The Dickinson press., 1896-07-25
THEY ARE DIVIDED
THREE FACTIONS IN THE POPULlsr
NATIONAL CONVENTION.
One FavOrn the Enforcement of the
Wants bryan and u POpulist for
Vice President. While the Mid.
llc-of- the Road Men Declare for
"a StraiKht-Out POpulist Ticket.

OH the eve of the cOnNcn of tllu III
tiOlal FoWlliSt convention that there
will he three factions in tile collvel-
tion-tle middle ot-the-road element,
headed by "Cyclone" Davis of Texas.
which will stand cut against all COM
promises prior to the convention and
to the election: the faction favorable
to the Endorsement or ! cmiiation Of
MesSrs. Bryan and Sewall. and the
compromise men. headed by Senator
Butler of North Carulima. WHO favor
the Endorsement OF Bryan. but who
contend for the right to name Il South
'crn l"mlliSt in place Of SHw:.ll for the
lOSltiOM of vice president.
The Bryan people are still holding
out very stiifly against any and all
compromises. and some of tl,t IN 80 so
far as to say il they are not successful
in their contention they will leave the
convention. Senator Butler is strong
in the position that Mr.. Bryan should
lc in,l"rsrd upon IL PopuliSt platform.
but says the Southern people would
never accept Mr.. Scwall. not only l"-
cause his affiliations are not with
them. but because. above ali. II they
surrender both offices il would mean
He claims to have almost the solid
South lmlind hini and Il strong follow
ing in the Northern states. MIR. Davis
comlmts this position. claiming 81 ma
.ior;ty in the convention of over 200 in
favor of travelling in the middle of
the road" by which he means that no
compromise is possible in the coDvcn-
tiOn.
Afraid of 81 Bolt.
The more conservative of the mem
berS of the two extreme factions are
beginning to regard tho situation as II
grave one and there have been many
informal conferences during the day
looking toward getting together on
some plan like tina, suggested by Sen
ator Butler. They fear that il this
cannot be done Il bolt is inevitable.
whatever the action CT the convention.
and this they are exceedingly anxious
10 avert. They express confidence to-
day that tll"y will he able to reach this
result. The two extreme factions.
each assert, however. that they will
never yield. and the situation is admit
Glly critical.
Tho friends of Bryan assert that he
would ncvr' accept Il nomination by
the Populist convention which did not
carry with il Il like nomination for Mr..
Sewall. and they quote Mr.. Bryan as
having taken this position in ,iscours-
ing upon tn" matter with delegates
who have been to visit him. lie is
represented as considering il .liShon-
orablc and impolitic to have himself
named without Il like honor hcing con-
frllr,l upon his Democratic running
mate. 1t is also stated as coming from,
MIR. Bryan that lie is opposed to all
propositions of fusion as tending to
the weakening OF his campaign and
the confusion of tllts voters. The
s,aunrller of his followers declare they
will not depart from this position.
whatever the result. They declare
they would prefer to bolt.
Used Their Fists.
Police were stationed outside the
doors Of the hall il, which the national
populist committee held it's session
last evening. and they wcr" frequent
ly in demand to prevent personal en-
counters between the cohtcsting dele
CATIONS from Chicago. There was one
tisticuIf between DIR. II. $. Taylor, the
leader of the regulars. and Seymour
StclnAn. of the opposing delegation.
Bad blood had Ice II brewing all day.
and when the two met in the corridor
outside The hall they sprang suddenly
at each other. and only the interfcr-
cnce of the crowd vented serious
results. Neither WAS hurt. but as it
WAS very evident that some one was
likely to be. the police were called in
to preserve order and the peace. The
committee decided by IL vote of 30 to
~ to seat the Taylor delegation. There
WAS considerable feeling in the conf
mittcc over the contest. and it was
specially intense among some of the
Chicago people on the outside. They
declared that the committee had been
packed. and that the action was nee
rssary to sustain MIR. Taubeneck in his
position of national clElirman. The
rauboncck- Taylor people were very
much riutcd over tho result. The out
side faction will pre- IS their claims for
seats before the committee on crcd,n-
tialS. Should they fail there they will
appeal to the coIrt of last resort, the
convention itself.