The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-04-08
MACHINE POLITICS.
THE HEELERS OF THE DISTRICT
ASSUME THE RIGHT OF
DIVIDING THE SOILS.
Chairman Richardson Gobb'es Up Twelve
Proxies By Which to Endorse Frank
Smith, Colonel HUFFMAN, Fred
Bentley and Other Fav, rites
Of the Wichita Ring.

| There were about $50 spoiis hunting
Democrats in the city yesterday and near
| IL 40 of them went to bed hot last night.
| They came here to have their applications
| for Office Endorsed by the congressional
committee and instead of finding the
committee a nice lot of affable, smiling,
| brOtherly Democrats they found them to
to be, with few exceptions, a lot Of third
| rate politicians organized into gang for
the purpose OF helping themselves into Of
flee and let the other fellows go to thunder.
All but four of the forty-six members of
the committee are candidates for Office
themselves and the principle they have
| adopted is you tickle me and FIJI tickle
you" 1t did not take the applicants out
side this mutual aid society long to
| find out the kind of fellows they were and
the result was that only very few SUBJ
mitted their papers to the committee for
| Endorsement. This being the case it was
an easy matter for those who did to get
| Endorsements. but then their Endorsement
| will count for nothing for the applicants
| who did not submit their cases to the
committee generally have influential per-
sonal friends at court and are backed by
the patrons of the office and the local
| county committees aud in many instances
| the members of the site committee
| These Endorsements are what prevented
them from jeopardizinc their positions. by
submitting their applications to the con-
gressional committee. Even those who
| did present their applications to the con-
| nj GOT in,
dorsed didn't seem 10 care and paid no
respect whatever TO the committees
action. Noboiy had any respect
| for the committee from The start,
| or at least after recognizing that
it WAS nothing but machine and
an RECONSTRUCTED machine at that. What
| made most of them first recognize that the
committee meeting was farce was the
| facl that the chairman had twelve proxies
in his pocket to vote them in the interest
of the Wichita Democratic ring. AS only
about twenty other member of the COM
| mlttee were present 1t is an easy matter to
see what figure these twelve proxies
would cut in the voting. When
the candidates for the Office of
deputy internal revenue collector for this
district ascertained that these twelve
proxies were held by Wichita man, a
majority of them cot together and very
sensibly agreed among themselves not to
place their applications before the COM
mittee and to insist on the committee
taking no action with reference to that
office. The inside history of this is that
Colonel Human got out Of Frank Smiths
way in the post office fight on an agreement
2 H. lx, Oh
| rs good" and this something, it appears,
is the Office Of deputy internal revenue
collector. There are six candidates for
this office, viz: Colonel Huffman of
Wichita, G. V. Shepler of I.akin, Lew
Pierson Of Medicine Lodge, Mr. Palmer
of Pratt, Attorney Diffenbacher OF Great
Bend. and man from Garden City. The
plan of yesterday, as related TO an EAGLE
reporter, WAS to get all six OF the cardl-
dates to submit their claims to the com
mittee for final action. Ii this could
be accomplished the chairman, by his
twelve proXie votes, could secure the in
dorsement Of Colonel Huffman and in this
way square The political debt of hi, bust
ness partner Frank Smith arising out of
the postoffice deal. The scheme WAS too
coarse, however, for those Western Kan
sas chaps pre- pretty clever politicians and
| when 1t comes down to business OF this
kind the Wichita fellows can't fool them IA
little bit.
One of the conspicuous characters
present was Col. Cowan Of Hutchinson.
Cowan always manages to get into the
push thrG I'll Wichita influence The
politicians here regard him as III easy go
ing unsuspecting fellow whom they can
easily control, but the fact is Cowan is no
spring chicken. When t. e Wichita fell
| lows think they can fool the old man they
are mistaken" Cowan, while standing
il with the Wichita fellows yesterday,
ana especially with the chap who had the
twelve proxies in his pocket, secured
the endorsement OF five Reno county
candidates for postmaster and there is no
evidence that the Wichita fellows got an
equivalent for it. The names OF the
parties whose endorsement was secured by
Cowan are as follows: III. S. Austin,
postmaster at Sylvia; q. W. May, post
master at Haven: jim Mclean, postmaster
at Abbeyville; p d. Schumacher post
master at Partridge, Elizabeth Wilson,
postmistress at Plevna and Anton Roetzel,
pSSi IudSttI NJ -1LlIHSlOu bcte WAS a
quite fight on the postmasterskip at
Haven. Jim Caska, was also
candidate. and IN addition te
having the endorsement of Cowan
to his application he also bad the ipdorse-
ment OF j. B. Crouch, the stalwart. The
very fact that Mr.. Caska recognized
Crouch as a Democrat by securing his in
dorsemeut, made Cowan hot, and he in
sisted on withdrawing his Endorsement.
This made Caska hot, too. and there is
blood on the moon. May was Endorsed
, unanimously by the committee and tele-
graphed the fact to John Martin. Caska
is also doing some telegraphing The fact
that the term of the present postmaster at
Haven expires next Thursday makes both
OF them active.
TIE committee was organized by J. s
Richardson of Wichita as chairman, and
! Candidate Stoke of Sterling, secretary.
Four sub committees We're appointed as
follows: On fourth class postmasters, Tom
O. Bryan of Medicine Lodge. chairman, J.
V. killon Of Eminence and Abe Frakes OF
Lakin; On presidential postmasters, Frank
Colliday OF Hutchinson. chairman, a. b.
Reeves Of Johnson City. aud George I.
Christ of Santa Fee
On miscellaneous: Dick Rich OF Cold
water, W. A. Carr OF Sharon and .. J.
Hackney OF Wellington. The misceilan-
cons committee Endorsed John J. Steven
son of Caldwell for a land Office in tie
Cherokee strip. Captain Gilmore of Well
ingtou for Indian commissioner. and can
dldaies for The railway mail service toe
numerous 10 mention. The committee on
presidential appointments Endorsed Frank