The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-10-08
THE GAG LAW.
BY the Fellow who Did IT, and the why
0f If.

Inc QeloRaUeS udu Deeu CuOSou anu III
the main duly instructed. The contest
now was to see which party could Sc
cure the uninstructed and doubtful del
egates. Mr.. E. &. johnson and Mr..
Metcalf had had a friendly meeting two
days before the convention. This
meeting had resulted in promise by
Mr.. johnson, who admitted that he
was preparing affidavits to be road in
the convention, that he would show
whatever he might desire to read Of
that kind to Metcalf IN time, so that he
might have an opportunity for
preparing testimony in rebuttal. That
would have been fair. Metcalf waited
until nine o'clock the night before the
convention for the promised afiidavits.
They we're not sent to him, as he sup
posed they would be. Mr.. Geo. l..
Couch then went, at Metcalf's g request,
to Mr.. Johnson's Office and asked that
the affidavits might be sent to met,
calf s house. Mr.. Johnson replied
that It was now too late, and being re-
minded of his promise, he admitted 1t,
but insisted that it was then too late to
90 over to Metcalf IS, and said he would
try and see Sim in the morning. an
other promise which he did not keep.
We understand Mr.. johnson now
claims he would have shown the affi-
davits to Mr.. Metcalf il he had come to
his Office, Any one who remembers
Mr.. Metcalf s crippled condition
can easily see the absurdity, not
to say cruelty, of his position.
The convention met in the forenoon.
We fear the readers of "A Fair Hear
ing" may not have heard of it, but it is
a fact. For reasons which will be APP
parent as you read what follows Mr..
johnson left out all mention OF the
forenoon session from his report OF the
proceedings OF the convention.
At that session Mr.. +. G.. johnson
made motion, the substance Of which
was as follows;
That instead OF appointing COM
mittee on resolutions, we adopt the plat
form of the Republican National Con-
vention as our own, and pledge our
support to its nominees. Mr.. Wean, Of
Wellington, moved to amend by adding
the words, "and that we pledge our
support to the nominees of this conven-
ton" Mr.. 4. G. johnson sprang TO
his feet and said | most cor
daily accept the amendment. 1t
was seconded and carried unanimously,
every delegate apparently voting
"aye." (The delegates who now bolt
the ticket should have amended that
amendment by adding the words PRO
vided we be allowed to empty our
.dredge on your candidate, and provided
also that it kills him."
Notice this: By that vote Mr.. E. G.
johnson and each and every delegate
pledged his unqualified support to Mr..
Webbsr If nominated. Not one Of
them who now bolts the nomination
was manly enough to take back the
promise before the convention. All OF
them participated in the convention to
the end. George William Curtis atti-
tude toward the Republican party
seems to me pure and manly beside
such dishonor, for he declared TO the
convention at Chicago that he would
not be bound to support its nominees.
But, TO return: The committee on or
ganization reported the usual rules for
the government Of county conventions,
except that it gave fifteen minutes for
presentation speeches instead OF five. l
believed. and was informed by many
others, that the five minutes rule had
nearly il not always prevailed In our
conventions. therefore in view Of this
fact, and in view OF Mr.. Johnson's
broken promises, and especially in view
OF the fact that Mr.. johnson sought to
bring affidavits before the convention
TO break down Mr.. Webber, when no
chance could be had-not even a min
ute for preparation for reply-made
the motion to limit the time for presen-
tation speeches to five minutes. The
Hon. Lucius Herrick, who sat near me,
counseled and approved the making of
the motion. The motion to amend was
carried and became the now famous
gag law (so-called). 1t effectively
spiked the gun that was so heavily
loaded with mud that ii could
not 90 off in less than fiftee n
minutes. This same five minute
rule became the law Of the judicial
convention week later. Mr.. johnson
has zealously sought by every artifice
known to an adroit lawyer, to spread
broadcast the impression that the affi-
davits sought to be introduced were to
be purely in vindication Of Mr.. Nye.
But unfortunately for his theory, the
published aflidavits themselves are
found to be pregnant with venom and
malice against Mr.. Webber. Mr.. John
son claims that our conventions have
always been open for free and full
discussion, and he justly might have
added, that never in all the past history
OF the county-not even In DEM
ocratic coxyention-had any one been
found who, like himself, had had the
brazen effrontery to attempt to bring
OK parte evidence into convention
and open up discussion Of the per-
sonal character Of candidate. The
convention, TO use an expressive phrase
Of the day, "sat down" on Mr.. John
son. In view Of Mr.. Johnson's prom
ises so fairly made, 50 foully kept wai
Il not right 10 limit the time TO the
usual FIVE minutesp As II was, Mr..
johnson could have read five minutes
and then passed his manuscript to Mr
Ely, who, we think, would have fin
ished the reading. This, doubt
less, Mr.. johnson would have done
had he not fully understood the conven
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