Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-08-31
TWO IN THE LEAD
For the Honor Of Nomination at
the Hoosier Capital.
SENATOR Villas AND wArTERsoH;

Seem fe Re the Fsvorites Of the Anti.
Free silver Democracy-Few Delegates
on Hand Yet-Notes Of the s,tuatiea %
che Eve Of the Gathering-Mcki.ley
Puts IL . Day Receiving Visitors. Begin
ing with . Chicago Throng-sammary
Of Bryaa's Campaign Last Week.
indianapolis, Aug. Sion Wednesday
the gold Democrats arc to assemble here
to rcpudiatc the action Of the Democracy
at Chicago and lnunch q new party in tho
troubled sen Of politics, but yesterday In.
dianapolis displayed but few Of the out
ward manifestations of an approaching
national convention. The hotel corridors,
which usually swarm and secthe with
politicians and guests on the eve of o ma.
tional convention. were barren and de.
serted. A few Of the managers wcre on
the ground, and the advance guard Of the
newspaper men was already here, but the
delegates had not begun to put in an ap::
pcarnnce. In the nature Of things, how
ever, this would be the case, as there IL no
division as to the purpose Of tho conven-
ton and no scramble after the nominn-
lions. The managers express themselves
as more than satisfied with the enthusi-
asm which they say has been developed in
the country and they expect delegations
from forty two S atcs and territories to be
present.
Making Up the List Of Delegates.
Although the delegates have not put In
an appearance in any considerable num-
bers the list of delegates is being made up
Ivy Secretary Wilson and will be ready for
the approval of the national committee,
which meets tomorrow. There will be
representatives in convention from nearly
every state, the exceptions being Idaho,
Wyoming, Nevada, and one or two terri
tories. The delegations will probably ar.
the majority of them are not expected
until tomorrow. That they are coming
there can be no doubt. rs all rooms at the
leading hotels have been engaged.
The Boom for Henri wattcrson.
Ex-Mayor Hopkins. of Chicago, has
been industriously working the boom
for Henri Wattcrson, and says that he
has received a great deal of encourage
ment. He says that the movement for
L IL was ttu ny ht Soub
ier-Journal three days after Bryan was
| nominated: that the object of the
movement is to get votes in the middle
west. In this convention he claims
that watterson's lectures on Lincoln.
his speeches to the Union soldiers and
his general course for many years has
been such as to win many votes from
| Bryan. Then. again." added Mr.. Hop
kins. 1t Is now only two months until
| the election. That is a short time to
| prepare for a fight. and the campaign
| for our ticket will necessarily be one
largely of sentiment, and II requires a
| man with that personal magnetism
that wins people to him. 1t is to he a
| campaign Of education, and We must
depend largely upon the newspapers tc
| fight for us.
Some Of wattcrsOn's Qualifications.
| 1T has been demonstrated that there
Is no one i'm this country better suited
to wage newspaper fight for princi-
| pie than Mr.. watterson. I think he
will he the strongest man in the states
where we expect to do good that the
convention can select. Illinois will
| probably not take the lead in present.
ing his name. for the reason that we
should prefer his own state to do that
I do not even know that our state will
| give him its entire vote. although
think there is little doubt that our state
convention would have instructed 70,
him IL a motion or resolution to thai
effect had been offered
| villa. IL Also . Possibility.
Many letters from all over the Unit
cd States. received at headquarters, ex
press preference for certain candidates
| Senator w. F. Villas is being urged a.
the most logical candidate by severa
sections of the country. The indorse
ment of favorite sons by several stat,
conventions may give the convention
great deal to do. and 1t Is not improb
able that each claim for first place OF
the ticket will at least be given recog
milton by votes in the convention. TIL
friends of Villas base their claim on tn
fact that he attended the gold Demo
cratic conference at Chicago and tina
he was one of the first men to respon,
when the opponents of the Chicag
platform were called together to de
termine their course Of action.
Cleveland Can Have the Nomination.
| 1t Ia conceded on all hands that
Cleveland would accept the nomination
II would he rendered him unanimously
Bynum said that he would unQues
tionahly he the strongest man: that hi
popularity even among the silver Dem
ocrats was very great. but that Cleve
land had given no word. Although
: Is generally understood that the pres
ident is in full sympathy with the con
vention and its purposes nothing ha
, yet been received from him.