The morning call., 1892-05-16
First Faint Sounds From the Battlefield
Of Democracy.
BITTER FIGHT FOR CLEVELAND.
TPan This Struggle viii the Craftsmanship Of The
Convention and ihe Future Of the Part!
in California Depend.
Special to THE MORNING GAIL.

TIE Cleveland sentiment seems TO be IN
the air. and unless a radical reYulson OF
feeling occurs the delegation from Gail
fornia 10 the Chicago convention will go in-
structed for the stuffed prophet" Every
man. woman and child in town seems to
want him, and the majority Of the dele
gates who have thus far come in seem to be
in the same frame Of mind. There viii be
fight over il, Of course. and in ali pToba-
bility it will be bitter one, but tile general
opinion is that the Democrats of the State
want him and are going to force things in
his interest They have the Hull men al
ready on the run and it looks as II they
would keep them going.
The struggle will hinge upon the selec-
ton Of a chairman. and the issue will be
squarely Joined in tho contest between Bar
ney Murphy and Senator OstrOm. From
this it must not be understood that the
Cleveland men are all for OstTOm, but it is
fact that all the HUI and anti-Cleveland
men are back Of Murphy in a solid column
and are working for him Ike boomers.
They form his principal element Of strength,
but then Murphy is a man of great personal
popularity in The party, aud will get many
votes on that score alone from all over the
State.
Santa Clara viii be for Murphy to a man,
as viii also Monterey and San MateO. Bis
friends reckon upon 80 votes at least from
san Francisco with a solid delegation from
Alameda. San Diego is claimed tor him
and a majority of Los Angeles. bat this IS
mere talk thus far, and it is doubtful If the
result will verify the assertions.
san Beruardino, which is Teckoned upon
for Murphy, is surely divided and it is
dollars TO dimes that San Diego will not 90
as d unit for him.
The north is for Ostrom, almost to man,
and his friends say that if he gets anything
like a reasonable vote from San Francisco
his name viii 90 through with a whoop.
One thing is sure and that is that his fight
is much better in hand than thatUf Murphy.
who is suffering at present from a lack of
shrewd management This is owing, per-
haps, to the fact that he got in late and
has not yet had time to get his strings
out in good shape, while 0strOm, with the
assistance of Campbell P. Berry. has been
on a still hunt for two or three months.
The latter has IN this way tied up a num-
Der Of delegates who might otherwise look
with favor upon the Santa Clara man. So
confident are the Ostrom men OF success
that they are already discussing their pro
gramme, which includes the pledging Of
The delegation to vote for Cleveland. They
assert that they VIII force the hight to the
bitter end. One Of OStrOm's chief ieuten-
ants said tonight
Ninety per cent of the Democrats OF the
State want Cleveland and we feel that Cal
ifOrnia should speak at this time In no IN
certain tones. Her Influence thrown into
tile scale at this JunctuTe would do much to
straighten out the trouble in New York.
There the men who are for Cleveland and
who have given their brains and money for
years TO hold the State in the Democratic
line are tired Of the machines interference
In national affairs, and II given encourage
ment viii be enabled to drive Tammany
back tn where it belongs. So far as the
rsihOad fight is concerned ! do not think
that the convention will eudeaYOr to take
I'D any tracks or burn any bridges
The matter wilt probably be settled by the
insertion Of plank in the platform favor
ing the Nicaragua canal, and urging the
necessity for a competing overland road. At
the same time | do not think that the senti-
ment Of the interior is 10 favor OF indOrsIng
the Traffic Association, as there is a fear
that it is organized for the purpose Of ab0l-
Ishing the terminal points. That, l think, is
about the way it looks after a careful sur
Yev of the field"
TINS. as outlined, is the fght-and upon
the two issues the battle will be fought lost
sud won. Ostrom came up this afternoon
with Berry aud is al the Grand Central HO-
Sacramento, who is for him through thick
ana thin and who says Murphy is certainly
not in it, and that 0stTOn is a winner as
sure rs there IS railroad shop IN SacTa-
mentO.
Ed Curtis, speckled vest and all was q
passenger on the afternoon train. With
the assistance Of Colonel John =. Irish, he
will probably edit the planks relating TO the
railroad. They both say that no stringent
anti-TailrOad resolutions will be adopted,
=, T.1o Ff-~, Ia -.es ted
They concur with Stephens that OstrOm
viii with. Like all Of the Yuba County
Senator's supporters, they are giving out no
estimates as yet and are paying a great deal
Of attention TO San Francisco, which seems
to be the unknown quantity.
Ii is given out that Stephen NJ. White Of
Los Angeles will place Ostrom's name be-
fore the convention, and if be does it will
carry great weight especially in Southern
California. White will be here tonight.
and his coming IS anXiOusly awaited. Bar
ney Murphy and Bill English blew into the
hughes House this afternoon. The former
is about the least excited man in town, and
the cares Of the contest seem to weigh
lightly upon his shoulders. he does not
propose TO open headquarters or hire a
brass band. His sack consists Of q box Of
two-bit cigars Of light color, bought from q
trainbOy.
"How is nv tight?" he was asked.
We'll. / haven't got any that [ know Of
GU see 1t is just like this: My friends
came to me some time ago and said that
they wanted NE to be chairman. Now,
wasn't hunting anything Of that kind, but
l told the boys TO 60 ahead and that If /
won l would do the best l could. / found
cut this afternoon that Senator Ostr0m had
been making quiet canvass for the place
for two or three months. II ] bad known
il sooner l would have stayed out and let
him have it without a struggle so far as /
am concerned. He is my friend, and If he
beats me in at the finish | expect 10 join in
the applause"
James Y. Coleman registered here to-
night, and ls sizing up his chances for the
nomination for delegate-at-large. lie is
very much annoyed over the report which
has been circulated charging him with
being antagonistic to Cleveland.
There is absolutely no truth in the
story" said Mr.. Coleman with emphasis,
"and 1 wish to deny it Squarely. Instead
of opposing, / am in favor of Mr.. CleYe-
land If he is available. will 60 even fur
ther aud say that il is my opinion that Sen
at0r Hill should be broadminded enough TO
step aside, so that the nomination Of Cleye-
land would be assured"
Aside from the craftsmanship and the
railroad question the Interest eenterS IN the
selection Of delegates-at-large. Two candi-
dates have practically no opposition. They
are Stephen 81. White Of Los Angeles and
j. T. Thompson OF Humboldt.
There the unanimty OF sentiment stops
short and the battle begins. Who the others
Will be. who can guess2 Que, however,
says w. w. Fo0te and J. V. Coleman. An
other wells u. B. Pond and Coleman and
between the three the contest is going TO be
a beauty for those who don's care a button
for the result.
Pond has sent word that he viii remain In
San Francisco, and the cold wave that
threatened the Taisin crop is thus happily
avoided he has probably profited by his
experience in the campaign Of two years ago,
and has concluded that mis- presence is not
a bowling success as a YOte-eateher. F00te
will be here tomorrow, and will proceed 70
let himself out In his usual unique and
highly original style. His friends say be
will win in a canter Who kn0ws2
A small-sized bOomlet was started this
afternoon for A. B. Butter of Fresno but 1t
will probably die OF hamilton before the