Birmingham state herald., 1896-06-14
MATT QUAY TOOK 4 TRICK He Is National Committeeman
 Pro Tem by Proxy. HE GOT. THERE JUST IN TIME To Vote On Contest for His State-The Machine Continues to Slaughter
 the lnnocentS.

l ihtO lilC iOOlIls AS OulIlleQ Oy .CIdlTndn | Carter the contest was a three-cornered | one, there being three delegations at l large of four members each, claiming 1 recognition, together with contestants in each of the twelve congressional districts, several having two sets of contestants. Of the rival delegations at large, one | headed by John Grant was instructed for l Mckinley, the second headed by Nelson W Cuney, colored, is divided between AL lison and Reed, and the third, headed by | H. F. McGregor, had its preferences given as two Allison, one Reed and one McKin- I ley. Mr McGregor, whose party is va- l riously known as the regulars" the Ire l formers" and lilly whites" opened what. proved to be an all round, free for all debate. John Grant, state 1 chairman of what he also claimed to be l the regular organization, characterized 1 the McGregorites as political bandits and | thelr party as myth. There was l buzz of surprise when Colonel Grant de- l clared that charges of fraud and eorrup- 1 ton against the Texas delegation to the l Minneapolis convention in 1892 were a part his case, and that the facts would | be found in affidavits which he threw on I the chairman'S table. No questions were l asked on the point, and the affidavi.s re- 1 mained untouched on the table.
 The case for the "black and tans,' as Grants party is known, was further ar- | gued by Hon. G. H. Terrell of Texas, min | ister to Belgium under President Harri- l son, and that for the McGregorites by c. l K. Love, colored, of Galveston. The first question for the committee to decide was | which of the delegations represented the regular party organization and the | unanimous vote was in favor of the | Grant (McKinley) faction.
 This much settled, the claims of the | latter to seats In the convention were challenged by the third rival delegation, headed by Nelson W. Cuney, the colored | member of the national committee. Ex- Minister Terrell made a second argu- ment this time supporting the Cuney l delegation, of which he Is a member. The rival delegations having with | drawn, the committee went into execu- | tive session and discussed the case for | three-quarterS. of an hour. A motion to | seat the Cuney delegation was defeated l by vote of 17 to 20. Then MT. Fessen- l den of Connecticut moved that both sets l of delegates be excluded from the tempo | rary roll. The vote was 27 to 20 in favor | of the proposition, and the question of l who are the regular delegates at large | from Texas must be settled in the na- | tional convention. At $40 Secretary Manley announced | that there yet remained twenty-two | contests, involving forty-four delegates. | Allowing half hour to each case, it | would take the committee eleven hours | to complete this branch of it's labors. | The room in which they were meeting, | he said, would have to be surrendered in | twenty minutes, but the New York dele | gation had offered the use of the ladies' | ordinary, of which it had possession, un- | til o'clock tomorrow morning. Several | members urged an all night session until that hour, but no action was taken, and the First Texas district contest was called.
 In this district the claims of David | Taylor and M. D. Dawson (both colored and Mckinley preferences) were recog- | nized and their names placed on the roll.
 In the Second district the Reed con | testants, George w. Bunkett and J. H. Brinkley, colored, claimed that Col. Web- ster Flanagan, who resides in another district, came to their convention and controlled it upon alleged proxies from counties in which no republican organi- zation existed.
 Colonel Flanagan, who was called from the ante room, denounced this as an "unmitigated lie," whereupon Will liam Mcdonald colored who represent ed the contestants, threw package of affidavits down at F'lanagan'S feet and dared him to repeat the statement
 Flanagan held his peace and kept his temper, and the committee quickly dis posed of the case by seating H. B. Kane and T. T. Pollard, the regular CMcKinleY delegates.
 l A few moments after the national com- mittee reconvened this evening a decided sensation was created in that body by the appearance of Senator Matthew S. Quay of Pennsylvania. With nod and a smile for the friends that he recogniZ- ed on his right and left, he walked with a iaunty air up the aisle, shook hands with Chairman Carter, seated himself at the corner of the secretary'S table, reach- ed for sheet of foolscap and commenced to write rapidly. He had hardly finished writing when Col. Perry Carson, colored, national committeeman from the Dis trict of Coulmbia, came rapidly into the hall and found his way to the rear of thS l PennsylYania senator The latter ceased writing on the moment and Colonel Car son. taking the pen from his hand, at tached his signature to the sheet upon which the senator had written. There upon the colored committeeman with drew. A few moments later 1t developed that the document was proxy under which Senator Matthew s. Quay was authorized to sit in the national com mittee as the proxy for Perry Carson" until such proxy was withdrawn. The senator took seat in the front row of the committee and listened with interest to the presentation of the remainder of the Texas contests.
 "Yes, I am a national committeeman for the time being" said the senator in response to an inquiry from a newspapeN man. q am here on sufferance, as 1t were as I hold the proxy of Perry Car son. I shall stay here during the consid- eration of the contests from Pennsylva- mia and maybe longer if Carson does not put me out"
 ''I am foot loose for the rest of the night' said Colonel Carson few mo- ments later, "and I am glad of 1t. have given my proxy to Senator Quay and he can use it as long as he wants. He can stay there until the adjournment sine die before I am likely to put him out"
 Consideration of the Texas cases was resumed. The contestants in the Third and Fourth districts failed to put in an appearance and Webster Flanagan, J. w. l Butler. c. M. Ferguson, H. G. Goree, Ce-
 ell A. Lyon and W. M. Johnson were
 placed on the roll from those districts.
 In the Sixth district J. M. Mccormick
 and Robert Armstrong, colored McKirf leyites, were seated, while in the Seventh
 w. F. Crawford and B. F.. Wallace, col
 ored, both supporters of Mir. Reed, were
 seated over the Mckinley delegates. In
 both contests the decisions were based upon the information concerning the reg | ularity of the, district conventions at | which the delegates were selected.