The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-01-16
THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER PLAY.
ING PIRATE.

is charged that this ring has its slate made mp,
and that an early convention will enable them
To carry them out successfully before any Ser1-
Gus opposition can be organized. If this is true
the democracy of the northern and the south
ern parts of the state should demand change
Of time for holding the convention. "-Enqutr-
er, eth inst.
For the past five or six wears il has been
manifest to The ordinary observer of political
events in Indiana that an organization in In
dianapolis was gradually gaining strength
which was destined TO control the democratic
party and its action in this state, without
regard to the will of the people, unieSs there
is timely interference by the people TO check
its progress This organization may be denom-
mated "the Indianapolis ring" but IL has as
sumed the name OF the Washington CLUB IL
is a close communion organization, thorough
ly aristocratic in its make up; so much so
that the common people, or Ragged Reu-
bens" are carefully excluded from il. In
word, "the Indianapolis ring" propose TO
control the demOctatic organization In In
diana for the exclusive benefit OF the ring"
thus ignoring the voice of the rank and file of
the party altogether. 1.-THE Indianapolis ring"
now numbers about thirty-fve or forty per-
sons, of the fine haired order exclusively,
which will be increased, perhaps, to fifty, but
care always being observed 10 admit none but
those who can be relied upon as being faithful
ton club is the nucleus of this influence, and,
while it numbers bat a few persons in the
city ofIndianapOlis, yet, through its honorary
1t will exert powerful influence, as think
the future will shOo, 10 the detriment of the
democratic party OF lnuldla.
on two occasions this organization has al
ready brought its influence TO bear, producing
results not anticipated or desired by the
masses of the people. We refer for one eX-
ample to the pressure brought TO bear on Gov
ernOr Williams. which induced him to call
the legislature together, after the regular ses-
sion in 1877. for the sole purpose of passing the
act authorizing the erection OF a new state
house, while, at the same time. IL is Wen
known that outside of Marion county nine
tenths OF the people of the state were and are
opposed to that measure, owing to the facts
that the times are SO harc ana taxes Tor local
purposes are so high that the people 90 not
feel able to incur the additional burden OF
building new state house that now predict
will cost the people from S50O0OO0 TO 5000 GOO.
not Withstanding the limits OF S2,O00,000 fixed
by the act referred to. "The indianapolis
ring did not stop with securing the passage of
this law against the will of the people, but it
controlled absolutely the appointment OF the
commissioners whose duty 1t Will be 10 erect
the building, by securing the appointment of
men who either reside in Indianapolis, or
whose interests are wholly identified with
that city, thus making 1t exclusively an In
dianapOlis job.
The next move of "the indianapolis ring"
will be TO control the action of the democratic
state convention. To do this an early conven-
ton must be held, so that the masses of the
peOple will not have time to reflect upon and
determine the best policy TO be adopted touch
ring being thoroughly organ zed, they VIII
have but little trouble in control ing the ac-
ton of the convention. They dictated that
the convention be held at Indianapolis, Feb
ruary 20. thus forcing upon the party can
vass of eight months duration. Think of it!
A canvass of eight months, with only state
and county officers to electl More than this
The ring reduced the representation in the
February convention one-half compared with
former conventions, thus giving them add1-
tiOnal advantages in controlling its action.
AS you remark, Mr.. Editor, in the article
quote above, this ring mas its slate made up,
its plans all laid, and its combinations
formed" and unless the people take immedi-
ate action. postpone the convention to 8 later
merits of the candidates who will come before
il for nomination, and more especially the
platform to be adopted, the people might as
and let IL nominate the ticket and dictate the
platform. Democrats may overlook the i'm
portanee OF this matter now. but the day is
not distant when they viii repent their folly
in ssckcloth and ashes. PAUL,
We publish the foregoing from the Cincin-
natl Enquirer of the 18th, to show the peo-
pie OF Indiana to what desperate means small
fry men take to defeat the will of the people,
to throw dirt in their eyes, as well as to ex-
pose the fact patent to the democrats OF In
diana, for several years past, that the En-
quirer lends its columns to correspondents
to vilify Indiana democrats whenever
offered. while its editorial columns
pick up stale jokes and write them
down for facts, in regard to every lead
ing democrat of Indiana, aiding and
abetting the enemies of the democracy and
the people by every means in its power.
If rings are formed to control parties in per-
sonal Interests they ought to be exposed. But
that the Washington club of indianapolis
is ring" it not true. The editor Of this
paper is not a member of the club, but
knows its objects to be the reverse of those
attributed to Il. Its first object is social,
and originated among democrats exclusive
~. 1t keeps open rooms where demo-
Gratis are always welcomed, especially visit
ing democrats from the other sec
tons Of Indiena, or elsewhere, and
the charge that any scheme or attempt
to control or influence the action of
anybody Is false. The statement that
the governor called the legislature together
for the purpose of passing the new state
house act' is simply nonsense. The legis-
lature, as everybody in Indiana knows, ad-
journed without passing the necessary
appropriation acts or making a tax levy
and the call for the extra session became a
necessity.
The appointment of the commissioners
was made the duty of the governor. and to
charge that any undue influence was brought
to bear on the governor is gratuitous insult
to the honest governor of this state. and
is only worthy of contempt by all who know
him.
The charge that the ring influenced the
state central committee as TO time or place
1 Of boI1fnv The efafa convention fe kuou-u IN