that I feel justified in breaking this rule for once. He is one of the most effective platform speakers in the country and in some respects has no equal, at least in Indiana. You are fortunate indeed, if you have closed a contract for his services."             Yours very truly,
J. FRANK HANLEY