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Page 20
We saw the house and flower gardens and then went to see his bird
collection. Our host took us to a big cage and pointed out a
long-necked bird of brilliant plumage, and said: "That is a Bird
of Paradise. What do you think of him?"
The old lawyer replied: "Well, I think he's a hell of a long ways
from home."
It was a knockout.
Respectfully,
THE DEMOCRATIC 'STRIKE' OF 1925
One of the most colorful escapades in the political history of
the Hoosier State took place in 1925. Pap, who represented Putnam
and Montgomery Counties in the Indiana State Senate, was an
enthusiastic and imaginative participant.
The spark was the proposed "Penrod Bill" (named for the Senator
who introduced it) which, not unlike legislation offered from
time to time even today, contained a hidden provision.
The bill (S.B. 300) proposed the transfer of a central Indiana
county (Lawrence) from the Third U.S. Congressional District to
the Second. The invention was to make sure there would be
sufficient Republicans in that district--Senator Penrod's--to
insure his election to Congress. Naturally, his good fortune
would have come at the expense of the Democrats.
The Indiana State Senate in 1925 was almost totally controlled by
the Republicans, but there was one small hitch. Unless a quorum
was present, no votes could be taken and no legislation could be
passed--not just the offending Penrod bill, but any business at
all. And there were just enough Democrats to threaten such a
"political blockade." As expected, the Republicans presented the
Penrod Bill of Feb. 25.
The Democrats were prepared. Hastily, all fifteen of them who
were present (two others were ill and absent) "bolted" their
legal confines and took refuge in the neighboring state of Ohio.
Most of the "bolters" made the trip in a bus rented ahead of
time. They wound up in Dayton, where they took up residence in a
hotel owned, curiously, by Hoosier Lieut. Gov. Van Orman, a
Republican. In a "spirit of bipartisanship," the latter
telegraphed the runaways to "be my guest."
Another Democrat, Senator Harrison, left the next day secluded in
an Overland Moving Van. Pap's transit was courtesy of his
railroad pass. The train deposited him in Cincinnati, and he went
on to Dayton from there.
The Minority Leader, Senator Joseph M. Cravens of Madison,
Indiana, halted the escape bus briefly on its way to Ohio to
order a barrel of apples to be forwarded to the Indiana Senate,
accompanied by a note--"Compliments of the Minority Members." The
erudite Senator Cravens (known informally as "Uncle Joe") was the
bachelor scion of perhaps the most distinguished and aristocratic
families in Indiana at that time.
The Indianapolis Star and other newspapers had a field day
covering the Democratic "bolt," which brought official
undertakings to a complete halt. Photos of all the "strikers"
were printed side by side almost as if they were fugitives in a
rogues' gallery.
A poignant victim of the escapade was the official "Doorkeeper"
of the Senate, one Jerome K. Brown, who was ordered by the Senate
leadership to go to Ohio and serve warrants for the arrest and
return of the vagrants. Poor Doorkeeper Brown protested against
going it alone, but to no avail. He arrived in Dayton 11:45 PM on
the 25th and served his warrants on the "bolters" in their rooms
at the Gibbons Hotel. The warrants were ignored, but Brown was
invited to join a poker game in progress.
The Ohio governor and attorney-general pronounced that Indiana
arrest warrants were without official standing in Ohio (which
coincidentally was under a Democrat administration at the time.)
The governor furthermore invited the Hoosier "strikers" to stay
on in Ohio "without being molested" as long as they wished.
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