W. C. Cook Biography

	This file contains the biography of W. C. Cook from "Who's Who in 
	South Dakota" by O. W. Coursey (1913) 

	Scanning by John Rigdon <jrigdon@mail.gabn.net>, final editing by 
	Joy Fisher <sdgenweb@yahoo.com> from a book in the possession of Joy Fisher.

	This file may be freely copied for non-profit purposes; all other rights, 
	including the right to publish this file in any format is reserved.



              LAWYER-POLITICIAN

     The Quakers of old Pennsylvania were noted for their silence,
particularly so in their mode of worship, where not a sound was
heard, and each penitent prayed silently for himself.  They had
a verse which they used to teach to their children.  It ran as
follows:

       "A wise old owl sat on an oak;
       The more he saw, the less he spoke;
       The less he spoke, the more he heard:
       Let  us  mimic that wise old bird."

     The owl in this case happened to be W. C. Cook of Sioux
Falls. Here is one of the most silent "wise old birds" that ever
sat at the throttle of the political engine of the republican party
in South Dakota.

     You can go riding with Mr. Cook, talk to him all day, enjoy
yourself in his company, come back at night, reflect upon your
conversation, and then ask yourself, "Really, what did he tell
me?" He's the driest well that a political pump was ever thrust
into.  You can "pump" him until your vocal valves are worn
out, only to find that you have been sucking wind, and that not
one ounce of refreshing information has come to the service.

     Some one says, "Oh! well, there is nothing in him to pump."
Not on your life! We don't know what Mr. Cook's religious
beliefs are, but certain it is he has great faith in that pious pas-
sage, "A wise man keepeth his own counsels."

     Mr. Cook was born in Gratiot, Lafayette county, Wisconsin,
October 5, 1874 and comes of Revolutionary stock.  Somehow in
these articles we certainly do unearth a lot of Wisconsinites.  May
we digress to say no wonder we feel so much at home in South
Dakota, after having married a Wisconsin girl.

     At an early age Mr. Cook got it into his head to fit himself
for a lawyer. At twenty-one, he walked out of the Law School of
Wisconsin University, the proud possessor of a piece of sheepskin
that told the story complete-the hours of sacrifice and patient
toil.

     In 1899 he removed to South Dakota, and the next year he
was elected Judge of Aurora county, In 1904 this same county
sent him to the state senate, and two years later it returned him.

     Mr. Cook is a reformer
clear through to the backbone.  
One of his pet reforms is the
direct election of United
States senators by the people
themselves.  Once in the state
legislature, he lost no time in
getting busy along the lines
of his own thought. The first
thing he did was to introduce
a joint-resolution memorializ-
ing congress to call a consti-
tutional convention to pro-
pose an amendment to our               [photo - WILLIS C. COOK]
federal constitution for the
election of United States sen-
ators by direct vote.

     He is also the author of
the 1907 statute which pro-
hibits corporations from con-
tributing to candidates or to
political committees. We'll
wager that the corporations
are glad and that on a number
of occasions Cook, as chairman of the state central committee, has
been just  a  trifle,  sorry.

              CAMPAIGN MANAGER

     At the time Mr. Cook was a candidate in 1906 for re-election
to the State Senate from Aurora County, the reform forces cap-
tured the Republican State Convention and he was chosen chair-
man of the Republican State Central Committee.

     So successfully did he conduct the campaign of that year and
so well did he get the warring factions of his party to pulling
together, that he was an easy successor to himself in 1908 and
again in 1910.

     In 1907 Mr. Cook purchased a half interest in the "Sioux
Falls Daily Press," and became identified in newspaper work
with Mr. Dotson. In 1910, Cook sold his interests in the paper
to Dotson. While identified with the Press, he "hammered" the
Argus-Leader plenty; but those days have passed, and new battles
to be fought are still before us.

     Mr. Cook is a very likeable fellow. His close-mouthed dis-
position, his political foresight, his inherent honesty, his fidelity
and his shrewdness-all combine to fit him preeminently for a
political organizer and campaign manager; and we predict that
he will always play the game fair, and that the future will hear
still more of him than has the past.

     (Later.-Since the above article was first published, Pres-
ident Taft has appointed Mr. Cook Internal Revenue Collector for
the two Dakotas, at a salary of $4,000 per year. It pays to "play
the  game."-O. W. C.)