Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-09-15
PEACE IN DELAWARE
The Addicks and Higgins Factions Per-
suaded to Harmonize.
AddiclSs WithdraNvs Electors md
Higgins the State and Congress
slOnal Candidates.


| WILMINGTON, Del, September Ii. 1896.
| Ever since the St. Louis convention in
June the republican national committee has
! striVen hard and perSistently to conciliate
| the warning factions Of the republican
| party or this little state, with a view of
| effecting compromise Of their differences
that would eventually result in the with
| drawal of one the other of the two
| electoral tickets now in the field, and the
| harmonizing Of both factions IN the sup
| port of one ticket. In the carly stages of
| their work of Cancellation the national COM
| mittee discovered that they had undertaken
a task to perform which. successfully, would
require more up-to-date diplomacy and con-
sideration than Is their wont to give to
| ordinary contests. They found instead Of
| a mere uprising or small-siZad rebellion
by a few republicans against the old lead
ers OF the party. as a majority of the ma
| tional convention viewed it, a well-organ-
lied and powerful army Of republicans
who were standing shoulder to shoulder
| in contest for the deposition of these old
| leaders and for general reform in the
| party. And they also found that those re-
publicans who constituted this army were
so inexorable in their determination to
carry on the contest that they quickly de-
cided that the best course to pursue in
their work of Cancellation was the calling
of the various leaders Of the opposing fac
lions to New York and hear both sides
OF the argument.
Efforts at Cancellation.
The hearings began in the early part of
August, the Higgins faction getting In their
side of the dispute first. ]. Edward Ad-
dicks and the leaders of the union repub-
lican faction held aloof from tho commit
tee until a special invitation was sent to
them to go to New York. Their ttlrn-down
at ST. Louis still ranked in their breasts
thew hnfnra he mi t.aax NTH
determination 10 convince them that the
decision at st. Louis was traves.y en-
justice and an insult to a majority Of the
republicans of Delaware. At he head of
the union republican delegation to New
York was Millionaire Addicks ard STAINS
bury ]. Wiley, chairman of the STATE CEN
trail committee. After listening 10 their
argument for more than Two hours Chair
man Hanna asked Mr. Ad1icxs if he would
not be willing to compromise a little bit,
but the millionaire refused to yield an inch,
and the hearing came to end, with
very little prospect of a settlement Of the
Delaware trouble in sight.
Chairman Hanna, however, was not to
be baftied by such a discouraging turn of
affairs. and in a few days he was again in
consultation with tie leaders of the Hig-
gins faction. At this interview the latter
assured Mr. Hanna that they would be
willing to abide by any honorable decision
the national committee might make in their
efforts to form a solid front for Mckinley
on the republican ticket in Delaware. This
in turn. raised Mr.. Hanna's hopes and he
resumed work on the Delaware case with
renewed zeal and determination. MIR. Ad-
dicks was again requested to go before the
committee. which he did last week, and it
| Is believed that the result of his conference
with the committee then was highly salts
factory to Hanna.
Further Conferences.
| Since Addicks' latest visit to Hanna it has
been currently reported in this city that
f16nv to-,
in their efforts to get the republicans of
Delaware to unite on one electoral and
state ticket 1t was not stated, however,
| on what sort of an agreement the commit
tee would bring the warning factions to-
gether. but, nevertheless, the report was
partly verified by a conference of Higgins
| leaders in this state on Saturday. This
Pont. Edward G. Bradford, ex-senator
Anthony Higgins. Manlove Hayes, William
Z. Spruance, Hugh c. Browne, secretary of
the regular republican state central COM
nittee. and several other prominent repub-
licans Of the state. Those who partici-
pated III the conference would not divulge
It's proceedings nor its conclusions. 1t was
ascertaIned however, through certain Lead
ers of the Higgins faction in this city that
the conference was called for the purpose
OF discussing the advisability of Withdraw
ing the ticket named by the Georgetown
convention. 1t was also learned that the
conference was called in response to a re-
quest by the national committee that the
entire ticket Of the Georgetown convention
pc WITHDRAWN, In view of a disposition on
the part OF Mr.. Addicks and the leaders of
the union republican faction to compromise
on the electoral ticket. Horace Greeley
knowles. chairman of the first district reg
ular republican committee, denied the re-
port that the national committee had sent
any communication in regard to a with
urawal OF the ticket. but he admitted that
the conference was called to consider such
proposition. Mr.. Knowles said that the
conference arrived at no conclusion, but he
intimated that there was a good prosnect
Tor united republican party in the state
before long.
The Various Tickets.
The candidates Of the two republican
factions, as they now stand, are:
Union republicans-For governor. John
Henry Hoffecker; for Congress, Jonathan
s. Willis; for electors, James G. Shaw, d.
M. Wilson and D. J. Fooks
Higgins. or regular republicans--For gov
ernor, John c. Higgins: for Congress- Rob't
e. Houston; for electors. William C. Spru-
ance, Manlove Hayes and D. ]. Fooks
1t will be seen by these tickets that the
Higgins republicans have but two indie
pendent electors in the field and they are
Spruance and Hayes. Fooks, their third
elector, was the nominee of the union re-
publicans two days before the Higgins re-
publicans held their convention in George
town.
Should compromise be made-and there
Is now every indication that there will be
compromise soon-it will probably be the
withdrawal by MIR. Addick+ and his friends
OF Shaw on the electoral ticket and the
substitution of Spruance, the Higgins
elector. Mr.. Spruance was regarded with
much favor by the union republicans in
their convention, but his nomination by
them was impossible, owing to certain ext
gencieS.
How 1t Was Done.
In return, Of course, for this sacrifice by
the union republicans, the Higgins repub-
licans will take in their state and congress
sional ticket. This will leave a clear field
to Hoffecker and Willis, and will no doubt
have a tendency to bring out a strong re-
publican vote in November. Mr. Hoffecker
is the president Of the National Bank of
Smyrna, Kent county, and is one Of the
Oldest and most influential men In the
state. He is not member of the union
republican faction, but he accepted the
nomination for governor at their hands be-
cause he believed that they represented
more than two-thirds of the party in the
state.
Jonathan s. Willis, candidate for Con-
greSs, and present member of the lower
house, is one of the leading and best-known
republicans in the state. He, too, accepted
the nomination of the union republicans on
the same ground taken by Mr.. Hoffecker
He is not a member of either faction His
ODDOnent on the Higgins tic;xot 10 ,,o,,,,r