Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-08-28
STATE POLITICS.
A Review of the Situation In the
Second District. ,
Charges of Crookedness Refuted-Ihe Late
Conyention-How II was Organized
The First Disturbance-The Taylor
and Preston County Cases.
GENERAL POLITICAL NEWS NOTES
Special to the Register.

Special to the Register.
KEYsER, w. Va, August 26.-So much
has been said and written in abuse Of the
officers, doings and rulings of the Keyser
Convention that justice demands some rel
utation of the exaggerated, prejudiced and
false accounts scattered broadcast over the
district, to the injury and scandal of gen.
tlenen hitherto of standing in their respec-
tive communities and wholesale slander
OF the friends of Judge Hoge.
We can convince the unprejudiced mind
Sn It much that 10 charged is maiiciouslEs
.as ossly, misrepresentation and without
foundation in fact, and we appeal to every
honest man who was present or who shall
read these lines for truths sake to hear the
other side of this case.
In the beginning We lay down the propo-
sition that in an assembly OF this kind,
composed OF delegates or supposed dele
gates from different counties until an Or
ganisation has been perfected and rules for
its government adopted, is nothing more
than
A Mass Meeting.
and to vote by counties without fixing
first basis of representation and acting
upon credentials of delegates, is a practice
without precedent, impracticable and an
absurdity upon its face.
1t was therefore proper, first, to O It upon
the report on permanent organization,
usual in all similar bodies, and from its ma
ture the proper thing to take up and dis
pose of, as officers are essential to govern
ment, and it was the first time we ever wit
messed even a struggle over permanent
organization, the report having invariably
been recognized as conclusive aud adopted
without opposition. Now for the begin.
ming of confusion, and who cast the first
stone:
The reports of committees being in order
the temporary Chairman, w. r. Dyer,
called for the report on permanent organ
ization. The report was read, and at its
close the committee had recommended that
the vote OH its adoption be taken by cOun-
ties. A number, we believe, of the Lucas
delegation insisted upon voting in this
way and asked that the roll of the counties
be called. The Chair directed the SeCre-
tary to call the counties. Barbour was
called. when Immediately Fontain Smith,
of Farmont, leader OF the Lucas men,
Sprang 10 his feet and moved that
All the Reports be Received First.
G. F. Price, of Mineral, Hoge man, made
the point that Mr.. Smiths motion was out
of order, pending vote, and insisted on
the vote proceeding. Mr.. Sherrard, OF
Hardy, Lucas friend, insisted that 1t was
not out of order, and that Mr.. Smiths mo-
ton was proper. Here, therefore, we find
the temporary Chairman, who has been 50
freely denounced, giving an opDortunityto
vote by counties, the Lucas men fighting
off vote by counties, and the lloge men
willing 10 vote on the report as recon-
mendcd by the committee by counties.
The motions, supplementary motions.
call for decisions, &C., made by the Lucas
men were all dIatory distractions made
to confuse the chair and defeat an organi-
zatiun, and the chair was driven TO do the
only thing that could have been dome
take viva vOce vote and declare the result
We affirm "a division of counties called
fOr was out of order OH a yive vOce vote, and
Could Not Have Been Taken
at that stage of the proceedings A divi-
sion OH the vive voce vote, however, would
have resulted in adopting the report, since
it is conceded by Lucas men here that
numerically there were more HOge dele
gates present than Lucas. If denied, we
After seating the permanent chairman
the next thing in order was the report on
a basis of representation. When it was
called for the chairman, Colonel Robert
Baylor, of Jefferson, a leading Lucas man,
bad disappeared, taking it with him. Other
members of the delegation explained that
Colonel Baylor was sick. end had gone to
his room, unintentionally taking the report
with him, and not one OF the members
strange to say, knew where the Colonel
lodged. Your correspondent will not charge
fraud, deception. dishonesty, &c, as the
maligners of Colonel Coffran do, but we
submit the facts as facts, and let the pub
lie draw their conclusions as to
who Was Afraid
of a vote and whether the presiding officer
or Hoge men defeated vote by counties.
Upon the merits of committee reports, we
have only to say they were in the main JUS
tilted, in our humble Judgment, by the
facts, except that we would have admi tied
the proxies from Taylor county, under the
circumstances. While condemuing the
practice of representation by proxy, as
claimed, is subject to gross abuse, and in
stancing the action of the Fourth District
convention in support of the committee. 1t
would have been proper, We believe, to have
allowed the Taylor proxies votes, because
there was no rule forbidding it and no
charge of fraud.
1t has since been ascertaincd, however
that one at least OF the Lucas Taylor county
proxies was signed in blank, and the name
filled in by another party, which certainly
vitiated that vote, and demonstrates the
evil of the proxy practice. The action on
the Preston county contest was
Not without Precedent.
only il was weaker case on the record:
i tifNrV
10 appoint delegates to the Parkersburg
State Convention that nominated Camden
in 1872. 1t was held at the Court
House, and the attendance small-a resolu-
ton instructing for Camden was adopted.
The certificate, credentials and proceedings
were regularly signed by the chairman and
secretary. The member OF the County EN-
ecutive Committee from Frankfort district
called meeting and appointed delegates
from that district and they were admit
ted with the regulars. These are not par
allel cases, because the chairman and secre-
tary of the Preston county meeting contra
dict each other on the record OF proceed
ings; nor do we pretend TO defend the &C
tion of Psrkersburg, but give it as q sample
of what other conventions have done.
In Summing Up
we are reminded of the fact, that of the
counties represented but one sent solid
Hoge delegation excepting Randolph, when
the bars were let down and all Democrats
were made delegates. while Jefferson sent
hers solid, and Preston put up even IN
others where Hoge men controlled the aP-
Iointments.
Let it be understood, therefore, Hoge
men have not committed all the wrongs,
and we want to emphasize the position,
that all preliminary questions must neces-
sarily been decided by an individual votes
and of such voters, Judge Hoge had ma
iority in the Convention. Any vote be-
fore the temporary presiding officer or per;
manent chairman, on any question raised
previous to adopting report on basis OF
representation or credentials, ION the latter
Preston could not vote, having contesting
delegations,) it resolved itself into the
proposition
Are There a Majority
of those voting for or against it. Your CORE
spondent could not close without reyerting
to one other shameful peryersion of truth
in the press of jefferson county. MI.