Evening journal., 1891-02-26
TuRk OF IN 1He c. A. 3.


Whole Department. Of Delaware.
The recent election for commander 0
the Department of Delaware, g. A. r.
has caused such a stir In the ranks o
that organization in this state that it
suture exis ence ia Ia peril The sup
porters of William E Hopkins are lou
IN their denunclation of ex- Department
Commander Lewis's rulings while holding
the election and pronounce the Who'll
procedure as Illegal
The whole trouble sprung from tn
discovery of one little piece of pape
| folded in another, and has resulted Ii
the greatest disturbance that has eve
been known in the G. A. K ranks.
For some time before the encampmenf
it was known that DR. William E. Hop
kins and Rev. Daniel Green were In til,
lead for the coveted and highly honoreC
Office. When the nominations were mad,
and it was found that thes,
men would have only TO fghr
each other the liveIiest times began. re-
sulting in the present situation. Ballot,
by 3 inches in size and containing tn,
printed name OF each of the candidates
were distributed among the delegates.
The voters were then polled. each mar
walking up to the commanders desk 81
his name was called, and depositing his
ballot in a high silk hat there. The
ballots were each folded at right ANGLES
and with one fold only When
the tellers had almost completed the
count, one of them held up his hand and
III II were two tickets. one caught Ia the
fields Of the other. These were laid on
the desk and the count continued Ii
nen nFnufmITnlrr
10 throw out the ballots which gave evil
aence q any fraud having been parpe-
trated and acting on this decision, Com
nander Lewis destroyed the two ballots
IA question and the result was, as has
been stated, Hopkins. "a Green. 70
Before the commander lad declare d
ureen elected there were loud cries of
another election I" but thst official re
fused to recognize them. The Hopkins
men then arose and left the "howling
mob, as they term it. to finish the
thing. The remaining officers we're then
elected without any trouble.
In the evening Commander Lewis
called noon Daniel Rose, Peter Ay8rs
David E. Buckingham, John NJ Dunn
and every past department commander at
the encampment to install the new com
mander, but each Que refused, saying: Il
DO not think the election an honor
able or fair one" Mr.. Buckingham
said: Il have fought, ate AID slept by the
side of Comrade Green, and was with
him when the enemy's grape shattered
to pieces his leg, but do not consider
MIN fairly elected and therefore viii not
install him
Francis P McCloskey was then as.
signed to conduct installation. which he
did in good form. He, however. is
oaly a mastering officer, and had no
right to discharge the duties as
signed to him, according to the laws of
the organization, which distinctly sets
forth that only past department COM
manders can install a new commander.
On account of this illegality and the
destruction of the two ballots, which
could not have been false as there were
but 15l votes from Isl delegates; the
friends of DR.. Hopkins are preparing
memorial to be presented to
Commander : in chief Veasey next
month, setting forth their grievances and
praying that their candidate, who thew
claim was duly elected, be seated and
installed. The petitioners are in
earnest in the matter and
If they fail in this they will
carry the case to open National Encamp-
ment, which meets in Detroit next Sep
TENDER and seek there to have it done.
Several prominent members of the G
A. r.. were interviewed by an EVENING
JOURNAL reporter this afternoon They
say that it is not a dislike of Mr.. Green.
but on the contrary he is beloved and re-
spected by every old soldier in Delaware.
He was not fairly elected how
ever, and TO allow him 10
command the department would be
gross violation of principle on its part
and an everlasting reflection on the
sanctity of its elections.
One member said "If Comrade Green
had arisen in open encampment and
asked for another election be would have
been chosen by tremendous
majority, but by remaining silent
and allowing himself to be declared
elected under such cloud. he has cast
dishonor on himself even in the eyes of
his friends"
Row about Mr.. Green's resigning,
which is rumored2" IF he does that,
matters will only be made ten times
worse, as the Council of Administration.
which was rushed in by "the mob, would
only select man whohas not been thought
Of. No, the only thing that we can do
is to have DR. Hopkins seated by q higher
authority. If Mr.. Green's friends
had consented to wait until next
year, and voted with us. both
candidates would have been elected
1nanim 7usly. We needed DR.. Hopkins
This year to strengthen the posts in the
lower counties, which have had but one
put OF the twelve com manders.