The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-12-16
WHEELING. ". VA. DECEMBER 10. 1882.
I'll. Next National Republican convru.

WHEELING. ". VA. DECEMBER 10. 1882.
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The Next NatlOnal Republican COnven.
lion. t.
The National Republican Committee
meets In Washington on tue 18th Of next
month. The Hon. John Mason, the gentle.
man who 30 calamity bore the Republican
standard In tho Second Congressional dis
,rict in the late canvass, and came 80 near
being elected, il the member OF the com.
miltee from this Suite. lie proposes TO be
present ut this important meeting.
1t Is IN important meeting for the reason
that the committee is called upon to settle
the details OF representation in the next
National Republican Convention.
II will DO remembered that the Inst con-
yention, held ut Chicago in June 1880, In
structed the committee to make the Con.
yressional districts the unit Of representa-.
ton in the next convention. In other
words, TO sit down OH the Pennsylvania,
New York und Illinois examples Of packed
State delegations {seleeted by State con.
yentions) in the last convention, whereby
n minority element las in Pennsylvania Of
the Republican party was overslaughed
and DISTINGUISHED, and tho minority senti.
,neut made dominant in the delegation
selected.
The scenes Of 1880 ia the Chicago Con.
yentiou are to be avoided III the Conven.
ton o! 1884, and all forstallipg Of the
majority sentiment is to be discouraged
and defeated as fur us possible by the action
OF the Committee. ma
Notwithstanding the explicit instructions
OF the lust Convention, thereis an attempt,
which is represented in the scheme OF Mr..
George @. Gorham. to hang on to the
packed methods which were repudiatcd in
1880. His plan il to allow every State to
prescribe its own methods, and send a
packed delegation representing, as the
Pennsylvania delegation did in 1880, the
minority sentiment Of the Republican
marty in the State.
On the other hand there are two other
schemes-one by John N. Forbes, Of
Massachusetts, which provides that each
State shall have one delegate-at.large for
each Senator and one district delegate for
each Congressman, and IN additional dele
gate-at-large for each Republican Senator
in the existing Congress.
The other scheme is known as the
Chandler proposition (William E. Chand-
ler's) and it provides for the old plan of
four for the State and two Tor each dis
trict and the additional delegates shall be
awarded in proportion to the Republican
representation Sin the then existing or
next preceding Congress" -,
The Forbes scheme would give West
Virginia seven delegates in the next corr
vention viz lone for each Senator and
Representative, and no more, she having
no Republican Senator, On the other
hand, the Chandler scheme would give her
thirteen delrgates-yix: four for the State
at large, two for each district, and one ad-.
ditional for her one Republican member.
This plan OF Chandler's will make the
whole number Of delegates in the next M
tional Convention to beabout 1854, where
as Forbes plan will make it only about
G2l. Under the former, our Ohio neigh
bors would have G. members. and our
Pennsylvania neighbors SO, whereas under
the latter they would have respectively 80
or so. r1aN 4
There is still another plan that We con-
TESS to liking better than either OF these
viz-the plan submitted by Martin OF
Kansas at the meeting OF the committee in
March, lSSl-whicll was that each State
have4 delegates.at.large, each district but.
one delegate, with IN additional district
delegate for every lo,O 600 votes cast for Gar
field. This would give West virginia II
delegates, or more than she had in the con-
vention OF 1880. This plan would give the
Republican States their proper voice In the
selection Of candidate-which they would
not have had in 1880 had the disiranchis-
ing methods practiced in New York, Penn.
sylvania and Illinois prevailed. In fact
the candidate would have been named BY
States that could not have given him
vote. 4G5gE 1905 Esiis2l
There are some objections to all, but the
Alatrin plan is, as is seems TO us ircer from
them than any other. The four delegates.
at.large should be named by State com
,nl'see. The State committee should also
be empowered to settle all district squables
by tho appointment Of two committeeman
from each wing OF the party represented in
the State convention, and these four to
chose II fifth member, the report Of ma.
jority to be final. No district squables
should be allowed to reach National
Convention. They were the cause Of the
long session at Chicago in 1880. vi
All Of which is respectfully submitted to
the member Of the committee who is to
represent the Republicans Of West Virginia
ut Washingtonlon tho Of next month.
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