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made me any difference or thought any different or spent any more money or rice tersa. figured tomorrow >nu might lose the same amount. I Q: Well then let's see now, you knew that you were going to h:~w to 11' a representative. Did you do some studying to come up to speed as to \vhat you \\-t.re ~ n i n ~ to do? A: No, I didn't. See in those days, first starting out you only had six months see. Q: Biennial A: Yes. They had a fellow hy the name of Noble Lee who was nominated to instrurt the newcomers on what to do and how to operate and so forth. Q: How did he go ahout doing that! A: How did he go about it? He'd just call and advertise it that they werr going to hare a session that particular evening and then you could attend if you wanted to. Q: They'd hare a dinner, did they? and then A: Oh, I don't think to begin with we had dinner. We couldn't afford dinner. It was later on I think we had dinner. See when we first went up there we didn't get much nlont'y and didn't have much money to operate on, see, we only got $3,500 1 think it was, or $".75tl. I forget which, one or the other. Q: You remember anything about that course or those sessions with Nohle Lee'! Q: He was a Republican of course A: Yes he was a Republican but when >-ou got up there, it didn't make much difference to you whatever you were. In fact in) opponents in the Republicans, they got to be really closer to me than iny Democrats. Q: Oh IS that right? A: Yes like Olrl H. B, lhnen and Old Man Green Q Old Man Green, uas that A: Hugh Green from .Jacksonville. They were very good friends of mine. And Ihnen, he was always very cooperative and everything. IIe and I thought a lot together. He was a farmer, he owned farmland, and he was a businessman. And . . . Q: Well when you first got up there there would have been a caucus for the leadership. A: Yes. Q: What happened at that caucus that year in 1!)54? :I: Oh, let's see Q: Or in 1955 it wouId have been A: I can't recall if that's the first one or the second time when we had all the ruckus about - and when De La Cour - that must have been later. I - I think . . . Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield
Q: Yes that \+-as later A: I can't remember who the - oh, that's right, \Varrzn Wood was the - we didn't have murh to do ahout that. We was in the minority then. That's right. Q: Well. \!-hat ahout the leadership on the Democratic side then? A: Well that was always taken for granted, Paul Powell or Q: Oh it was? Well let's see, Paul Powell had been Spcaker the term hefr~rr was it? A: I think it was yes. And taken for granted that he was going to he the minority leader Q: )tad ?-ou known Paul Powell prior to that? A: Oh, yes, he got me that job as arbitrator for the Industrial Commission. SESSION 4, TAPE 6, SIDE 2 Q. What about the seating arrangement'! A: I got the last seat in the House. Somebody told me that's the place to get so you rould get in and out easy. A lot of people could visit you without being conspicuous. and I pot it and I kept it. See, there was a door there and you got a seat right here and somebordy could come in and see you, ant1 you could sneak out without anybody knowing yrlu was rlut, anti give me a chance to see a lot of people and it helped out a whole lot that way. Q: How did you happen to get that first go-round? A: I can't remember who give me that information. Somebody told me to 1111 that, to get hack there. And naturally it give me an in with all the fellows hecause when we hat1 a meeting that's where we had it, was back there then. The group was alw;~ys together, Carrigan and Clyde Lee and Bert Baker and IIolloxvay and that bunch, several of them from Chicago. It was easy to congregate back there so they'd just sit around or congregate around my desk. Q: So you got in on mosl . . .I: That give me an in \vith thm~ :ill of the time on anything thrn Q: Did you have a seatmate hark there? A: Oh yes, Pfeffer was nl) sratmatr most thr time. Let, Pfetfer Q. Did you get pretty cltrse u-ith Leo? .I: Yes, Leo \ras real rlose, although hr's an entirely tlifferent type of fellow than I \vas. More hrusk, and rough. you knou.. He wouldn't stand hack for any trouhle. Where I would try to stay out of it. he didn't avoid any. He was hiy enough he rtiul~i protect himself pretty good. And he'd protwt me too. So that helped out a whole lot. Q: Do you remember any partirular example of his leaping in? A: Oh yes. I rememher one time somehody wrote something ahout him. That's another thing that kind of helperl. He'd tell me a whole lot of the things. He knew how to operate. In fact, I'd vote his - we had a hutton there for - afterwards, and I'd vot Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield
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University of Illinois at Springfie
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CARL WIITMOND ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REP
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orrrniilnity in central Illinois. A
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Carl Wittmond SESSION I, TAPE 1, SI
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A: Yes. Q: Okay. And then your fath
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County that had a spur on this side
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A: It's peculiar how you always rem
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Q: I see. (chuckles) A: Out of the
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A: . . . and he took care of you. A
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A: Oh yes. You'd have a showboat he
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A: Yes it really happened. This thi
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my motber had to scrape around here
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that's how narrow people are you kn
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you know. It wasn't too prosperous.
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A: Well, I guess it was. I guess 1
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to stay all night to go to a show a
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A: I guess that just becamea a knac
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Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Sp
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Page 83 and 84: Q. (chuckles) We11 this kind of gav
Page 85 and 86: Q: You sa) you were going to school
Page 87 and 88: A: Sunir. yes, oh yes. I've got sev
Page 89 and 90: Q: LVell hou did he po about gettin
Page 91 and 92: A: Oh yes sure, they used to dl, a
Page 93 and 94: ha\.? to come hc,ll:r to t'3t or so
Page 95 and 96: Anii the Eagles anif the Elks, I ha
Page 97 and 98: half of the peul,lr never elen knrw
Page 99 and 100: A: Well, in the first place, they'd
Page 101 and 102: Monday morning from Brussels. And m
Page 103 and 104: an argunirnt Iatrr UII a1111 the12
Page 105 and 106: Q: I I a n e llad you known Paul Po
Page 107 and 108: .4: Yes, somehody got hurt and Q: .
Page 109 and 110: him. Down there - see. Blackie uras
Page 111 and 112: Nuniber two, the secretary of state
Page 113 and 114: kind of a mystery place anyway, no
Page 115 and 116: anything you'd want if you'd want i
Page 117: Q: Kind of cleaned it up then. A: B
Page 121 and 122: A: Probably was I think, yes. I did
Page 123 and 124: Maybe a lot of them was in. Like Bi
Page 125 and 126: other people would go see until the
Page 127 and 128: - "Oh." he said, "he makes eighty f
Page 129 and 130: .A: Oh, in his ofice, many a time.
Page 131 and 132: district. Powell said, "YIIu'~ h~tt
Page 133 and 134: .A: Oh atlout - yes, hr shall have
Page 135 and 136: thrsrr. ant1 Iru) them. And I don't
Page 137 and 138: ;mil the key Dcrnocrats. the) xverc
Page 139 and 140: you ran't beat." I said, "Some day
Page 141 and 142: :I: Yes I ren~ernher that. :I: I pr
Page 143 and 144: .A: Yes. they was \.otiny and vice
Page 145 and 146: Q: What was your position on that?
Page 147 and 148: Q Did she usually do it at your des
Page 149 and 150: a lot of the cunstituents don't un~
Page 151 and 152: A: Yes I remember him Q: \Ye11 let'
Page 153 and 154: 11: 011 I never did get excited ove
Page 155 and 156: '1: Oh 1 probahl) thought there wer
Page 157 and 158: to hlock it if he wanted to. So man
Page 159 and 160: it would he alright or whatever the
Page 161 and 162: Q: Yes. A somrthing. fle might have
Page 163 and 164: Q: Well let's see, he lived in Edwa
Page 165 and 166: Q: Oh, I see. A: Ht. thought that 1
Page 167 and 168: in the Granite City area - he was t
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:I: Oh yes, oh yes Q: What other ro
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So I put the bill in anyway to get
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A: . . . get credit for it, see, if
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A: I ctin't rrcall anymore \\.hat i
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A: hutuhahn, over in . . . Q: Germa
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Q: Well. Do you recall any particul
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I'd voted for the bill. That would
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Q: Let's see, the Zion [Illinois Be
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:\: Ile nrust not have run ;my more
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A: Wide open sparrs, that's right.
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Q: I'd like to ask first today abwt
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.A: Yes 1 can rt,call something of
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Q: Oh. He wanted the department you
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kno~r-. (;- I could have got on but
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who knrn. sonrething ahuut agrirult
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.A: \Vr ~ntrrtainzd several - one t
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town. And a lot of people was compl
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:I: Oh, n-c went a few other places
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.A: Not at that timc but they promo
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some of then1 - hut their unions ar
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sonielhing happened. I think I had
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Index .Ahl.nhani Lincoln Hl~tcal. 1
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Hinan, Martin, 79 IIitler, Adolph,
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