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The Commoner.
ISSUEl 'WEEKLY
Entered nt tho Postoaico at Lincoln, Nebraska,
an necond-claaM matter.
WH.UAM J. IIHYAN OlIAItr.KS W. HlIYAN
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nob.
ML.
pealing to tho Belflan 'fears of committeo mem
bers, had been used effectively by the reactionary
managors In forming their line-up for Guffey's
dofonao.
Debate over Jn -so thon oxton(lod to the
committee, Mr. Btf? eirig tho first to speak.
Ho held that tho national committeo should be
rosponslvo to tho wishes of tho party voters,
an attltudo vory different from that taken by
tho reactionary comblno, which considers com
mlttoo affairs nobody else's business.
As Mr. Bryan proceeded ho warmed up, and
In gesture punctuated Mb allusions to Guffey
by bringing down his flat In Guffey's direction.
Ho said ho would dispose of the legal
quibblos; in a word, that this was a great big
lasuo and not one of legal technicality. At tho
Donvor convention Colonel Guffey had been
ouatod as committeeman for party disloyalty and
the action of tho state committeo In putting
Guffey back aftor tho death of Jamos Kerr was
a slap at tho Donvor assemblage.
It was ruinous to tho democratic cause. Mr
Sfonwi c?n"nuod ln, erfoct. that the committee
should condone offenses of predatory wealth
with which Guffey has been affiliated and whose
representative ho is. Ho threw In for good
measure his opinion that Guffey is not a demo-
In accepting Guffey, Mr. Bryan added, the
committeo would be placing itself in a -position
where it would be said of it that it accents a
representative of the ' social interests Matter"
craJlcf (PalmrJ B Portod b a11 the demE
2Stv n?1PeMm?n fr-.r' hIa 8tate and the ma
latere. 7 metiers of his state's legis-
Wlliard Salisbury, of Delaware, and C. H
Williams, of Mississippi, followed with picas
for tho seating of Palmer. - P
Guffey's claim was upheld by a number of
committeemen among them Brown, of Vermont
Green of Rhode Island, and Wood, of MicwSn'
paid Palmer compliments, but sad they could
not bring themselves to overlook the legaTmerite
of Guffey's case. The big reactions who
-tiSKt'm mot,on to
The division of the committee on the an
oH?eatinS Congressman Palme? as Tnatffi
committeeman for Pennsylvania was a? fSl-
mlngs, Connecticut; T. Albert j!LS?
Maryland; John W Couehiin m ,raIhott,
Edwin O.' Wood, Michigan? F ' b T4f kM?J?i;
nosota' c tt xxrini b .1. B- Lynch, Min-
. .,,, , Braayj OMalloina.
The Commoner.
Georgo W. Greene, Rhode Island; R. E. L.
Mountcastle, Tennessee; R. M. Johnston, Texas;
Thomas II. Brown, Vermont; J. Taylor Elly
son, Virginia; John T. McGraw, West Virginia;
A. J. Daly, Alaska; A. J. Michelson, Arizona;
Gilbert J. Waller, Hawaii; A. A. Jones, New
Mexico 30.
For Palmer-Frames Weathorly, Alabama;
Alva Adams, Colorado; Wlllard Saulsbury,
Dolaware; Martin J. Wade, Iowa; Robert
Ewing, Louisiana; Edward F. Goltra, Missouri;
P. L. Hall, Nebraska; Robert S. Hudspeth, New
Jersey; Josephus Daniels, North Carolina; Har
vey C. Garber, Ohio; M. A. Miller, Oregon; B. L.
Tillman, South Carolina; E. S. Johnson, South
Dakota; Frank K. Nebeker, Utah; W. H.
Dunphy, Washington; Joseph E. Davies, Wis
consin; John E. Osborne, Wyoming; E. A. New
man, District of Columbia 18.
Adoption of the original McGraw motion to
seat Guffey followed without a roll.
Following the action of the national com
mittee In seating James M. Guffey by a vote of
30 to 18, Congressman Palmer announced that
sinee the Pennsylvania fight had assumed its
present shape he would be a candidate for elec
tion as committeeman by Pennsylvania's dele
gation to the national convention, and would
consider no compromise offer. He said:
"The national committee's action In recogniz
ing Colonel Guffey as the Pennsylvania member
was due to two considerations.
"First, sympathy for an old associate who was
recognized by his fellow-members as making his
last political appearance; and
"Second, a strict and technical interpretation
of the rule adopted at the Denver convention
providing that vacancies on the national com
mitteo shall be filled by the state committee.
Six members of the national committee publicly
stated in the meeting, in explaining their otes,
that they sympathized with the membersof tho
organizers in Pennsylvania, and would hav.e
been glad to seat me were it not that they
believed tho state committee had exercised its
power when it originally selected Guffey to fill
tho Kerr vacancy. This shows that a majority
of the national committee are with us on the
merits of the controversy which has agitated
Pennsylvania, and that they believe as we do,
in honest, clean party management, without
republican affiliations.
"Mr. Bryan's argument that upon the eve of
a presidential campaign it Is extremely hazard
ous to give the country notice that the demo
cratic party condones the offenses of the Don-nelly-Hall-Guffey
annex to the republican ma
chine, met with the sympathy of ff large ma
jority of the committee. But a sufficient number
felt bound by the strict Interpretation of the
rule to save Colonel Guffey's place for the
present.
"Today's developments mako no difference in
the situation in Pennsylvania whatever. Tho
primaries next April wijl show an overwhelming
majority of delegates to the state and national
convention against the Guffey-Hall-Donnelly
ring, and our fight to clean house in the 'demo
cratic party in Pennsylvania will be carried to
the finish.
"I have no doubt that the national com
mittee's acceptance of Guffey, under all the
circumstances and against the wishes of a large
majority of the democrats of Pennsylvania, will
simply operate to further inflame the minds of
the decent people of our state against the con
tinuance of the kind of organization politics
which has disgraced our party and our state
in the past.
"Colonel Guffey is no longer a political factor
In Pennsylvania. His own friends have thrown
him over. The plan will now be to put forward
a new man, on the specious plea of harmony
Such a subterfuge can receive no considera
tion from right-thinking democrats. Its accep-
SSfl T?U,ld admIt that thIs ls a Actional fight
which It is not, and would also return the or
ganizatlon to the hands of the men who really
terest Colonel Qufley against the public In
"We have cleaned house in Pennsylvania the
ZffiZ TV1 US', and we 8haI1 taslst to JK
end that the organization shall be put in har
mony with that popular sentiment"
State Chairman Guthrie Issued a statement
&& of
"At the primaries to be held Anril it h.
you will be called upon to decide whether y
Si vmpJete th orsfcation of your party
and take to yourselves tho control of its affnwT
The national committee, actuated by svm
or controlled by the baldest technTcanSP
refused to geat the member XSSSi'JSZ
VOLUME 12; NUMBER
committee as a part of the plan of rcorganiza-
"That national committeo has performed its
last duty and will pass out of existence when
tho national convention meets. A. Ivlitchell Pal
mer will be a candidate for membership on tho
new committeo, which will conduct the campaign
and manage the national affairs of the party
for four years. That election will be by your
delegations to the convention. If they choose
him, he will be seated, and his rights and yours
can not be defeated by a technical objection
without the slightest merit."
After discussing the low fetato to which the
democratic party had fallen in Pennsylvania
under the old machine, Mr. Guthrie says:
"The representatives of the 'old leaders' say
that unless their demands are conceded there
will be two conventions, and that no matter
how badly beaten they may be at the primaries,
they will put up a ticket and endeavor, through
tho aid of the Dauphin county court, to seize
the democratic column on the ballot and thereby
defeat the real democratic candidate, thereby
giving the republican machine another victory
In the state and weakening the democratic ma
jority in congress.
"To prevent them from having the shadow
of an excuse for holding a 'rump' convention,
we have offered to unite with Mr. Ritter and his
committee in a joint call for a convention, the
roll to be made up under joint supervision, plac
ing on it the names of those shown to be elected
by the official certificates and no others and to
be called by a temporary president also jointly
selected, and leave to the convention thus .or
ganized the decision of all questions. Further
than this, we can not and will not go. We will
not surrender the power we now have to secure
an -honest declaration of the result of the pri
maries. '
"The suggestions made to us would lead tofl'a
restoration of the old system of dictation arid
control, with the old 'leaders' concealed behifid
new names, but exercising the same power.- '
"This would leave the' party more hopelessly
divided than before. ;j
"It is for you to say whether you will rule
or be ruled. When you have asserted your rigUta
and established your power, you can choose for
yourself without dictation from "any one." "
ANOTHER REPORT
The Washington correspondent for the Louis
ville (Ky.) Courier-Journal, sent to his paper
this dispatch: There was some excitement In
the executive session of the committee while the
Guffey case was being considered. Col. Guffey
had been elected by the so-called regular demo
cratic committee of Pennsylvania and Mr. Pal
mer secured his title a year or two later at the
hands of a fusion committee.
It is well remembered that at the Denver con
vention in 1908 Mr. Bryan threw the Pennsyl
vania delegates, headed by Guffey, out of the
convention hall and when he started in to fight
the colonel there was no surprise except among
those interested in finding democratic "discord"
whenever possible. No sooner had the first
name of the rolls been called than Mr Bryan
was on his feet. Alabama had elected James
Weatherly to succeed Committeeman Tomlinson
deceased, and Mr. Bryan moved that the na
tional committee accept the action. He wanted
to set a precedent In such cases so that, when
the Palraer-Guffey case was considered, it would
be necesasry for the committee to consider
Guffey as a contestant along with Palmer and
not as the sitting member.
Chairman Mack sustained a point of order
against this on the ground that the action of tho
Alabama committee was final. Mr. Bryan at
pealed from the decision of the chair and the
committee went into executive session ThS
chair was sustained on this motion by a votS
of 83 to 13 The vote by states ws affoHowst
AyesAlabama, Arkansas, California. Con
necticut, Florida, Georgia. Idaho, mtaoto. l
diana. Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland Ma
sachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mteowll Mo
tona, New Hampshire, New York, North Carot
Una North Dakota. Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas Ve
mont, Virginia. Washington, West vlrrfn!
Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii VIrSlnia.
district of Columbia and New Mexico '
no8phus DanIols member from North Caro-'
Una, then moved to seat Mr. Palmer who hS
a speech In support of the DanSs VnUon S'
g SSS c LhaarugoedMC01- 51u5
Aug wunorawn c. Larue Munson from the coi.
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