Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1888-11-03
THE RING CAMPAIGN.
How the Preliminary Part of II
Was Waged.
No Quarter Conceded to Any
Friend of Tilton'S.
THE HISTORY OF THE CASE,
And An Appeal to the People as to
Which Side Is Wrong.

In our speeches in this county, when
opportunity has occurred, we have shown
up the spirit of political stinginess and
unfairness which has characterized the
action of the ring outfit in this county
since early last spring until now. This
period is fairly divisible into three epochs.
The object of this article is to demon
strate that in neither of these epochs
were the ringsters the men to concede to
the Tilton faction of the party even a
single delegate to any convention or a
candidate upon the Republican ticket.
THE FIRST EPOCH.
This was when the Republican began to
crow for Captain Hanna; when Shepard,
IS the reflection of his bosses, just knew
that Tilton's friends were determined to
defeat Nelson for state senator; when a
Republican club-perish the brand-was
formed, and Hanna and Nelson and
Nelson and Hanna were the principal
speakers for the few meetings through
which the club really lived; when the
program committee, consisting of Cowick'
Shepard and Metz, managed to keep Til
ton and his friends off the programs as
speakers; when Captain Hanna himself
was president of this club; when the
time came to hold caucuses to select dele
gates to the county convention of early
May, and the ring outfit, carrying by
cunning this precinct, found that the
Republicans had carried every other
township; when the county convention
met, and Tilton's friends were in control.
This brings us down to the beginning of
the end of the First epoch. Tilton, to
the chagrin of the ring outfit, was elected
a delegate to the presidential state con-
vention at Wichita, AS was another anti
ring man, S. G. Robb. Nelson's friends
beloved for quarter, and, contrary to
the tactics of the ring outfit, Shepard was
elected delegate to the Oberlin district
convention. The other two delegates who
were elected to this convention were Geo.
Baker and Ben G. Rich. This same
also elected delegates to the
district convention at Russell. Mr..
Damn, Captain Hanna's next friend, was
elected delegate to Russell. The other
delegates were r. G. Kessler and w.
Uptegrove. It will be seen that, although
Tilton's friends were in control of this
county convention, they gave the ring
outfit two important delegates. They
also gave the rings tiers several alternates.
The ringsters could have had more of
both had they asked them. For the
once, they were partially lost in shame,
and their demands were comparatively
light.
THE SECOND EPOCH.
This was when the dirty ring still hunt
began which ended in lying Tilton out of
the nomination for representative; when
Nelson himself began to assert that
Tilton's friends were intent on downing
him for senator: when those princely ex-
amples of men identified with the best
interests of the county, F. o. Ellsworth
and E. F. Porter by name, went through
the county, and beloved for Hanna and
against Tilton; when "Rev." Miller, whom
we had helped to save from the peniten-
tiary, told what drunkard we had been
at Topeka; when Hudson Harlan, fresh
from the mouth of the district Judge,
proceeded to Wilcox township, intent on
showing strangers what bad man
Tilton is, and how little he cares for
Trego county; when s. J. Osborn, as
Judge, witness, jury and counsel for both
sides, decided sin chambers" that Tilton
had opposed the location OF the Forestry
Station at Ogallah; when Office after Office,
never redeemed and never to be, was
promised to man after man by the ring
sters in return for support at the July IA
caucuses. The close of the Second Epoch
was on July Ia. The ripgsters and their
vassals fairly made rum howl. Such a
thing as being particular whether man
On the ring side at the caucus was Dem
ocrat or something else, did occur to some
OF the outfit, but it was only to find out
If there were enough to steal the result
The now famous Olson resolution was
born at this caucus. It was offered in
good faith, by friend of Tilton's, to see
whether Hanna's friends meant business
in the sense of standing by the nominee
for representative, regardless of who
should be nominated. Osborn, Conger
and others cut up some antics, which re-
suited in the death of the resolution.
Thus did the ring outfit issue a free
license to the members of that caucus to
support whomsoever they should prefer
at the election. The ringsters, We aim to
say, declared then and there by their acts
that they would, in the event of Tilton's
support him or not, just as
they pleased. This, we also aim to say,
&c fbo l;nopco oD,nlo onl