The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-06-23
Another Card rrom ohsiralan Berkeley.

10 he Hepu5licda rofers Of lSomersef County:
desire 20 submit for your eonsidera-
ton in reply 10 the misrepresentation of
my course in upholding the rules govern
ing the Republican organization, and the
juggling of figures, contained in the Som
erset Standard of the I7th inst. the fol-
lowing:
never held any conversation with the
alleged editor of the Standard in regard
to any of the matters i'm controversy. and
all of his charges are therefore positively
untrue.
/ did not demand from single pros
pectiye candidate that he sign a paper
agreeing to pay his share Of the expense
incurred in holding n primary election,
but on the contrary told one and all that
would expect them To pay their pro
rata shares of the deficit in advance. !,
also, informed each individual desiring
to announce that / would be pre-
pared to submit an estimate of the ex-
pense of holding an election and the es-
timated deficit on the 5th day of June. |
did not intimate that the assessment
would be an indefinite sum, but, on the
contrary, told one and all that the amount
would not be very large when divided
into pro rata shares, but would be too
large for one man to assume-much
larger than the Chairman was willing to
assume.
Mr. Edward Keller, the only would be-
candidate who called on the 9TH of June
and inspected the estimate prepared by
me will not deny the correctness of the
above statement.
In regard to the assessments paid by
the various candidates for the conduct of
the fall campaign the writer i'm the Stand
ard knows that it was properly used for
the purposes for which it was assessed,
and that all of those who paid
their assessments are at liberty at
any time 10 call upon me for state
ment of how it was expended. would
indeed have been culpable had turned
this money into the primary fund in or
der to pay expenses of aspiring candi-
dates at the present time, at least one of
whom failed to pay his assessment when
"A candidate on the Republican ticket last
fall, and whose campaign was made on
money contributed by other candidates
on the ticket. In this connection / de-
sire to add that the Chairman expended
a much larger sum than he received from
assessments paid by candidates, relying
upon the verbal promises of several gem
tlemen who failed 10 pay their assess
ments, and whose aili1avits at this time
are as valueless as their words were last
fall.
told each of tho would -be-candidates
that | would be prepared 10 submit n
statement of the expense of holding the
primary election on June 5sh. Mr.. III. +.
Barron did not call upon me repeatedly
10 see the statement as he swears he did,
bat once in passing me on the street re-
marked: Il am ready to see that state
IN lent, and want to see what became of
that fund paid in last spring" / replied
that he could see my statement on June
9TH, but that he would have 10 60 to my
predecessor for statement of the re-
ceipts and expenditures of the lSlj pri-
mary, as would have to base my COM
putation upon the money received from
him.
In conclusion / wish - state emphati
cally that not one of tho would be candi-
dates ever offered TO pay more than $40,
and ali ilatly refused 10 pay their pro-
rata shares of the deficit, levied by me rs
an assessment in strict conformity with
the rules.
| take pleasure in appending the afii-
davit of Mr.. Josiah Swank, Assistant
Cashier of the First National Bank, who
was present at nearly all of the conversa-
tions held with the aspiring candidates
who called upon me.
Very respectfully,
HARVEY NJ. BERKLET.