The record-union., 1896-05-13
BUSY DAY With POPULISTS.
Continued from Fourth page.)

aalking upon the floor of the convention.
MRS. IDA A. HARPER,
president of the Press Committee, came
next and declared that the present was
the most embarrassing moment in her
Afe. She had, during the last two
months. received more than 1,3O0 news
paper clippings from the press of the
State, and not more than twenty-five Of
the number were opposed to woman's
suffrage.
Ihe educational qualification passed
py the last Legislature would, she said,
. preclude the possibility OF giving
mass Of ignorant women the ballot,
which a mass of ignorant men now
WELD under the law would be allowed
to WELD until death relieved the State
of them
MRS. PURNELL
OF Sacramento came next. She said if
She had a vote to cast she would throw
1T into the balance with the Populists.
She was sorry to know that every paper
in Sacramento had commented on the
suffrage plank in the Republican plat
form, adopted by the recent convention,
and had been universal in saying that it
did not mean anything. However,
those same papers had said that the
free silver plank also did not mean any
thing.
MRS. HOBART,
The noted Populist lecturer, was the
last woman who laid down the law be-
fore the convention. Hers was a good,
old-fashioned political speech, and she
went over the whole of the old story of
universal suffrage. For all that, she
was pleasing speaker and seemed to
tickle the fancy Of the convention,
which, according to Chairman Barlow,
was the point aimed at.
CREDENTIALS REPORT.
For an hour and twenty minutes the
woman suffragists talked, and pleaded
to the convention, and there was no sign
of their letting go'' until the Commit
tee on Credentials appeared and handed
up their report without any explana-
ton, and it was ordered read by the
Secretary.
Santa Barbara County had sent,
through mistake of the County Cen
tral Committee, two sets of delegates,
and the Committee on Credentials had
divided the honors between the two
recommending an alternate seating Of
delegates from each set until the num-
had been completed, thus avoiding any
heartburnings.
1t was further recommended that the
delegates of any county should be al
lowed to cast the vote of any and all
absentees, which was the anticipated
course.
OFFICIALS NOT WANTED.
At this point a motion was made to
adopt the report of the committee, and
this brought Delegate Butler of Ala
media to his feet He wanted a little
enlightenment on an obscure point.
He understood that the call for the con-
yention had contained a clause pro-
hibiting any person from sitting as a
delegate who was in receipt of any
stipulated emolument from any Fed
eral, State or municipal office in the
State. He therefore demanded that
that clause of the call be read, and it
showed that his understanding was cor
rect
Then there came cries Of Question:"
But Mr.. Butler didn't want the ques-
ton. He was determined to have the
emolument clause talked about, and it
was for purpose. He said it was the
duty Of the party to stand to its rules
and regulations, regardless Of where
NHC llSALllA IiilSlLl SliihS, dliQ lIIStl
discrimination in the matter meant
death TO the whole clause.
THE LIGHTNING STRIKES.
AS yet the average delegate had no
conception whatever of what Delegate
Butler was driving at, but when Cor
nell of Alameda stepped to the front a
growl went up, and men began to un-
derstand. Cornell is one Of the idols
Of ha iSrS Il iS witt a376
bright, and is said to be rigidly honest
Not man in that convention (Mr But
ler included) but wanted to see Cornell
keep his seat in the convention, but
facts are ugly things. Beyond the ques-
tion of a doubt, Cornell has been en-
ployed-only for week, though-in the
Treasurer's Office Of the county of Ala
media.
He took the floor and told all about it.
lie had been employed, and had been
promised a permanent situation. He
had been paid directly from the private
purse of the Treasurer Indirectly from
the County Treasury, and if it was
deemed by the convention that the rules
of the party would be transgressed by
his retaining his seat as a delegate he
would willingly step down and out
But this raised another storm. Fifty
naen were upon their feet at the same
time. all talking in favor Of seating the
Young Alamedan. They did not care
for precedent-they only wanted their
silver -tongued orator to sit with them
in council Speeches rolled in favoring
his retaining his seat, and the conven-
ton grew eloquent in its fear. Even
Butler OF Alameda declared that he de-
sired to see the young Demosthenes of
his town seated, but feared such
precedent would leave bad taste In
the party's mouth
Then cries of Question" "Ques-
tiont" again arose. and the report of the
committee was adopted without dis
senting voice, while Cornell sat back
in his place and placidly smiled.
DISTRICT CONVENTIONS.
The question of holding Congressional
District Conventions prior to the report
of the State Central Committee was
taken UP, but the Secretary of the COM
nnittee CBush of Alameda) asked that
no conventions be held until the report
had been handed in. The committee,
he stated, was then sitting to consider
wavs and means by which a campaign
fund could be raised. and their final re-
mort would be handed in for the con-
currence of the several Congressional
District Conventions.
Upon this representation il was de.
cided to hold no District Conventions
until the report had been submitted,
Il hn ont ION o1