The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-03
EFFORT TO DOWN nRAGG.
Leaders Want Villas, Whatever tn.
Effort May Cost


Effort May Cost.
1t develops that a most determined ef
fort is being made in certain quarters to
shelve General Bragg and substitute Sena-
tor Villas as the presidential nominee.
While there is nothing personal in this.
and the men behind it are probably sin
cere in their belief that Villas would make
the strongest candidate yet the effort has
in it a good many of the elements of a
conspiracy. During the last two days late
information has come to each of the local
newspapers, just as they were about to go
to press, of some new objection TO Bragg
This is always from a confidential source
and deals, for the most part, with Bragg's
silver record. A little personal investiga-
ton has traced the original source of this
information pretty close to the national
headquarters. from which point, by the
way, the first boom for Villas emanated
about a week ago. 1t sailed along with
fiourishing prospects for three or four
days, when the news came that the State
convention of Wisconsin had. with the con-
sent and active assistance of Senator
Villas declared for General Bragg
This was a somewhat unexpected and
rather stunning blow to the prospects OF
the men who had conceived the idea of
making Senator Villas the nominee. They
knew his high character and understood
at once that he himself would, under these
conditions, be one of the most insurmount-
able obstacles to his own nomination. The
situation was discussed long and earnestly
over a bottle of champa gne at the resi-
dence of the chief promoter Of the Was
boom last Sunday afternoon by the host
and one of the brightest of the New York
newspaper men in the field, who had in
his possession some fairly recent letters of
Bragg on the financial question. 1t vas
there that this plan of springing the elev-
enth-hour objections to Bragg was
planned. Just what these letters contained
is not made apparent, bat the informatio
comes that they contain talk favorable TO
silver and that one OF them is as recent
1893
The Wisconsin delegation left Chicago
at $50 Monday night, arriving here at 32J
in the morning and sleeping upon the train
until a reasonable time. Bright and early
these gentlemen We're at the train to see
Senator Villas before any newspaper men
should get hold of him. What the charac-
ter of the interview was nobody knows ex
cept the three who participated, but the
result was that while Senator Villas de-
clared for Bragg when approached by
newspaper men. he was not inclined TO talk
course that was generally expected of him
and head off completely the movement for
his own nomination.
During Tuesday afternoon and evening
as delegation after delegation arrived the
boom for Bragg and Buckner grew and
grew until it looked like certainty that
if would go through AT midnight how
ever a conference was held by about
dozen men, including most of those who
have been prominent in pushing the move
ment. They went over the ground thor
oughly and came to the conclusion that
strong effort should be made to defeat
Bragg and substitute Villas with or with
out the consent of the latter. The only
thing done in that direction at that late
hour however was to furnish one of the
local newspa pers with a brief article to the
effect that serious objection had been
found in Bragg's silver record, and the
leaders had determined that more avail
able man whose record was sound from
away back must be taken up. This course
of reasoning naturally shut out Watterson,
too and since an Eastern man is out CT
the question ii left Villas as about the only
available man from the point of view TAX
en- by this conference
Senator Villas said yesterday morning:
'I would stake my homestead on my con-
yiction that there is absolutely no truth in
the story. General Bragg voted for the ex-
pertinent of the Bland-Ailison act in 1873
and he was then in the best of Democratic
company. Judge Thurman, and, in fact, al
most every Democrat in Congress, voted
for that experiment. but since then General
Bragg has been absolutely sound on the
money question. Wisconsin is for Bragg
and will continue to be for him"
General Bragg himself was seen a mo-
ment later. and when informed of this re-
port calculated charaeteristicaIly: ..Oh
fddlestcks There is not a word of truth
in it. My action eighteen years ago is the
only thing that can be brought against me
IL is not probable that a man that had
to pay q 40 per cent. premium for United
States money when he crossed the horlar
for a silver standard.
Bright and early yesterday morning Mr.
Bynum appeared in the room of Ellis Il
Usher the Wisconsin member nf rba 10
tional committee. and endeayored TO ner-
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