The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-05-29
MORE THAN THEY COUNTED ON.
Number of Contested Delegates a SUR
prise To McKinIeyites

They VIII Prevent Nomination By ACCLAIM
alton at Any Rate-National Committed
VIII Meet June 10 To Determine Tenn
porary Roll of Convention.
Washington, May 28.-The communities
tion of Secretary Joseph II. Manley Of
| the Republican national ommittee &c
Chairman Carter, saying that he has al
ready received notice ots67 contests, in
volving the rights of 156 delegates to seats
in the st. Louis convention, has sur
prised the McKinleyites and is also Civ
| ing them food for reflection. For many
months the Mckinley managers, under
the direction of ex-Congressman Thomp-
son of Ohio, have been preparing with
great care and az great expense to make
fight for the Mckinley contestants when
| the national committee meets on June
10, but in none Of their calculations
have they estimsted the number Of con
tests as high as they will reach. 1t is
somewhat difficult to understand why
the cock-sure Mckinley boomers should
be surprised at the notice of 1856 contests,
when they have been for many weeks
proolaimipg that Mckinley will be NOM
mated even should the national commit
tee decide every contest in favor of the
anti-Mc cKinley delegates. With the
official figures of the secretary of the
national committee before them the Nc
Kinley boomers now say that the anti
Mckinley men are urging delegates to
make contests simply for the purpose of
breaking up the Hanna Grosvenor pro-
granime of carrying the convention with
a rush.
Mem bers of the national committee in
Washington say that the committee has
taken no part whatever in encouraging
the filing of contests and that the 156
cases already filed with Secretary Manley
is the ordinary response to the notice
Of the committee that they would re-
ceive notices of contests in Washington
until June /, and after that until June
10 at ST. Louis. How many more con-
tests will yet be filed with the commit
tee nobody in Washington appears to
know, but that there will be several dur
ing the two weeks yet remaining before
the committee meets there can be no
doubt. The committee will meet st the
Southern Hotel in St. Louis on June 10
nd decide these contests and make up
the temporary roll Of the convention,
and the Mckinley men will be there In
ley delegates are unseated If they can
help it, notwithstanding their repeated
boasts that they have delegates to burn.
A member of the national committee
said today that the deliberations on
tho subject of these contested delegates
would be the most important work of
the convention, and that it Is evident al
ready that there will be no nomination.
by aoolamation, especially as there is no
indication as yet that any of the candi-
dates now in the field will withdraw.
Certainly Reed and Allison and Morton
and Quay will not, but they will remain
in the fight as long as there is a chance
of preventing the nomination Of McKin-
ley.
Some of the influential silver Republi-
cans are feeling about to see if it would
not be possible to make an arrangement
with the Mckinley managers by which
they will give the wabbling candidate
their support in return for a semi free
silver platform. This would be plank
upon which Mckinley could consistently
stand, they say. in view Of his lifelong
financial record. and which, moreover,
would not cost him the loss of any i'm
portant support, as he is already antago-
nized and opposed by the sound money
business men and financial interests of
the East,