The herald., 1896-07-08
THE FIRST SK|RM|SA IN THE BATTLE FOR SILVER

had hardly ascended to the Throne of
Grace. before the contending hosts met
in the shock Of battle. The gold men
carried out their program Of presenting
Senator Hill for temporary chairman,
but the silver leaders also held to their
resolution, and Immediately antago-
nized Senator Hill with Senator Daniel
For two hours the oratorical gladiators
of the two opposing factions fought it
out on the floor of the convention.
/ Alexander McDermott of New Jersey
John I. Walter of Connecticut, John r.
Fellows of New York, and Gen. st. Clair
OF West Virginia championed Mr.. Hill,
and c. S. Thomas Of Colorado, Mr. Tar
pey of California, C. A. Ladd of Illinois,
Delegate Marston of Louisiana, and Ma
tional Committeeman Clayton of Ala
! bama insisted upon his overthrow. Col
Fellows appealed for mercy. He pleaded
with the majority to do generous thing
and show that they did not place too
much reliance on the force of numbers,
but IN the Righteousness of their cause
Mr. McDermott was even driven to
threats. Gen. st. Clair, who is silver
man, opposed the defeat of Mr. HILL
whom he had supported four years ago,
and whose defeat then he expressed his
profound regret for today. But the sill
yer men, most of whom had spoken for
him in 1892, and who recalled the fact
with evident pride and expressed regret
at the necessity which compelled them
to take this course, contended that the
election of a temporary chairman in har-
mony with the majority was of vital
Importance. The temper of the dele
gates was plainly apparent from the
salvos with which they greeted these
firm utterances. 1t was noticeable that
neither side put its giants forward.
When the vote came to be taken w.
j. Stackhouse, one Of the administra-
tion's federal officials in Iowa, in order
to f1aunt the divisions in the Boies del
egation, challenged the vote Of the state,
and uncovered seven gold votes. Mr.
Haldeman did the same thing in Black
burns Kentucky delegation, and Nc
Knight, silver Michigan delegate.
showed twelve silver votes III his delega-
tion which were locked up by the unit
rule.
The result Of the roll call showed $50
votes for Daniel and 349 votes for Hill.
practically the strength of the two sides.
Although this did not show two-thirds
majority, the silver leaders display no
anxiety on this score, as the Nebraska
gold delegation of 26 will be unseated
and the representation from the terri
tories will be increased from two to six
EACH
Senator Daniel, who assumed the du-
ties of presiding officer, is an impressive
figure and most eloquent orator of the
old school. He sounded the keynote for
silver in ringing speech, but the fact
that he spoke from notes was rather dis
appointing to his friends
The silver leaders in control carried
through .he remainder of the program
today and tonight the several commit
tees are in session with silver every-
where in control
Ihere is little change in the situation
as to candidates tonight Bland still
has strong lead, but the possibility of
all sorts of complications which NAV
blockade his way to the coveted prize
have made his followers anxious, and
the talk of abrogating the two-thirds
rule in his interest has been revived.
There is, of course, the natural disposi-
tion to crowd on to the bandwagon, but
the calmest observers cannot yet figure
out how he can win. They still look for
Boies or dark horse. The use which
gold contingent will make of their
votes will complicate the situation. and
many believe in the present disorganized
| condition of the silver men as to candi-
dates they can force a compromise
| Stevenson Is most prominently spoken
of in this connection To forestall the
gold men, concerning whose plans in this
regard there is much mystery, the silver