Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-06-30
.THE PROHIBITIONISTS.
A Very Lively Day at Their COnVen-
ton in Cincinnati.
THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION
Perfected and Everything in Readiness for the
Opening Of the Real Business Session This
Morning-Col Ritter Made Permanent
Chairman Presidential Pc Ribilities.

CINCINNATI, O, June %. The Prohi-
bition party put in hartN days work,
ending late tonight.
As a result permanent organization
has been effected with Col SEli Ritter,
of Indiana, as presiding ofhser and Sam
Small, the Georgia evangelSt as Secre-
tary and tomorrow the convention will
be ready to pass upon the platform and
nominate candidates for PRESIDENT and
Vice President Probably the
most unusual and striking scene
of the convention was the
opening of the second session with
prayer by a Catholic priest-Rev.
Father Martin Mahoney, 9f st. Paul,
Minn. u was, with one exception, the
only instance on record whtFe Roman
Catholic clergyman has of1eiated at a
national convention in tile United
States. Father Mahoney, who is one Of
Archbishop Ireland's assistants, it APP
pears is a regularly elected delegate to
the convention from Minneapolis, and
has been an active ProhibitioniSt for
fourteen years. He delivered the prayer
al the personal solicitation OF Chairman
Dickie, of the National Prohibition
Committee, and Ex-Governor st. John,
of Kansas, the temporary chairman OF
the convention.
1t is hardly possible to canvass Pro-
hibition convention accurately, but in a
general way Bidwell, OF California,
seems to have a material lead OF the
other candidates for the presidential
nomination.. while Demorest, OF New
York, is hardly as prominent.
The platform committee is at work
and has big task before it. The pro-
ceedings before the platform was sent
to q formulating subcommittee OF i've
shows that there is decided feeling In
favor of the Prohibitionists taking
strong and advanced grounds on various
public questions other than prohibition,
and a broad, radical platform is quite
likely, and hot fight over it may occur
on the floor of the convention.
The committees got to work during
the recess Of the convention and matters
were pushed along as fast as possible.
The Platform Committee elected Judge
James Black. of Pennsylvania, chair
mon, and Fred f. Wheeler, Of New
York, Secretary.
Judge Black was made chairman ex-
officio of the subcommittee and then
the following were on ballot elected
members OF the subcommittee:
Ex-Governor st. John, of Kansas;
Mrs. Cougar, of Indiana; Thompsoi, of
Ohio, and Wheeler, of New York.
As soon as this had been done, Par
sons, of New Jersey, moved to instruct
the subcommittee TO make the platform
of 1888 the basis of the platform to be
brought in by the subcommittee. A
majority was not with him, however,
aud his motion was overwhelmingly
beaten and the subcommittee left free
to make its own platfotm. The full
committee then adjourned until eight
o'clock.
The prospect of free silver, a radical
tariff plank and other striking economic
planks is not pleasing to the represen-
tatives from the Middle States and
New England, and strong fight will
probobly be made on the adoption OF
these plankS, if, as is probable, they are
hrOupht in