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E is putting it up to the people! 
That is why Wm. Church Osborn o£ Putnam 
County, this State, is a candidate for the nomina¬ 
tion of Governor on the Democratic ticket in the 
coming primaries. 
The issue is one that involves the full meaning and 
the full scope of the Primary Law—whether Murphy and 
his associates, like Hearst, shall have the power to meet 
in “conference,” dictate and select the nominees of the 
Democratic party, and say to the voters: “Here are your 
candidates, take them and support them.” 
Mr. Osborn believes that if men like Murphy and his 
associates can pick the candidates and get the voters 
to accept them, that the Primary Law is dead and done 
for. He wants the people to do the picking, that they may 
exercise their full and free right to select the candidates 
and give to the State of New York men who are not tied 
hands and feet to the apron strings of selfish and tyranni¬ 
cal party bosses. 
But who is Osborn, that he would step out of the 
ranks of his party and champion the cause of the people 
in safeguarding the Primary Law? 
Is he a Democrat? 
Is he loyal to his party? 
Has he the training, the experience, the ability and 
the energy to make the fight and lead the cause of the 
people? 
Wm. Church Osborn is a Democrat, tried and true, 
and he is one of the best known, most high-minded, public- 
spirited and able members of the party in the State. His 
father, Wm. H. Osborn, was .the confidential adviser of 
Governor Samuel J. Tilden, and it was he who procured 
the evidence that broke the evil power of “Boss” Tweed 
and landed him behind the prison bars. Could the son of 
such a father be anything but the foe to the lawful succes¬ 
sors of “Boss” Tweed? Could he sit in “conference” with 
them and dish out pottage to those who feed and fatten on 
political patronage? 
He is above that. He loves politics, but politics to 
him is the stepping stone to good citizenship and patriotic 
leadership. Mr. Osborn is in it for the good he can do— 
not for himself, but for the State, the people and the cause 
of good government. 
In his home county he is known as “Will” Osborn. 
He has been a worker, a fighter and a leader in his party 
since maturity. He is a man of broad experience, and he 
has done big things in the fifty odd years of his life. He 
is a farmer, a lawyer, a business man and a keen student 
of men, of conditions and of public affairs. At thirty-one 
he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and 
his work made him a power in the convention. Governor 
Roosevelt appointed him State Commissioner of Lunacy. 
Governor Dix appointed him his legal adviser. For several 
years he Vs^as chairman of the Democratic State Commit¬ 
tee, and he has always kept in close touch with public 
affairs, and with everything that would benefit the State, 
or bring about better conditions among the people. 
Mr. Osborn has made a thorough study of the water 
powers of the State, of the railroad and transportation 
problems, of canal possibilities, of the development of idle 
lands, of everything that betters farm life and conditions, 
and of the ways and means to bring about harmony be¬ 
tween all classes of people in the State. He has been in¬ 
terested in the Granges, in cattle breeding, in better mar¬ 
kets for farm produce, in bigger crops and better returns 
for the farmers. He is a life member of the New York 
State Agricultural Society, and he was one of the founders 
of the Patriotic Farmers Fund—a fund that has been the 
biggest private factor in America in helping to feed the 
Allies and win the war. 
There is no man in New York State who is more hon¬ 
estly interested in farm life and farm work, nor is there 
any other man in the State who is so anxious to have the 
food supply of the farms brought to the cities at prices 
reasonably within the reach of everybody. Better trans¬ 
portation and simpler methods of distribution will accom¬ 
plish this, Mr. Osborn believes, with profit to everybody 
concerned. In Putnam County it would be hard to find a 
farmer who doesn’t know “Will” Osborn, and who doesn’t 
look upon him as a friend and a comrade. 
Mr. Osborn is a staunch American. He loves chil¬ 
dren. He has faith in the people. He believes in the good 
influence of women in politics. Every bit of his strength 
and every fibre of his being are and have been devoted to 
studying the means and methods of mobilizing the re¬ 
sources of the State, with a view of helping the President 
win the war. His patriotism is ardent, unquestioned. He 
has three sons in France, and two of them have been 
wounded in battle, while the third is head of Military De¬ 
partment of the Red Cross. His daughter is engaged in 
Y. M. C. A. war work, and her husband is in the American 
Army in France. 
These facts do not and cannot give a stranger full 
understanding of the fine character, the active life and the 
Democratic spirit of Wm. Church Osborn. He would 
make an ideal Governor, for no man would bring to the 
office a greater knowledge of law, of finance, business, 
farm life and work, and of social and economic conditions, 
and no one would bring to Albany a greater energy, a 
more fearless independence or a more unselfish spirit than 
“Will” Osborn of Putnam County. 
Democrats of the great State of New York, the two 
candidates of your party stand before you—one of them 
the choice of Charles F. Murphy and his associates of 
Tammany Hall; the other, Wm. Church Osborn, farmer, 
lawyer, citizen of high repute, a patriot and a statesman. 
Take your choice—for yourself and your State—then 
go to the Primaries and cast your ballot honestly and 
thoughtfully in these memorable days of War, when His¬ 
tory is written in blood, in sacrifice and suffering. 
