The record-union., 1894-09-14
Close Contest for the Office of
Commander IN Chief.
COLONEL T. G. LAWLER OF ROCK
FORD, I'LL, ELECTED.
Selected as Senior Vice. Commander
The Daughters of Veterans Elect
National Officers, as Also Do the
Ladies' of the @. A. II.
Special to the REcoRp-UN1oN.

IIITSBUBC, sept. 1o.-COlOn6l InotIaS
c. Lawler of Rockford. ILL.,, was elected
Commander-in-Chi of the G. A. r. by a
majority of eleven over Colonel 1. n.
Walker of Indianapolis. 1t was the
closest contest for the Office in the history
of the order.
Major A. p. Burchfield of this city was
elected Senior Vice-Commander of the
q. A. r. and Charles II. Shupe OF New
Orleans Junior Commander.
The Council of Administration is as
follows: Utah, c. o. Farnsworth; Califor-
mia, E. L. Blackmer; Vermont, E. j.
Ormsby; Virginia and North Carolina.
A, Hager; South Dakota, Governor c. II.
Sheldon; Delaware, Charles Zerby; Ohio,
X. II. Cochrane; Mississippi, f. M. Ster-
ritt; Nebraska, j. f. Decker; New Jer-
sey, e. Sanols; Rhode Island, C. A. Bar
bour; New York, d. S. Brown; Mich
igan, q. II. Hopkins; New Mexico, S. III.
Sampson: Minnesota. a. Scheffer; Penn
sylvania, A. G. w. Gerwig; Washington,
c. Ii. Holmes; Tennessee w. II. Veasey;
Arkansas, A. ID. Thomas; Iowa, A. w.
Swain; Indian Territory, K. w. Hill;
Potomac, G. NJ. Hustled; West Virginia,
l. IL. Duval; Georgia, j. w. Thibadau;
Kansas, o. II. Coulter; Kentucky, C. w.
Hare oman; Alabama, q. II. Patrick;
Wisconsin, n. w. Carbon; Illinois, ii.
S. Dietrick; Connecticut, S. S. barrow;
Arizona, I. 6. Savage; Indiana, A. ii.
Armstrong; Maryland, DR.. II. A.
Manghlin; Massachusetts, A. NJ. Stick
ney; New Hampshire, S. n. Brown.
Comrade 5. 0. Weeks of Marion, O.,
was unanimously elected Surgeon-Gen-
eral. Chaplain T. II. Haggerty of st.
Louis was unanimously elected Chap
lain-in-Chief, his only opponent, Com
rade Southhart of Maine, withdrawing
before ballot was taken.
The feature of the encampment, the
| hottest and closest contest ever known in
| the Grand Army of the Republic, was
| the fight for the position of Commander
| in-Chief. The contestants were Colonel
Thomas G. Lawler of Rockford, ILL.,, and
l. n. Walker of Indianapolis. Election
eering of most vigorous character has
| been going on all week and this morning
| the friends of both candidates claimed a
victory by good margin. The closeness
of the contest was surprise to both vic
| tor and defeated. 1t took forty-fve min
utes to cast and count the ballot of 649
delegates. The Commander-in-C Chief.
Adams, announced that the vote stood:
| Lawlor $50, Walker 319, the Illinois man
| winning by the narrow margin of eleven
| votes. AS soon as the election was an
| nounced peals of applause rang through
| the Opera-house. When some sembIance
of quiet was restored Colonel Walker
| withdrew his name and the election of
| Colonel Lawler was made unanimous.
| In brief speech the new Commander
| in-Chief thanked his supporters and said
| he would work to the utmost for the adj
vancement of that grand organization,
| the Grand Army Of the Republic.
Nevins Post of Rockford, in honor of
the election of Colonel Lawler, fired a
/ SaIntn of fwQntV-OnR bo vi
| bank.
| Colonel Lawler was born iE England
| April Z, 1914. When child he was taken
| to illinois, and was educated in the pub
lie schools of Rockford. At the age of II
he enlisted as private in Company E.
Nineteenth Illinois Volunteers. He saw
much hard lighting as commander of his
company for two months during the At
lanta campaign, and was elected Captain
| by the company, and placed upon the roll
OF honor by Major-General Rosecrans of
the Army of the Cum berland. Colonel
Lawler organized the Rockford Rifles in
| 1875, and was elected Colonel and COM
mander of the Third Regiment, l. n. g.,
| for seven years, when he resigned. He
! was Postmaster at Rockford under the
| Hayes and Garfield administrations.
! Colonel Lawler has been Commander of
| G. l.. Nevin's Post of Rockf ford for twenty
| years. He has also served as member
/
tration, and Junior and Senior Vice.
| Commander.
After the election of Colonel Lawler the
| convention adjourned for dinner.
AT the afternoon session of the encamp-
ment the resolutions condemning Colonel
Ainsworth for discharging veterans be-
cause OF their testimony at the inquiry
into the Ford Theater disaster at Wash
| ington were taken up and discussed.
The ticket being completed, Senator
| HartZell presented the report of the Com
mittee on Resolutions, which were
unanimously adopted. 1t declares the
paramount issue of the State to be the
suppression Of anarchy and it's restora-
ton from the lawlessness fostered by the
| present Populist Executive; it denounces
! Governor Waite as man who has as
| sumed the power of military dictator.
| usurped the functions of the courts, and
calls upon all good people to unite with
| the Republicans to overthrow this mis-
| rule aud restore good governments; it
supports all measures for the ameliora-
! tion of labor, but deprecates the efforts of
| agitators TO array class against class, and
| asks tor such politics as will most effect
ually multiply the demand for labor and
| increase its compensation; demands the
| free and unlimited coinage of silver at
| the ratio of 16 to L, and is opposed to
making the policy of the United States
await or depend on the action of another
! country; it believes prosperity will not
return to this country until such law is
! enacted, and that free coinage will only
come from the hands of the Republican
| party; denounces the People Party as a
| paper money party, and opposed tofree
| coinage; indorses the enfranchisement of
/ women, and asks that the age of consent
| for gills be raised from l6 to 81 The
public acts of Senators Teller and VOL
! cott are indorsed, and the latter recon-
mended to the coming Legislature for re-
election.
General Adams returned thanks for all
/ the honors bestowed upon him, and Past
| Commander-in-Ch Chief r. Il. Heath in
| stalled with all the ceremony of the
ritual the elected officers, and all the G.
! A. II. flags and records and effects were
turned over to the new officials. Com
mander-in- Chief Lawler here grasped the
gavel, but soon the Chaplain-in-C Chief,
| MIR. Hagerty, came to the footlights to
pronounce the benediction. and the
/ twenty-eighth encampment was finished.
The resolutions censuring Colonel
! Ainsworth's conduct of the Pension Bu-
reau and supporting Judge Long In his
contest with the Pension Commissioner
were not adopted.
! This is the first time an encampment
| has concluded its business and elected
and installed its officers in a sitting of
| two days.
The new Commander-in Chief issued
| his first orders tonight. appointing Col
| C. C. Jones of Rockford, Adiutant- Gem
| eral, and Comrade j. y. Burst OF Syra-
cuse, Ill, Quartermaster-Gene and
establishing headquarters at Rockford,
| III.