Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 57, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 March 1902 — CRAWFISHING ON THE CONVENTION. [ARTICLE]

CRAWFISHING ON THE CONVENTION.

Chairman Little Cancels Newton’s Call for Judicial Convention. WALKED IN WITH HIS EYES OPEN BUT CRAWLS OUT WITH THEM SHUT. BUT IT TAKES TWO TO MAKE A BARGAIN ANO JUST AS -MANY • ~ TO BREAK IT.

County Chairman Little, of Newton Co., has issued a notice revoking, so far as Newton county is concerned the call for the Republican judicial convention, set for April 10th, at Brook. For this extraordinary, not to say highhanded act, there is a real reason and an ostensible reason. The ostensible reason, that is the excuse given for this act, is the method adopted in Jasper county for the election of the county’s delegates to-- .the judicial convention? Namely, their election by the county convention/ along also with the election of our state and representative delegatee. The real reason is to be found in the determination of what may be .called the county-seat gang at Kentland, to have the next circuit judge in their town, for the undoubted advantage it will give them in their unsettled contest to retain the county seat. It is a ground-hog case with them, and the judgeship they are bound to have, by fair means or by foul; and they care not whether his name be Cummings or Darrocb, or if his politics be Republican or Democratic. Even a# two years ago this same crowd committed political highway robbery to control the nomination for state senator, for a man whom they thought they could control, so now they are ready to resort to an act of political bad faith to secure the judgeship. Let us examine this excuse they put forward for calling off this judicial convention: Immediately after the Jasper county Republican committee was organized in January, the members of the committee all over the county began to urge upon County Chairman Warner the advisability of electing all the state and district delegates at the county convention, as the people were tired of being called upon to attend so many precinct conventions. Mr. Warner, therefore decided upon this method, and, as we believe, not only with the full endorsement of every precinct committeeman, but of practically all the Republican voters in the county. Very soon after the two county committees were organized Mr, Warner, of this county, and Mr. Little, of Newton, began to arrange the details of the judicial convention; Mr. Little insisting upon its being held in Newtoh county, which point Mr. Warner conceded. After a number of letters had been exchanged regarding the time and place of the convention, the basis of representation etc. and in which everything asked for by Mr. Little was conceded by Mr. Warner, the latter wrote to Mr. Little, as follows: Rensselaer, Ind., Feby 5,1902. The Hon. Z. F. Little, Goodland, Ind. Dear Sir:—Replying to yours of Jan. 30, 1902 will say that we will agree to hold the convention in Brook on the tenth of April as you suggest That delegates be selected bj each County on March 24, an that time has been fixed by our County Com. for bolding the I County Convention, which convention will select delegatee to the State, legislative and judicial con-

ventions. That the basis-of representation be as you suggest in yours of Jan. 21, Viz. one delegate* for each hundred votes and one for any fraction over fifty cast in 1900 for Hugh H. Hanna. If this is satisfactory prepare the call in duplicate, and send to me for signature. Yours Respectfully, C. C. Warner, ' County Chairman. Observe carefully -the contents of this letter, which Mr. Little doss not and will not deny having received, exactly as above printed. Observ-e lhat Warner states frankly and explicity the intention of our county to elect its delegates to the judicial convention at the county convention. Observe also that Mr. Warne frankly and honorably asks Mr., Little if the arrangement is satisfactory to him. Neither of which things would Mr, Warner have done had there been any thought of unfairness toward Newton county in our method of electing these judicial delegates. Mr. Little did not reply to this letter by mail, and after waiting quite a long time Mr. Warner i called Mr. Little up, by telephone. I Mr. Little then explained that he l had intended to have answered the letter, but had been so busy that he had forgotten to do so. In I this telephone talk Mr. Little expressed himself as entirely satisfied with Mr. Warner’s suggesI tions, in the letter above quoted, that Mr. Warner should prepare the call and send it over to Mr. Little for bis signature. Mr,.Warner therefore prepared the call and sent it to Mr. Little, who, in a letter dated Feb. 16th, said he had received it and that it would be published in Newton county papers, that week. . Thus after having full knowledge of our intended method of electing delegates for 11 days, Mr. Little was satisfied, and so, no ( doubt, were the county-seat schemers at Kentland, whose subservient tool he undoubtedly is.

But "a change came o’er the spirits of their dream,” a month later. During the first half of February the Kentland crowd thought they had a cinch on the judgeship. There were supposed to be three candidates in Jasper county, whose respective canvasses would devolope irreconcileable bitterness, and thus result in one candidate or the other throwing his strength to the Newton county man and thus nominating him. Moreover, they greatly overestimated Mr. Cummings’ hold on the. Republicans of his own county; and as greatly underestimated Mr. Hanley’s popularity in this county. Finally they learned that there would be only one candidate in Jasper county, and that his] party was for him, in overwhelming numbers, from one end of the county to the other; and his nomination was thus evidently assured ; and the county seat gang must devise some means to disrupt the party, or Kehtland would not have the judgeship. A portion of the Newton county central committee was hurriedly gotten together, and a preamble and resolution, was dragooned

through the committee but not without considerable opposition. Armed with this resolution, Mr. Little pre-emtorilyjdemanded ofMr. Warner that our method of ohoosing delegates must be changed or' else he would repudiate the convention called for April 10th. Of course Mr. Warner could not and would not comply with this demand; nor would the self-respected Republicans in Jasper be willing that he should. Therefore Mr. Little has announced his repudia*. tion of the judicial convention, which himself was mainly instrumental in arranging for. The whole matter amounts ter just this: The Kentland countyseat schemers see that they can not get a Kentland Republican into the judge’s office, and they are therefore plotting to put a Kentland Democrat into it, instead. A few words more to show the insincerity of the objections of these Kentland schemers to our method of choosing delegates. They claim that in some parts of Jasper county Mr. Cummings has great strength, and had the judicial delegates been elected atprecinct'conventions, he would have carried some of them, and therefore have secured some delegates Trom this connty. Now mark the indisputable proof of their insincerity in maksi, ing this claim:

When Mr. Little came here to present his demand for a change, Mr. Warner, with Mr. Hanley’s consent, made him this proposition: That on March 22nd, when our county convention delegates are elected, a ballot might be taken in any one or every one of the precincts of the county, and if Mr. Cummings received more votes in any precinct than MrHanley, then Mr. Cummings should have the vote of that precinct at the Brook convention* This proposition was fair and more than fair; and it conceded everything to Mr. Cumming’s friends that they could possibly have hoped for if the method of electing delegates had been changed; and it asked for no concessions at all in return. But does anyone believe it had a moment’s favorable consideration in Kentland, or that the fact of its being made was published in the papers of Newton county? Not by any means. The schemers over there know that Mr. Cummings could not carry any Jasper county precinct against Mr. Hanley, that Newton is by no means solid for Mr. Cummings, and therefore that their only hope for a Kentland judge is to get the Republicans of Jasper and Newton counties in a wrangle, and thus give them a prospect of electing a Kentland Democrat That is their scheme and many true Republicans in Newton county already know that it is, and are denouncing it, accordingly. In conclusion, we wish to say that as it “takes two to make a bargain” so also it takes two to break one. This arrangement for a judical convention at Brook on April 10th is a legal contract, eo recognized by law, and Mr. Little has no more legal right to break it, than he has a moral right, and that he has not at all. The convention will be held as called, and its nominees will be the legal Republican candidates for Judge and Prosecuting Attorney, in this circuit, and their names so appear on the official ballots of Jasper and Newton counties.