The herald., 1896-07-09
cITYpRlcE, PER SINGLE copy, CENTS
ON TRANSPORTATION LINES, CENTS


Delegate F. M. Taylor Of Arkansas
defended the course of the majority Of the
committee. and his applause came more
from the delegates than from the gal
1eries He declared that the seating Of
the gold delegates from Michigan was
most outrageous wrong, which the con-
vention should right.
Gov. McLaurin of Mississippi also
came to the defense of the committee.
He made a careful review of the facts
to show that the will of the Democrats
of Michigan did not prevail in the state
convention. Four hundred and twenty
four votes of the 1888 delegates to that
convention, he said, were instructed for
free silver. He described the alleged
method pursued by the administration
agents to override this expressed will
of the people, and declared that they
were under Instructions to carry Mich
igan for gold" and the administration.
Some unsympathetic auditor in the gall.
lery shouted "Shut up and sit down."
wherewith there seemed to be syste-
matte attempt to howl down the speaker
This reused the ire of the silver dele
gates, and one of the indignant Louisia-
ma arose and shouted that if these in
terruptions were continued he should
move to clear the galleries.
"The galleries are packed by the gold
men," he shouted.
But the cries of the crowd continued
At last Col. Martin, the sergeant-at-
arms, interposed from the platform and
instructed the assistant sergenat-at
arms and the police to summarily eject
any one who interrupted the proceed
ings. Senator McLaurin drifted into a
discussion of the issue before the Demo-
Gratis of Michigan, whereupon Delegate
McDermott of New Jersey arose to q
point of order.
What happened twenty years ago."
he shouted. has nothing to do with the
merits of this controversy
The galleries cheered and waved their
handkerchiefs at this protest from the
i floor. The blood of the gold spectators
was aroused.
| John E. Salisbury, a member of the
| famous old Salisbury family of Della
ware, whose ancestry runs through all
| American history, pushed his way to the
| platform to protest against the majority
| report. He was elected as free silver
delegate, he said, but he believed the
sitting delegates from Michigan were en-
titled to their seats. II protest." he
shouted emphatically, that this is not
the place to wash the dirty linen Of state
factions"
After Salisbury there stepped to the
front of the platform, a stalwart, blonde
mustached young man, with a red rose
on the lapel Of his summer coat.
Gentlemen, am the man they say
stole Michigan" he shouted in tone
| that rang to the rafters. This defiant
Introduction caught the fancy of the null
| titude which sent up a great shout Of
laughing approval. Name, name," the
| galleries creid.
stevenson" the young man yelled.
! His full name is Elliott G. Stevenson.
He is the law partner of Don M. Dickin-
| son, President Cleveland's friend, the
man who is accused by the silver men of
rounding UP 400 federal office holders to
swing the convention for gold. Defiant
ly he told the convention it had no right
to turn out delegates elected by a SOW
ereign state: that by doing so it would
establish precedent that would return
to damn it. These declarations were re-
The fact that a gold sentiment pre-
dominated in the audience, or that an.
American crowd is invariably with the
under dog. brought Mr.. Stevenson more
applause that his predecessors when he
walked from the platform.
Then blue-eyed, sandy-haired, we'll
built young man mounted the stage. As
he turned and faced the audience, with
cheer the galleries recognized Blue
Eyed Billy Sheehan," who was lieuten-
ant-governor Of New York for four
years, and who Is considered one of the
past grand masters Of politics. He, too.
protested against unseating the gold
delegates. His intimate knowledge of the
political precedents enabled him to make
a strong argument against the regular
ity of the contesting delegates. Mr.. Shee-
han declared that the purpose of the sil-
yer men Of the convention was to secure
a majority Of the Michigan delegation
in order to vote them as unit for silver.
and thus increase their majority to the
requisite two-thirds to nominate.
You fear" he said, with sweep Of his
hand, you fear that you may be obliged
to abrogate the time -honored two thirds
rule if you do not do this. I appeal to
you, many of whom stood side by side
with me four years ago, to stay your
hand This convention was begun in
revolution; in Gods name do not end Il
in revolution"
With this parting shot Mr.. Sheehan
retired amid the plaudits of the galleries.
His place was taken by Delegate J. w.
Blake of Texas, who made a violent
speech in favor of seating the silver
men. He charged that it was notorious
that the Michigan convention had been
packed and manipulated by federal
officeholders.
"The whole internal delegation should,
in my opinion, be turned out" he said
earnestly, and many of the silver dele
gates on the floor seemed to agree with
him from the manner il wll.c.l tie5- q
ceived his sentiment He repelled the
insinuation of Mr.. Sheehan and affirmed
that as silver man, if he could not con-
troll the convention without robbing Z
state of it's votes he was ready to sur.
render.
Delegate Mcknight, one of the Michi-
gan silver delegates, replied to Mr.. Stew
enson. He said that it was notorious
that the silver men elected majority