The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-19
TO PROTEST AGAINST DEVEAUx.
MEETING TO BE HELD AT THE COT
TON EXCHANGE.

Members of That Body and the Board
of Trade Called Together TO Com
] slider the Customs Collectors hip.
The Meeting Called at the Request
of Some who Heard That Col. De-
veaux Was Likely 10 he Appoint
ed-COmpIication in the Collector
ship Fight May Yet Lead to an
Outsider Being Appointed.
The business men of Savannah, as repre-
scented in the Cotton Exchange and Board
of Trade viii enter protest against the
! appointment as collector of customs of any
! party undesirable to them, and to this end
joint meeting Of the two bodies will be
| held tomorrow afternoon at O'Clock.
! A notice has been posted at the Cotton
! Exchange announcing that there win be
an important meeting of that body, and all
/ the members are urged to be present. A
/ similar notice has been posted at the
| Board of Trade. calling a meeting of the
members of the board at the same time
and place and stating that the meeting is
/ for the purpose of taking some action with
regard to the appointment of a collector of
| customs.
Members of the cotton exchange, It is
understood, have received an iatimaton
| that the appointment as collector is likely
/ 10 be conferred upon Col. J. II. Deveaux
| the colored applicant, and one Of them
| stated last night that the meeting was for
the purpose of entering a protest against
this appointment. Up to the present time
l urac not sDI
would get the appointment but all indi-
cations of late have been that he was hold
ing the strongest hand, and that Senator
Hanna has practically promised him the
appointment.
Until the situation took this turn the
business men had nothing to say in the
matter, one of them stated, but believing
now that there is a probability of the ap-
! pointment being made unless something
can Be done TO prevent ii, they have de-
cided to hold meeting for the purpose of
making a protest. The meeting was called
| by President Henry T. Williams al the
request of members of the exchange, who
have received this intlmation
Col. DeVeaux, as was stated in yester-
days Morning News, is now in Washing
ton, working in his interests, and to ali
appearances, he stands well with Senator
Hanna, who is supposed to have charge of
the distribution Of the political patronage.
The time for the appointment is APP
preaching rapidly. Collector J. F. u. Beck
withs commission expires Feb 4. There
is every reason to believe that he will
serve to the end of his term and it has
been reported that he is a candidate to
succeed himself, in spite of the fact that
a republican administration holds the
reins.
Ex-Collector T. F. johnson and ex-Post-
master Joseph F. Doyle are both candi-
dates for the appointment still, so there
has been no change in the race so far
as is apparent Their applications ana
Endorsements are on file in Washington,
and to all appearances they are in the
race TO stay. 1t has been currently re-
ported, however, that Mr.. johnson has
been urged to take the postoff1ce and drop
out from the collectorship race thereby
simplifying that contest. So far, how.
ever, he has made no application for the
postoffice, and whether he will or not is
not known.
| The fact that there are three candidates
! for the appointment of collector of GUS
| toms has led to the opinion in many quar-
| tiers that neither of the three will be fav-
| ored with the Office, but that it may go to
fourth man who has not yet appeared
| tn connection with the contest Current
report has it that this fourth man is Mr.
! w. h. Leaken, who was an electOr on the
! republican ticket, and many of his friends
/
| that in their opinion he would receive
| the appointment. One gentleman went so
far as to say he was almost certain that
| the final result would be the appointment
! of Mr.. Leaken.
When seen about the matter Mr.. Lealen
stated positively that he knew nothing
about it, had made no applica-
ton for the Office and was not a candi-
date. This is contrary to the opin-
ion that some of his friends have hereto
fore held, but it seems that unless there
should be a material change it leaves him
out of the race altogether
As to the postoffice the avowed candi-
dates are Messrs II. Blum, Jr., and Will
| liam Pease. Postmaster Haines' commits
sion expires in April, and it is not likely
that any appointment will be made before
that time. 1t may be, however that the
fore the term of the present
incumbent expires. One of Mr.. Johnson's
| friends openly asserted that the final re-
suit would be his appointment as postmas-
ter and there seems to be others who
| share In that opinion. Much of this dis
cussion seems to have grown out of the
| TACT That the race for the collectorship has
been quite complex one and that such
a settlement of the matter would be nee
essary. Otherwise 1t has been considered
that some party as yet unnamed in con-
nection with it would be given the custom
| house.
How the proposed protest of the bust
ness men may affect the race, remains
to be seen. Certain 1t is that protests have
had some effect so far as the Augusta
postoffiee was concerned, and Judson Ly-
| ons has not yet reached the goal. Senator
| Hanna appears inclined to insist on the
| appointments of the colored men in Geor-
gia on account of promises that have been
made. The other horn of the dilemma in
which the administration finds itself grows
out of the fact that it necessarily feels
| indebted to what was known as the sound
money democrats, who no doubt aided in
its election AS the time draws near for
something 20 drop, the situation grows
quite interesting.
III .Irnu- z IL.