Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 197, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 August 1912 — Charges Chairman Morphy With Attempt to Buy Convention. [ARTICLE]

Charges Chairman Morphy With Attempt to Buy Convention.

f, The editor of The Jasper County Democrat makes a serious charge against Charles J. Murphy, 10th district chairman for the democratic party. In reporting the conventions held at Monon Thursday The Democrat says: “The representative convention convened immediately after the senatorial convention and the White county delegation was filled up with the machine democrats who had tried to put Anheir over against the real desire of the democrats' of that county, and they got a little revenge on Jasper county, whose delegates in the senatorial convention had refused TG BE BOUGHT BY DISTRICT CHAIRMAN MURPHY and the other machine advocates, and they trotted out a candidate for representative in the person of Patrick Hayes, an old soldier perhaps 75 years old, at present one of the commissioners of White county.” Just what means of purchase Murphy offered is not alleged by the editor of The Democrat, but Chairman Murphy is quite apt to ask him to particularize and when he does Boss Babcock will probably do the John W. Kern stunt and back up. The heading of The Democrat article. 6bntains a line reading: “Jasper County Loyal to Law.” Some prominent democrats are wondering what sort.of loyalty it was, which paved the wav to the defeat of the Jasper county candidates "f6r representative. They are. also asking what they owed Mr. Law\ He was twice nominated in the district and was defeated the last time. It looks very much as though Boss "Babcock had made the promise to Law and that he wants to impress Law with the fact that he made good. It is a queer conceit that will boas* loyalty to a candidate in a neighboring county who had no claim and which directly brought about the defeat of the two Jasper county candidates.- L

Here is another clause from The Democrat’s report of the convention: “Newton county voted her 6 votes solidly for Law up to the 21st ballot and a part of this time had Jasper county’s 8 votes and at no time less than 6 votes until his friends gave the word to break to Chester A. McCormick.” There is a sample of “boss” domination. Law’s friends in Jasper county, presumably the editor of The Democrat, gave permission for his supporters to leave him and directed them where to go. No machine about that, was there? Perish the thought. Delegates of presumed intelligence after casting 20 ballots, thus being given time to make up their own minds about the candidates’ qualities, had to be given the “word to break to Law.” The Democrat charges Anheir with having machine support and the White county delegates with being machine controlled. The admission of methods employed by Boss Babcock looks like the machine politics was all played in Jasper county. From several sources it is understood that the “boss” is opposed to Tom Taggart and alleged that Murphy, Anhier, etc., were his henchmen. It is something new for The Democrat to oppose this machine and it is a little odd now since the Taggart influence nominated Sam Ralston for governor and Tom Marshall for vicepresident. It is queer, too,„ in view of the fact that the editor of The Democrat was so greatly incensed during the progress of the Baltimore convention because Bryan tried to read the Taggart bunch out of the party. Bosses, however, play some queer pranks in their “loyalty” and their actions generally bear watching. As nearly as we can figure it put the editor of The Democrat is now opposed to Bryan, Wilson, Marshall, Ralston, Taggart, Darling, Hayes, Honan, McFarland, Rainier and every other man who does not conform to his own self-professed political virtue. A "confession of faith” by the editor of The Democrat would be very interesting.