Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1902 — The Feeling In Northern Newton. [ARTICLE]

The Feeling In Northern Newton.

Rose Lawn Review. The Kentland gang of dictators came out in the Enterprise of April 17, and bolted the nominees of the judicial convention held at Brook, April 10th. It might not be much' amiss to say that Mr. Little, our county chairman, was not as much to blame in this matter as a few gentlemen at Kentland, who have domineered the republican party of this county, and particularly the north end of the county for at least a dozen years or more. There is no doubt but what Mr. Little made a sacred contract with the chairman of Jasper county, and we are confident that he did have a reasonable proposition from the chairman of Jasper county, and knowledge of their methods of selecting delegates was submitted to the central committee of our county, and no objection was made to the same, and Mr. Little was warranted in going ahead and entering into the contract, which he did for the call of the judicial convention. If he made that contract with a full knowledge of all the facts is there a single republican in our county, who has the last spark of honor left within him, that believes it right that we should baby out of a contract so entered into and repudiate the same? We have talked with a great many republicans in every township in Newton county, and I feel safe in saying that I have not found a solitary one, other than a half dozen in Kentland and probably two or three in Goodland, who are in sympathy with ritrohm, Jones, Cummipgs and Little’s bolt. On the day of the convention at Brook, I made a point to talk with at least fifty of the prominent republicans of Iroquois township, and a great many from Jackson township, Beaver township, and Colfax township, and found no one that were allies of the Kentland court house lobbyists, and from a great number of republicans I have talked with from Kentland, I am satisfied that the rank and file of the republican party in Keotland are not in sympathy with the rule of ruin policy of the gangsters there. The same reports come from reliable sources in Grant township. We of the north end of this county do not consider it any of our business how or when Jasper county selects delegates to any convention, as we think that we have troubles enough of our own without borrowing from an adjoining county. There is no one that would resent an interference with the Jasper county people in our method of selecting delegates quicker than this same Kentland crowd who is bolting the regular republican nomination at this time. It is certainly an act of impudence on our part to presume the right to dictate to them how they shall select their delegates from there or when they shall select them, when they were kind and courteous enough to consult our chairman, who is the only man they supposed they had a right to consult (they certainly did not think it necessary to consult the Kentland gangsters) in reference to their method of selecting their delegates. The republicans of the north end of this county and for that matter the rank and file of the republicans all over the county will be for supporting the ticket nominated at Brook, April 10th, for we have faith enough in their honesty to believe that they will refuse to be dictated and domineered over by the Kentland gangsters.

We dare Mr. Strohm to publish in his paper the correspondence between •Mr. Little and Mr. Warner, and the action of our county central committee upon the proposition submitted to Mr. Warner for the call of the judicial convention; he dare not state the facts with reference to that for the reason that it would show babies in men’s clothing, backing out of a contract that they had fairly made. We considered it our duty as loyal republicans to be represented in that convention, and we accept the .nominations of that convention as the regular republican nominees and will vote for them to a man. You can look over the records of the history of the republicans of Lake, Lincoln and Colfax townships and you will find that they vote the ticket as it is printed, but we wish to. say here at this time that while we may be nothing to Kentland, yet from the disturbance they have created in the republican party of this county (and hundreds of hone.-t republicans of this county, who believe in living up to their contract of being honest in politics as well as in business), we will reserve the right to ourselves to vote

for or against certain gentlemen who may appear on our ticket for election to hold offices this fall, or for reelection, whichever the case may be. We are glad, however, that Mr. Strohm has seen fit to withdraw his candidate for judge; in fact it was not necessary to do so at this time, as that had been settled some time ago. So far as John D. Sink is concerned, he will be supported by every straight, honest Republican in Newton county and hosts of Democrats. Of course I realize that Strohm and Jones were never at heart for Cummings, but only sought an opportunity to bolt the ticket and put forth their efforts toward the election of his Democratic partner. I am not taking up Jasper county’s side of the case in this matter any further than to say that we believe in treating them as fairly as we would wish them to treat us and that I am reliably informed the first knowledge Mr. Warner had of the dilemma which Mr. Little had got himself into was when he came to him with a set of resolutions threatening to call off this judicial convention if he, Warner, did not concede everything to the Kentland gangsters. Of course he was not driven, but might have been led, as he claims to have conceded to everything that was asked of him before that time. I hope that the Republicans of the north end will show at least a degree of independence and give Kentland as good as she sends, and while they rejoice over the disappointment of our friends, we will at least have reason to rejoice over the defeat of some of their’s this fall, and for once we can have a ratification meeting at each end of the coqnty. We do not regard the nominees of the Brook convention as having stolen their nominations or that it was an illegal nomination, but regard them as the legal republican nominees of th'is district and will treat them accordingly, and hope they will have nerve enough to stand by that convention and the republicans who participated in it, and I am sure if they do they will carry Newton county by the largest majority ever given men on the county ballot. Strohm assumes to talk for the entire Republican party of this county and the sooner he finds out that he only represents a few gangsters, the better it will be for him and for the party, and it is the duty of the Repub licans to show him this fall “where he is at.” Patience with us has ceased to be a virtue, as the south end never misses an opportunity of humiliating the people in the north end every time there is an election of any kind. We have been referred to as sympathizers, rooters, and not being capable of casting an intelligent vote. They threaten to kill off the north, as we are of little consequence to them in political affairs. Of course we realize the fact that these conditions of affairs are caused only by a few dictators who try to control the whole of the Republican party in Newton county with a strong arm of dishonor. We have not forgotten the unprincipled manner in which the Kentland lobbyists defeated a fair and impartial bill being passed for the removal of the Newton county seat that is as void of fairnesss and principal as the Arctic regions are of orange blossoms. Neither have we forgotton the disgraceful method that the lobbyists took to defeat the county seat election at Morocco. * « *