- After a spectacular college football career, John Harkless leaves the university to pursue a place in Indiana politics. He buys the failing Plattville Herald and, using the newspaper to expose various illegal activities, sets out to rid the county of all mobsters and corrupt officials. When a traveling circus comes to town, he uncovers a crooked gambling ring and drives away the fleecers. That night, returning from his sweetheart's house, he is badly beaten and left for dead by a gang of men. Believing that John has been murdered, vigilantes gather to avenge his death, but the identity of the perpetrators is in question. The evidence finally points to the White Caps, a band of thugs allied with Rodney McCune, a notorious local politician opposing John in an upcoming Congressional race. Before the angry mob clashes with the White Caps, John is located in a hospital emergency room. While he recovers, his girlfriend, Helen Sherwood, takes over the newspaper and cleverly concocts a way for John to win the election.—Pamela Short
- After leaving the university, where he has been one of the greatest football stars in years, John Harkless plunges into the thick of Indiana politics through purchasing the Plattville Herald and fearlessly smashing the corrupt political machine of Rodney McCune. With this prestige, Harkless becomes the accepted leader in the congressional district, a veritable tribune of the people, who protect their interests at all times even to the extent of drumming out of town a brace of gamblers who are fleecing unsuspecting farmers with a crooked shell game on Circus Day. Returning that night from a call upon Helen Sherwood at Judge Briscoe's, Harkless is waylaid by mysterious assailants during a thunderstorm and is seen no more until he is discovered miles away in an emergency hospital. Vigilantes quickly rally in Plattville by hundreds to avenge the murderous assault, and while there is doubt as to whether the Whitecaps, McCune's henchmen, or the gamblers are to blame, suspicion finally fastens upon the Whitecaps, and in view of the many anonymous warnings they have sent Harkless for his activities against McCune soon amounts to a certainty. Marching cross country to the grim chant of "John Brown's Body," the avenging host raids the crossroads settlement of the clan, annihilates the band and burns their evil nest to the ground. The return of Harkless from the hospital, the ingeniously contrived campaign which elects him to Congress which has been contrived by Helen Sherwood, and the meeting of the girl and the plucky editor in his own printing office, which she has benevolently usurped, makes this picture a worthy offering.—Moving Picture World synopsis
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