The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-04-28

4
plainly announcing. he turned square
about and made the enforcement Of
| that law the sine qua non in some com
munities, and entirely ignored its non
| enforcement in others. SO, out of his
endeayors to serve and placate mill
ority element which element never
cuts any figure at the primaries, and is
but little felt at the polls, he has driven
from him the men who constructed his
| platform and elected him governor, not
only, but engendered the implacable
opposition of the noisy contingent for
whose good will he had sacrificed life
dilemma had he gotten his party that
his own lieutenant governor was
brought out as a candidate against
him, and by the very wing Of the party
for which he had made such sacrifices,
which resulted in the unusual spec
tacle of an administration fighting it.
self. The last, and probably the most
serious result of his double, though
doubtless well meaning dealing, is the
attitude Of the chairman OF his own
central committee, who formally an
nounces to him that he cannot be re-
elected.
There are large numbers of liberal
and conservative Republicans, in Kan
saS, who feel sorry for Morrill,, who so
genuinely regret his misfortune that
out Of sympathy they would go far to
secure his denomination and election.
There are seventy or eighty rural coun-
ties in the state whose peoples are I'M
affected by the prohibitory law. These
see only the commendable side of Nor
rill's executive efforts. In the alb
sence of scandal and crookedness of
any character in the state institutions,
in view of MorrilIs own lifelong de-
vOtion TO the party and of his excep-
tionally white record, they overlook
the didoes Of Dawes, the Tiger Bill
episodes, the Barney Kelly soreness,
the Dick Wake denunciations, the To
peka whisky clubs and drug store sa-
looms, and the Wichita, Leavenworth
and AtchisOn joints, and really de-
sire his denomination and reelection.
1t is questionable if these unaffected
counties could not force his renomina-
ton. We are inclined TO that belief.
But unfortunately-for Morrill-these
counties while they have delegates and
are power in state conventions, the
half of them, when it comes to the
polls, can only show a very light vote
The twenty big dominant counties have
become disaffected over the governors
mistaken zeal in which he has made
fish Of one and flesh of the other. His
lifelong friend and champion, Mr.. Cy-
rus Leland, Jr., chairman of the state
central committee, having waited for
months in which, while planning and
patching, he continually hoped that
things would be Smoothed over and the
administration Endorsed by renomin-
alton finally, has thrown up the sponge
Confronting the inevitable he went to
Governor Morrill, the other day and told
him that his denomination meant sure
defeat for the Republican party and
the probable loss of its electoral ticket
l. is evident that Leland put the matter
off as long as he dared. Hundreds of
men have seen the same thing for
months, or ever since Morrill, lost be-
yond hope of reclaim twenty thousand
or more conservative Republicans by
his AtchiSOn compromise, his Leaven-
worth surrender and his Dawes on
slaught on Wichita Had he. as he
declared in his inaugural, left the en-
forcement Of the prohibitory law, as
are all other laws, to the several COM
munities and their officers, there would
have cen no Trouman or Potter can
didacies against him today, nor any
power in the Dick Wake crowd to have
encOmpaSSed his defeat in convention
or before the people.
1t may be and will be truly said. that
Mr.. Leland is only an Individual; that
1t Is his privilege TO refuse to support
Morrill, for a denomination; that there
are hundreds Of other just as able men
IN the party as Leland; that he is a !
would-be party boss, and that Morrill, |
having given the state a clean admin |
iStratiOn he viii be renominated in |
spite of Leland, and indorsed by the |
people in a reelection. That is but
talk, pretty enough in itself as talk.
but its only talk. The fact remains |
that Leland is Morrilrs personal |
friend, whom he would rather see elect
ed than any other man, because Nor
riI was Leland's candidate originally. |
and his reelection would be Leland's |
Endorsement No man in the state. |
Morrill, himself excepted. so regrets the /
OF MorrilrS withdrawal as
Leland himself. de has hoped against
hope and worked against work till the
iaSc diSa greeable hour. and it will not
help Morrilps case 10 quarrel with /
Leland.
MorrilFS mistake was not in finally
throwing the Dick Wake contingent
overheard, bur in taking it up in the
lrst place. Leland is not the only man
VINO knows that Morrill, aRtagOnized !
-hree or four Of the strongest cities in
lie state at the beheSt OF Topeka. only
% have that town spring a candidate
II its own for the sole purpose OF en-
comprising his defeat Leland * NOT
he only man in tie state who knows
hat the O. N. BIS, the y. z. AS. and
'ther organizations would he found
practically solid against Morrill, AT the