The Yale expositor., 1896-05-01
REPUBLICANS
Meet In County ConVen-
ton.
A Red Hot Contest and a
Peaceful Ending.
Major Boynton Endorses Party Or
ganization.

ganization.
st. Clair County never fails to put up
an exciting contest at county con-
vention and that of last Saturday was
no exception. The attendance was
large and representative republicans
from all portions of the county flocked
to the county capitol to witness royal
battle.
AS usual the delegates were diyided
into two camps. John Porter, General
Hartsutf and other lieutenants opened
headquarters at the Huron House at
an early hour and Immediately began
a skillful and systematic campaign to
secure control of the convention.
Lincoln Avery, Dan Webster, Frank
T. Wolcott and Harvey Tappan coun-
tered on this move by opening their
headquarters at the Union Hotel and
perfected an organization that sur
prised their opponents by its thorough
and skillful work and management.
When the convention opened there
was plenty of shrewd parliamentary
practice for control of temporary or
ganization by John Porter, John Twiss
and their friends on the one side, and
Henry A. Rose, the Pingree leader,
Frank L. Wolcott and Harvey Tappan
on the other, which resulted in the
latter capturing the permanent organ
ization and making Henry A. Rose
permanent chairman.
When the voting for delegates began
| it was found that the largest vote that
the Porter party could muster was 56
while the opposition polled 1l3, and
after q few test ballots Majo Boynton
insisted that so long rs it was plainly
apparent that large majority of the
convention was in favor of the So
called Avery ticket there was no sense
in II factional contest and upon his
motion the remainder of the ticket
was elected without opposition.
One Of the principal questions that
the convention decided was whether
Porter, Hartsutf, and their friends
should become managers, or whether
Avery and his friends should occupy
the same position. One side won. The
other side lost.
Major Boynton took an active part
with Porter and his friends, but after
the convention was over, in an inter-
view with Times reporter, regarding
the charge made that the convention
was run by "the machine" in Mon
days Times he made the following
statement:
"This talk about machines is sheerest
nonsense. 1t is absolutely necessary
nowadays to have thorough organiza-
ton to accomplish anything. Men
must combine, and they do combine,
to bring about certain results. When
such combination is made in politics
it is dubbed political machine. Yet
you find just such combinations IN the
churches, in the various societies, in
the business world, and in everything
else human. Call them machines if
you please. We must all realize that
there will be u scramble on the part of
few to take charge of the combina-
ton, or the machine. Individually, |
don't care who turns the crank and
runs the machine so long as the plums
fall into the republican double STAN
dard basket"
A thoroughly competent county
committee was selected, one member
from each township and ward. Pains
were taken to select energetic hustlers,
and republicans can rest assured that
we shall have thorough party organi-
zation in st. Clair county and that the
entire republican ticket will reap the
benefits.
Isaac Menerey as delegate to the dis
trict convention, and B. X. Noble to
the State convention, were selected as
strong Mckinley men to represent
this part of the district.