The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-10-24

p County candidate.-Bedford County Con
, ferees Bolt the Conference and Set up Ash
com.-The Matter will be Settled By
Judge simonton. of the Dauphin County
Court.
Owing To The inexplicable conduct o
! Mr.. Edwards in throwing up the Re
publican nomination for Senator which
had been bestowed upon him by the unani.
nous vote of the confeTees of this district
1t was made necessary to reconvene the
. conference, and accordingly a meeting
WAS fixed upon for Saturday last, which
. resulted in the nomination of Norman B.
Critchfield of this county, bolt by the
Bedford and one of the Fulton county
conferecs, and a pretended nomination by
the bolters, of Edward =. Ashcom, of
Bedford county. Both claimants for the
nomination have filed their certificates at
Harrisburg and the matter is now before
, the Court there, and will, presumably. be
decided within a few days. The history
of the proceedings, as we have them from
the conferees of this county, is as follows :
On the arrival of the Somerset conferees
at Bedford they found present the con-
ferees from Bedford, the original con-
ferees from Fulton, and two other gentle
men from Fulton claiming To represent
that county by virtue of an appointment
10y Mr.. Edwards. Il was at once ap-
parent that the fine hand of the party
that had procured the withdrawal of
Edwards had also induced him to with
( draw the appointment of two Of his con-
1 ferees who were friendly To Critchfield
and to substitute in their place others who
were friendly To Ashcom. Mr.. Edwards
being no longer a candidate. and being in
fact officially dead, his power TO change
and manipulate conferees was denied by
4 the representatives of Somerset and Full
ton, and it was alleged by them-under
| legal advice-that the conference must be
composed of the original members of the
! conference.
Here is the law on the subject:
I'm ease Of the withdrawal of any can
1 didate nominated rs herein provided, the
I party convention. primary meeting,
caucus or board. or the citizens who nom
I mated such candidate, may nominate 4
Substitute in his place by filing in the
of election, a nomination certificate or
paper which shall conform in all re-
qulrcmentS of this act in regard Ia
| original certificates or papers,
In defiance and contempt of this plain
mandate of the law, that the original
persons making the nomination shall re-
convene and make new nomination, the
Bedford and one of the original Fulton
confereos refused 10 go into conference un-
less the bogus substitutes were admitted.
After protracted discussion the roll was
called and il was found that all of the
original confere,s were present, and the
Bedford and one of the Fulton cOnfcrecs |
refusing 10 participate in the conference, |
ON motion, Captain W. IL. Sauner, OF |
Somerset, was elected Chairman, and Dr. |
4. ID. Dalby. of Fulton, and nr. III. u. |
More, of Somerset, Secretaries. Hon. T.. |
ID. Miller presented the name of Norman |
B. Critchfield as candidate for Senator, |
and by ballot he was declared the nomi- |
nee, having received three votes from
Somerset and two from Fulton, a maiori-
ty of the whole conference, and on motion
the conference then adjourned. During
these proceedings two of the Bedford con-
ferees Withdrew but returned and were
present during the final roll cali which
nominated Mr.. Critchiield.
We deprecate most sincerely any un-
pleaSantness with our political brethren
Of Bedford and Fulton counties and we
have no harsh words 10 utter regarding
the authors of this unfortunate state Of
affairs, but we would be false To our con-
Victions, and untrue to the interests ofOur
people did we not denounce this bold and
bald attempt 10 force 10y chicanery an un-
acceptable candidate upon the Republi-
cans of this district. Ii is alleged, we
know not with what truth, that Edwards
IN in the interests of Ashcom, that he WAS
not candidate in good faith, but was
used merely ~ a blind TO carry the coun-
" for Ashcom against the wishes of
her Republican voters. The uneX-
pected Ito them nomination of Mr.. Ed
wards, at the first conference, carried dis
may into the camp of the cOnspirators |
against the rights of the Fulton county |
Republicans, and Immediately means
We're brought To bear upon Mr.. Edwards
To Withdraw, but when this was ac=
compIished il was found that two of the
oonferees appointed by him, We're de-
terminedly hostile To Ashcom. Then
came the desperate trick ofinducing this
man who i not candidate, and who il
officially dead, 10 remove two Of the eon=
fsrees and substitute Others, without oOn=
sultation with, or regard for the wishes of
the Republicans of his county. That il
was a trick i'm the interests of Ashcom is
plainly evident, because he only attempt
ed to remove two of the conferees who
did not favor his nomination, letting the
Ashcom man remain. If Mr., Edwards,
after withdrawing as candidate, still
has the power TO remove and appoint con-
ferees. and tO dictate for whom they shall
vote, and thus absolutely control the
nomination for Senator iii this district,
then he i an autocrat with unlimited
power, and the poor Republicans, not
oSly of Fulton but of Somerset counties
must COVER at his feet and obey his conf
Inands.
The probabilities are that the decision
of the Court VIII come too late to permit
the name of the nominee going on the
ticket and that we will have To vote for
Senator on a slip or sticker, a. provided
for by Law