The herald., 1896-07-05

tion Of Teller. Te nomination of q sill
yer Republican would give them the
coveted excus}for supporting. as be-
tween two Reublicans, one who upheld
the financialJolioy upon which they be-
lieve the cnmercial prosperity Of the
country dpends. Some of the silver
men were exceedingly angry at the talk
Of ruin and disaster which emanated
from tie New York, k,headquarters, and
Senate Blackburn recalled the irony Of
fate Which made these headquarters
toda, as they were four years ago, the
souce Of predictions of defeat.
Then Hill, Fellows and Cochran
made the welkin ring with their pro-
tests against the naming of a man "who
swept the country from ocean to ocean,"
Today he said history was repeating
itself and these same men were attempt
Ing to undermine the issue and destroy
the only chance the Democracy had Of
success this year. The net result Of the
arrival of the gold contingent today
strange to say. is an acquisition Of
strength to the silver, not the gold for
ces. The former claim now six votes
In Minnesota, six in Florida, four in
Maryland and even some in the far
east. From Massachusetts, comes the
news that six of the delegates are for sill.
yer, headed by George Fred Williams.
who four years ago wept in the house
Of representatives because silver man
was elected speaker. Other votes are
claimed in the Maine and Delaware del
cations. and 1t is said there will be silver
votes from New York and Pennsylvania.
were the delegates not locked up with
the unit rule.
Ex-Congressman John q. Russell Of
Massachusetts. who is q gold man, takes
a gloomy view of the situation.
THE Americans" said he. ARE de-
termined to try free coinage. The fever
is in their blood and they will have it.
We, who believe in the maintenance of
the gold standard. might as well take
to our cyclone cellars, for they cannot
be thwarted."
As a graceful way Of showing their
appreciation for Williams stand for free
silver in the old Bay State, 1t is possible
that silver men may make him tempo
rary chairman of the convention In place
of Bryan of Nebraska, in whose Sc
lection there is hitch owing to the fact
that his seat is contested. This. Of course.
pre-supposes a choice Of the national
committee on Monday. The arrival Of
Boies and the announcement that thirty
of the Illinois delegates would support
him, sent the stock Of the Iowan UP to-
day. AS the Boies men claim consider
able acquisitions of strength in the un-
instructed delegations and because
these delegates are not Instructed, they
refrain from locating them. The Bland
boom is growing more active and more
aggressive each day. and today they
pushed their figures up several notches.
claiming 1ss delegates already pledged.
There was story afloat tonight that
Gov. Altgeld, who returned to tie city
today, and who is ambitious to be the
Warwick of the convention, had thrown
the weight of his influence to the Mis-
souri, farmer. If this proves true. it will
give Bland a strong and skillful, II, per-
haps, rash general, to command his
forces. Altgeld has been an uncertain
element in the contest so far.
The eyes of the managers Of the sew
eral candidates have been anxiously
turned toward him from the first both
because he is recognized as one OF the
great powers in this convention. and be-
cause it is admitted the fight in the cam
paign will be hottest in the Mississippi
valley states. There have from time to
time been strong intimations that at
least Altgeld is and has been for Teller,
and is ready to cooperate with what Is
now being the senatorial cabal," or
Syndicate" for the nomination Of Tel
Ter If opportunity should offer. The ex-
istence of this cabal, which includes the
ablest of the old and experienced silver
leaders on the ground and which seems
to have ramifications everywhere. has
been pretty well exploited here. Its
nucleus consists Of most of the Demo-
cratic silver senators. They skillfullv
organized the preliminaries for a coup
at the proper time, which will nominate
Teller. They regard him as the most
available and by far the strongest man
to nominate. but they perfectly realize
the difficulty of convincing Democratic
delegates who come from the rank and
file of the party and whose faith is
grounded in years of service, that a
twenty-day convert should be chosen
and Democratic leaders of lifetime
discarded. The attitude of the silver
Republicans, the Popuilsts and labor
unions, whose representatives are on the
ground in Teller's interest cannot but
aid in the development of the plot The
hearts of the managers of other candi-
dates sink as they come to realize the
powerful and secret influences at work
to accomplish their overthrow. They
rely upon the strong undercurrent of
sentiment among the rank and file to
thwart the "cabal," and this sentiment
unquestionably exists among the dele
gates who are assisting. The exploit
alton of this plan Of the leaders to nom-
mate Teller arouses in them feeling of
the deepest resentment. and those who
are In it appreciate the position in
which they are officially placed. Some
of them are publicly supporting other
candidates and at first blush 1t savors
of treason to the rock-ribbed Demo-
cratic leaders. For this reason these
skillful manipulators today made haste
to get under cover and there was much
less talk of Teller among them than
yesterday.
SOLID FOR GOLD
Pennsylvania Delegates UnanimousIy Favor
LII