Birmingham state herald., 1896-06-17
 MORTON SAYS NO AGAIN Another Attempt to Tie Him to
 the Ticket. HIS WIFE IS APPEALED TO But She Says Caesar or Nobody-Mr. Depew Stops the FoOlshness in Summary
 and Satisfactory Style
HIS WIFE IS APPEALED TO

1 St. Louis June 16.-The first days ses- sion of the eleventh national republican l convention, which opened shortly after noon today in the hall erected for that purpose by the patriotic citizens of St.
 Louis, was unreIieved by a single incl dent to lift the interior proceedings.
 There was an immense assemblage, a great waving of fans in torrid heat, am
 hour or so of prepared oratory, the de- liverance of which failed to reach more
 than one-fifth of the vast auditorium. l and a prompt adjournment until tomor- row morning.
 Committees were appointed, but the committees on resolution and platform were the only ones upon which public in- | terest centered. The credentials com mittee early made manifest purpose to l pass most of the night in a discussion | of the Delaware and Texas cases, which were specifically referred to their adju- dication by the national committee. In each of these cases the delegates at | large had been excluded the national committee being unwilling to decide be- l tween the ccntending factions. In the Delaware case Senator Thurstons open l denunciation of Mr. Addicks compli- cated matters. In the Texas contest was involved the legitimacy of the new lily white movement, which is perplexing re- publican organizations in the south. The action of the committee in setting apart | three hours and half tonight for the l consideration of these cases is taken as
 an indication that it will confine it's at l tention to matters specifically referred | to it and let the other contests stand as l settled by the national committee
 Prophesying is a risky profession in 1 connection with a body which has al- l ready undergone so many lightning l changes as have come over the course of l this convention, but this seems to be the programme: That is to say, to decide I the Delaware and Texas cases and the few disputed district eases in New York, California and some other states which have been in terms referred to the ere l dentials committee by the national com I mittee and by a sweeping omnibus res l olution to adopt the temporary roll call | as the permanent one in all other con- 1 tests. Such plan if adopted will of course elicit strong opposition from dis satisfied contestants but as few of them l will have spokesmen on the floor of the I convention they will probably have to | air their grievances on the outside.
 The platform committee conducted its 1 labors behind closed doors and did not permit the privileged representatives of | the Southern Associated Press to listen
 to its deliberations, which undoubtedly | were vastly more interesting than any l thing said before the credentials com l mittee.
 Aside from the work of these commit l tees the curious movement started to force Levi P. Morton into the position of tail to the Mckinley kite before his name has even been laid before the convention | for the higher office tomorrow, his state
 to nominate him, engrosses attention. 1 The facts in this matter, carefully veri-
 fled, seem to be about as follows: Ger
 tain New York republicans (not, how l ever, Mr. PlatD have repeatedly visited | MT Hanna's headquarters today to so- | licit that gentlemans cooperation in | bringing about the nomination of Gov l ernor Morton. MT. Hanna in turn ques- l toned these gentlemen as to their knowl- l edge of Governor Morton's intentions. 1 He referred them to the governors tele- gram to MT. Depew on Saturday last, in | which he stated without qualification
 that he would not take the second place on the ticket Under these circumstances
 MT. Hanna desired to know what req l son these gentlemen had for believing
 that Governor Morton had so suddenly | shifted his position.
 To these inquiries an equally frank re- ply was made. They had no assurances | from Governor Morton that he would ac- | cept, but they were so satisfied he would
 not decline the honor if it were given to him that they felt no hesitancy in secur- ing his nomination, knowing that he | would not run counter to the conVen- 1 tion's wishes. MT. Hanna thereupon in- | formed his visitors that he was taking | no hand in the contest for the vice presi- 1 dency. He was here, he said, to nominate | Mr. Mckinley as president. In this view
 of the case, he did not think it advisable | to embarrass his candidates chances by | taking part in the contest over the sec
 ond place. He did not hesitate to say, | however, that so far as his individual | preference was concerned it inclined to
 MT. Hobart of New Jersey.
 | If was Openly stated this evening that
 MT. Platt was in receipt of a dispatch
 from Governor Morton which says in eff
 feet that so far as the vice presidency | was concerned he was in the hands of his friends, but in which he failed to | declare in so many words what action he
 would take if the convention should nom- | mate him.
 Information reached the Southern As
 sociated Press this evening that some of | Morton's friends who have been working | up an interest in his behalf today cabled
 Mrs. Morton who is in Europe, to use her | influence with the governor to take yhe
 second place. Her reply, received at a
 late hour this afternoon, contained an
 emphatic negative, the substance of the
 dispatch being that she wished him to
 have the first place or none.
 | The New York Mckinley men, with a
 view to forestallng any favorable action
 that the convention might take respect
 ing MT Morton and the vice presidency,
 drew up a paper this afternoon. which
 was being circulated tonight for sigma
 tures It does not mention Governor
 Morton by name, but it protests against the factional quarrels of New York be- ing carried into the convention and con- | demns the unwisdom of selecting the | vice president from New York.
 But an apparent quietus was put upon all this gossip tonight by MT. Chauncey
 M. Depew, who, as Governor Morton $ | sponsor, would have been placed in a | most emba rra Ssinp DOsitiOn if he had