The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 12, 1896, Page 1

he Library.+++* ; VOLUME LXXX._NO. 12. SAN FRANCISCO, FRIDAY MORNING, JUNE 12, 1896. PRICE FIVE CENTS. Governor Morton. In this latter contest— that of the First Florida District—some of the McKinley members of the committee made a bitter fight, but the evidence ad- duced for the friends of the New Yorker— White and McCoombs—was so regular and overwhelming that preference traces were kicked over, and some of the Ohio man’s warmest friends voted for the first time against his spokesman, with the result that the Morton men were seated by a | close vote of 23 to 20. Perbaps it was merely a coinciden ce, | but it was at least significant that imme- | diately after this vote had been announced | Mr. Manley left the room and prepared | the statement to the United Press, in which { he called upon the friends of Speaker Reed to redouble their efforts to bring about his nomination. Pressed this even- ing to make clear the apparent discrep- | ancies between his latest bulletin and that of last evening, the political manager of the lamented Blaine and chief of the sup- porters of the present candidate from - . . Maine, id 1 ly that th tate- Platt Scores the National Committee for RUling |meytwas suficiently seif-explanatory for “ = the present and needed no elaboration. in Favor of Delegates Who Champion the | 'reqietween the linos, however—and Ohioan, and Says New Yorkers 'lay Bolt. BATTLE 0 THE CANDIDATES: Republican Leaders of the Nation Are Rallying for the Struggle at St. Louis. REED’S WHITE BUTTONS MAKE THEIR APPEAR- ANCE AND MANLEY EXPLAINS. those in a position to know say that this is the correct reading—it is an intimation | of Mr. Manley’s belief that just such a | break as occurred in the committee to-day | may happen at some critical moment and | upon some unexpected issue in the Na- | tional Convention and that he proposes | that the friends of his candidate shall girt ST. LOUIS, Mo., June 11.—McKinley is | mitteeman from Maine furnished this igned statement to the United Press: “Tne action of the National Committee not to be nomirated without a struggle. Twenty-four hours have so changed the positions on the political chess-board that there is still a.fighting chance for the field against McKinley. The stumbling-block in the road of the latter is the divergent views of the dele- | gates on the financial plank of the plat form. These differences are as wide as the continent and at present seem irreconcil- | cble. The Western delegates main tain | temporary roll de at their meeting of -yesterday showing clearly their intention of placing in the gates favorable to Gov- ernor McKinley, which in the end would | mean 160 additional votes, caused me to statement that [ did. “I am as earnestly for Mr. Reed as ever and am with his friends doing everything make | possiple to bring about his nomination, | in their armor and be prepared for any eventuality. The members of the National Committee were prompt in getting together in the clubroom of the Southern at 10 o’clock this morning for the purpose of resuming con- sideration of the numerous contests. A | decided disposition in favor of facilitating | this branch of its work was manifested by | the body, several members expressing the | fear thav1f the unabridged debates and | discussions that marked the sessions of | yesterday were to continue the temporary Hi18 bebalE J. H. Manzey.” | roll would still be in abeyance when the An immense canvas picture of the |COnVention was ready jfor business on Rl a4 R e = | Tuesday morning. Speaker was placed in position in the | % g i 2 E s Accordingly when Congressman Hill- rotunda of the parlor floor of the Southern : 5 e Rt i | born of California asked for the nostpone- is afternoon. Reed buttons and badges | ment of the contest from the Third Dis- are also making their appearance and | yjict of that Statein consequence of the and } urgeupon his supporters throughout the country to make still greater efforts in their adherence to silver with a frankness that in former gatherings of the party would have been punished as political The other half of the country is represented by advocates who will listen to no suggestion of any This issue, | heresy. sound-money other platiorm declaration. even in these ante-convention days, has ranged the delegates into two camy The men from Maine and the Far still uphold the banner of Reed, w those from Iow: upported by scatteriug | from the Middle West, declare Quay will, of | il port of | delegates themselyes for Allison. course, receive nearly the fu Pennsylvania, and Morton is assured of | all but four of the:New York votes. Brdd- ley has not been sidetracked by the allure- ment of the Vice-Presidency. So many tables have been comviled showing that McKinley will or will not be nominated on the first ballot that they are valueless, The monetary plank of the platform will, unless a miracle supervenes, determine the nomination for or against the leader. | The arrival of Thomas C. Platt to-night | gave encouragement and impetus to the | opposition. While he is not 1n sympathy | with the silver wing of the party, it is| thought he will be the rallying point for a combined opposition. There is no hint that other than an hohorable fight will be made against McKinley, but political exi- | gencies as presented here demand the al- | liance of all opposition for a successful | struggle against the McKinley avalanche. When the National Committee resumed its session to-night it was noticed that sev- | eral prominent members, principally those ! from Eastern Stutes, were absent. Among | | | | j them were Gear of lowa, Yerkes of Ken- tucky and Manley of Maine. Later on it was learned that a confer- ence of anti-McKinley leaders was being held in the rooms occupied by Thomas C. Platt. It was stated that the absent com- mitteemen were in attendance at the in- vitation of Mr. Platt and that the situa- | tion was being discussed with the view of sizing up the strength of the anti-Mc- Kinleyites and formulating some plan to counteract the strength that the Ohio | candidate has shown he will possess in the convention. The conference was in session at 10 o'clock, and no information could be secured as to what had been pro- posed or adopted. J. H. Manley of Maine was deluged to- day with telegrams requesting him to ex- plain or qualify his statement given to the United Press yesterday, in which he con- ceded that McKinley would be nominated on the first ballot but declared that Speaker Reed would remair in the field to the finish. Late this afternoon the National Com- AN n N\ there is every indication that his boom is | to be given a renewed impetus. * i Dbl B DONE IN SHORT ORDER. Contestants Who Favor McKinley to Be Seated. fo., June 11.—It was a onal Committee. Up ck this evening, when a short re- s for dinner was taken, it had, in the space of eight hours, heard the evidence in and adjudicated upon a total of ten contests, involving the placing upon the temporary roll of precisely twenty-four ST. LOUIS, busy d delegates. In some cases the questions submitted were intricate, and these were debated without consideration of time. Where, however, a contest was regarded olous or based upon grounds not a by the rules of the party short s made of it. Among the contestants were scattering supporters of Reed, Morton and Allison, but the sum total of the daylight work was the seatine of twenty-two pronounced adherents of Major McKinley and of two delegates favorable to the nomination of non-arrival of some of the men and papers concerned, numerous objections were raised and the Pacific Coast repre- sentative was given the option of going ahead or of letting the case of his friends i 2o by defanlt. He chose the former, and | made a ten minute speech in support of the claims of G. M. Belshaw and W. B. Parker, whose seats are contested by EL S. Denison and A. A. Hockheimer. Presi- dential proclivities did not enter into the contest, as both sets of delegates were in- structed for McKinley by their respective conventions. The argument pf the Con- gressmen was involved as technical, and Senator Thurston, Henry C. Payne, Pow- ell Clayton and others were compelled to keep up a running fire of questions in order to clearly elicit the facts. Ex-Congressman A. C. Thompson of Obio, who is appearing for all of the con- | testees and contestants from every State who are under the wing of the McKinley leaders, presented the case of Denison and Hockheimer, taking the ground that the convention by which they were elected was the only regular and properly con- stituted body, and that its action, so far 14 to 25, and tne exclusion of Shortridge et al. was consequently clinched by a majority of twelve. Kentucky had the call for the next special order, but it was productive of but a single contest. ‘This was in the Fifth District, the seats of George D. Todd and and Charles E. Sapp, instructed for Me- Kinley, being cha!lenged by E. J. Knoebel and J. W. Reeder, who were not ine structed, but have declared themselves for Bradley. Todd and Sapp were seated by 28 to 6. At 12:25 a recess was ordered to 2 p. M. ‘When the committee reassembled at 2:15 the Florida contests were given precedence over the regular order. In this State the seats of four delegates at large and two each in the First and Second districts were challenged. Those claiming to be reg- ular delegates at large were National Com- mitteeman John G. Long, Joseph Lee, Emory F. Skinner and L. W. Livingston (colored), all McKinleyites, while the con- testants were Edward R. Gumby, Henry W. Chandler, Henry Chubb, 8. H. Cole- man, all of whom bave declared their em- and his nomination. The case of the McKinley delegates set forth that the State Convention met at Tallahassee on March 4. It was composed of 222 delegates. Gumby, Chandler and Chubb, now contesting delegates, were memnbers of the State Central Committee, and joined with the other members of R i« e e A 7% o e ) P P e o JOoHr L__,d'(o“" D L 2. that committee in preparing the tempor- ary toll of the convention. The temporary organization was ef- fected and, pending the debate on a mo- tion to adopt the report of the committee on credentials, and be wre any ruling had been made by the chair or any action taken by the convention, Gumby and his associates, with about one-fourth of the delegates of the convention, bolted and heid a meeting in another hall, which had been previously engaged for that purpose, the bolt having been deliberately contem- plated long before the State Convention met. In that bolting convention the contest- ing delegates claimed to have been elected. Colonel Gumby of Tampa, in behalf of himself and his associates, took the posi- tion that the bolt was forced by the arbi- trary proceedings of officers of the conven- tion, inspired by Committeeman Long, and submitted affidavits from a majority of the members of the State Central Com- mittee certifying that the Gumby delega- tion was entitled to be placed on the roll as regular. Charges of fraud and misuse of proxies were also made in abundance. Ex-Congressman Thompson presented the case of the Long delegates and then David Martin of Philadelphia moved the seating of the Long delegation. Suther- land of New York demanded & rollcall, but declined to vote. All the votes cast were in the affirma- tive. Colon:l Long and his associates were bluc%d on the roll and Governor Mor- ton was deprived of four delegates at a swoop. The defeated faction will carry Ex-Congressman A. C, Thompson, in Charge of the McKinley Contests. Timothy Byrnes, Sergeant-at-Arms of the St. Louis Conve.t.0a. as concerned the temporary roll, was final, and could be reviewed only by the Com- mittee ou Credentials selected by the National Conyention. When the argu- ments were concluded, it took the com- mittee just five seconds to seat Denison and his colleague by a unanimous vote. Next on the special order was the Fourth California District. . W. Montague and Samuel M. Shortridge were the contest- ants against Joseph Spear and Henry I. Kowalsky, claiming to be theregular dele- gates. Mr. Shortridge, who is a brother of Publisher Shortridge of the San Fran- cisco CaLr, made a brisk and vigorous presentation of his case. Mr. Shortridge took the position that himself and his colleagues were the regu- lar delegates, selected at the regular con- vention, and that properly they should be recognized as contestees instead of con- testants. In this case both sets of delegates were instructed for McKinley, and again ex- Congressman Thompson appeared for the preferred claimants, Shortridge’s oppon- ents. After considerable debate on the part of the members of the committee, these latter—Spear and Kowalsky—were seated, only two votes being recorded in the negative. This concluded the Califor- uia cases. In the Third Alabama District Samuel S. Booth and John Harmon (colored) were seated, the contestants failing to put in an appearance. At this point Henry C. Payne of Wisconsin moved a reconsideration of the action in the Fourth California Dis- trict in order thut a rollcall might be had. This was voted down, but Samuel Fessen- den of Connecticut challenged the judg- ment of the chair and a rollcall was conse- quently forced by strategy. The vote was the case to the committee on credentials selected by the National Convention. Inasmuch as the contest in the Second Florida District hinged upon the facts pre- sented in the one just decided, it was abandoned and Dennis Egan and Isaac L. Purcell (colored), McKinleyites, were vlaced on the roll, to the exclusion of Archibald and Robinson (Mortonites). The First District case, in which the ques- tion was the regularity of a delegation elected by a convention held in a place other than that designated by the State Committee, was presented and argued with more feeling pro and con on the part of the committeemen than had marked any previous hearing and by the close vote of 23 t0 20, M.S. White and J.N. McCoombs, supporters of Gov. Morton, were placed on the roll over E.C. Weeks and Arm- strong Pardee (colored), McKinleyites. The resuit was received with the first ap- plause of the day. ‘When this case had been disposed of the belated papers in the Ninth Georgia Dis- trict contest were ready for presentation. It was disposed of in short order, Andrew J. Spence and Sames B. Garton, instructed for McKinley, being placed on the roil over Thomas M. Blodgett and W. A. Smith, instructed for Reed. The vote was unanimous. The Georgia roll having been amended and completed, the difficulties in Mis- siseippi were the subject of ventilation, and tue committe-ropm and annexes filled up rapidly. First in order was the contest between the rival delegations-at- large. Those claiming to be the regular delegates were: James Hill (colored), John S. Bur- ton, Albert M. Lea and E. H. Lampton (colored). All these had McKinley prefer- ences, as did also the contestants, John R. Church (colored), William E. Mollison, M. A. Montgomery and F. W. Collins. Kx-Congressman ‘ Thompson, for the McKinley managers, presented the case of the delegation claiming to be regular. The controversy was shown to be the out- come of theold quarrel between the Hill and Lynch elements, both being headed by colored men. These two factions of the Republican party in Mississippi sepa- rated in the convention of 1892, but afier- ward harmonized, Hill baving a majority of ten in the consolidated State committee. That committee called the State Con- vention early in 1896. If was arranged that delegates to the State Convention phatic preference for Governor Morton | | SOME OF THE MEN WHOSE NAMES MAY BE PRESENTED 10 THE CONVENTION FOR THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. should be admitted to the hall by tickets. Lynch objected to the use of tickets and, refusing to accept them, failed to ob- tain admission to the hall and organized another convention. Of the 267 members of the State Convention 197 attended the convention held by the Hill faction, the remainder organizing a separate set of delegates. The Lynch people, however, had the advantage of having with them the chairman of the State Committee, L. B. Mosley, who certified the Lynch dele- gates as regularly elected. In his old vigorous and earnest style Lynch presented tne caseot himseit and his colleagues, claiming that instead of re- fusing to accept tickets they were denied them and were kept out of the meeting- place by the police. M. A. Montgomery, another of the con- testants, made a forcible argument, rein- forced with two mammoth maps, showing the relative strength of the two conven- tions, and every column of which had been sworn to before a notary public. There was excitement when Hill characterized statements made by Lynch as absolutely false, and declared that the latter's afidavit-makers were liars. The commit- tee finally tired of the squabble, and on motion of James H. Wilson of Delaware, proxy for National Committeeman Lay- ton, seated the Hill delegates by a unani- mous vote. In the First Mississippi District contest Dr. Joseph M. Bynum made a plea for himself and his associate, W. G. Parker (colored), who claimed to be the regular delegates. Colored Committeeman Hill, flushed with his victory of a few moments before, championed the cause of W. F. Elgin and Richard D. Littlejohn (colored). Hill’s friends were placed on the roll. Both sets of delegates favored McKinley. At 6:15 o'clock the committee took a recess for refreshments. There was 2 sensation in the meeting of the National Committee to-night. Just as soon as the contest in the First Mississippi District had been disposed of Senator Hansbrough of North Dakota, with the preliminary explanation that he did so at the request of 8 number of members who were not present at the afternoon session, moved a reconsideration of the vote by which the Morton delegates in the First. Florida District were seated. General Hobart of New Jersey seconded the motion. | Fessenden of Connecticut uttered a few words of protest, which were drowned in cries of ‘‘vote.” The calling of the roll was commenced, and for a few moments the ayes snd noes were about equal. ‘When New York was reached Committee- man Sutherland arose and said he declined to vote.. He went on to say that upon the contest in question forty-three members had recorded their deliberate convictions, a larger number than had been polled on any other motion. It was worse than nonsense for any member to assert that he voted by mistake or misapprehension. The lines had been closely drawn and the issue clearly defined. “I desire to say here and now,” con- tinued Mr. Sutherland, “that if this reso- lution is adopted I shall no longer regard 1t as neces:ary or desirable to participate in the proceedings of this committee. Its doings will have become farcical and I shall wash my hands of it and its pro- ceedings. The course now proposed is revolutionary and without justification and it will prove destructive to the candi- dates of the Republican party. I now withdraw my refusal to vote and vote no. 1 There was a buzz of excitement as the speaker concluded. The rollcall was re- sumed. When Ohio was reached Commit- teeman Hahn of Mansfield said, with emphasis that he saw no reason why the gentleman from New York should with- draw from the committee. There were methods employed in New York that were not open and above suspicion, as would be demonstrated when the contests from that State were reached, and if the committee was unduly exercising its powers it was doing nothing more than had been done in New York time and again. He intended to vote for reconsideration, and offered no apology for so doing. The rollcall was completed without fur- ther interruption, and at its conclusion Secretary burke announced the result as 19 for reconsideration to 18 against. There- upon M. H. de Young of California asked that his vote be recorded in the negative, making it a tie. On this showing Chair- | Wyoming, who had previously declined to vote, asked to be recorded in the negative. It was done, the vote was announced as 20 to 19 against reconsideration, and there was an audible sigh of relief from all over the room as the incident ended. General James R. Chaimers was the star speaker when the contest in the Second Mississippi District was taken up. With Sidney Redmond (colored) he claimed a place on the roll, and opposition was of- fered by G. W. Buchanan and William Simrons (colored). Buchanan and Sim- mons were seated by the close vote of 22 to 19. They are for McKinley. Short work was made of the contest mn the Third Mississippi District, Wesley Grayton and Joseph E. Ousley being seated over W. H. Allen and Louis Woldener. | Both contestants and contestees are Mc- Kinley adherents, At 10:30 o'clock the remainder of the Mississippi contests were laid aside ana the committee took up the trouble in the Twelith District of Missouri, where ex- Congressmen Nathan Frank and Charles D. Comfort on the one side and Charles Parsons and F. G. Uthoff on the other were respectively contestants and con- testees. It was an echo of the old-time fight be- tween the Kerens and Filley factions. Mr. Frank, who belongs to the Kerens wing, presented his own case in an ener- :getic speech, claiming that Parsonsand | Uthoff were not elected by any convention - HASTINGS Y P A ey P e called pursuant to law or as provided by the call of the National Committee, but were literally a ramp-bolting gathering. Seldon B. Spencer presented the side of the contestants with equal force. In his closing speech Mr. Frank paid his respecis to Chauncey Filley with no mincing of language, and then the room was cleared. On motion of Wilson of Delaware the Frank delegation was seated. There were but four viva voce votes in the negauve. At10:50 the convention decided to sit until midnight. In the Fourth Mississippi District Charles Rosenbaum, who is a Reed adherent, and Eugene E. Pettibone (colored), for McKinley, were seated over E. 8. Matihews and E. E. Buck, both having McKinley preferences. The committee decided to make the se- lection of a temporary chairman of the convention the special order for noon on Saturday. A settlement of the fight in the Sixth Mississipp: District was the last business of the night. Captain Joshua R. Smith and John J. Garrett were the contestants and R. A. Simmons and A. J. Hyde, both colored, the contestees. National Com- mitteeman Hill made the argument for the two first named, while the colored men told their own siory. They did it so im- pressively that the committee seated them. All four had McKinley preferences. At 12:05 A. . the committee adjourned until 10:30 A. M. ST e DE YOUNG’S HARSH WORDS. Slanders California Before the Na= tional Committee. 8T. LOUIS, Mo., June 11.—The talk of the lobby to-day has been the remarkabiy | tempered and boorish speech of M. H. de Young maligning the State of California, its Republican Central Committee and its Republican State Convention. His speech was made after S. M. Sbortridge of Cali- fornia had presented his side of the con- test in the Fourth Congressional District and had left the room. De Young was therefore the only Californian present, and it was from his lips that the slanders against his own State issued, with no one there to defend her from his attack. He said that the politics of the Repub- lican party of California was notoriously corrupt; that clean politics was unknown to the Republican organization of the Golden State, and in fact so rotten was it that a woman had recently shot her hus- band there because she had been wronged by crooked politics. The reference was to Mrs. Martin, who shot her busband in the corridor of the City Hall because he had neglected and ill-treated her. Mr. de Young’'s slanders were uttered for the purpose of breaking down the force of the argument that the right of Messrs. Shortridge and Montague to seats in the Repubiican State Convention had been confirmed by the State Central Committee and reaffirmed by the committee on cre- dentials of the State Convention after hearing all the evidence in the matter. It was evident that the National Committee could not reverse those decisions without slapping the State Convention and the State Central Committee in the face, and De Young perceiving this proceeded to argue that the State Central Committee and the State Convention were a parcel of political hoodlums and ruffians, corrupt to the marrow, and that their action had been brought about by dishonorable means. The correspondents of New York and other Eastern newspapers expressed their surprise that the representative of a State should resort to such cowardly and dis- graceful tactice in order to accomplish his own purpose. They said that such a thing was unheard of in National politics, that a National Committeeman should under- take to besmirch and befoul the name of his State. This was De Young’s last chance to get man Carter was about to declare the motion lost, when ex-Senator Carey of even on his political enemies, for he will be no longer a National Committeeman at