Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 January 1920 — MCCRAY IS RETTING IN BAD [ARTICLE]

MCCRAY IS RETTING IN BAD

By Promoting Oandidsoy of McClura for Speakership of House. Governor-elect McCray seems to have made a bad start with some of the’'politicians of his party by trying to bring about the selection of John F. McClure, formerly of the Indiana Pnblic Service Commission, for speaker es the lower house of the coming legislature. He admits that he brought McClure out, and yet soon after the election Mr. McCray said that he proposed simply to be governor and to leave the legislature to manage Its own affairs. He has apparently abandoned this policy, and the backers of other for the speakership are naturally quite wroth. Omer U. Newman, a Marlon county representative who Is for Clinton H. Glvan of Indianapolis for speaker, condemns the efforts of Governorelect McCray in behalf of McClure and asserts that the house will stand on Its constitutional right as a separate' branch of the state government to vote its own conscience. Ha asserts that in the campaign Mr. McCray declared against executive Interference with the other departments of the government, and hla position was widely approved at the time. The friends of Jacob D. Mlltenberger of Muncie, another candidate for speaker, say he will fight it out to the end, despite the efforts of Jet Mooreman of Winchester, Charley Watson, Lawrence Lyons, Fred Robinson and others to put McClura over. So bitter has become the contest that there is talk in some quartern of bringing out another candidate. In this connection the name of Representative Claude A. Smith of Princeton, who was a member of the IWB house, Is being mentioned. The fear Is expressed by several Republicans that no matter how the race for the speakership ends, there will be a "nasty” feeling in the house which may last throughout the session and seriously affect the adminlstfatlon. Newman has issued a lengthy statement in which he says among other things: "The boldest stroke at representative government in Indiana that has been made Is that of the governorelect and his friends by their open and public declaration that this 1* his administration and it is his right to dictate the man who should ba the speaker of the house.”