The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-01-10
ANrE-E1EcrIoN PLEDGES.
How They Should Be Regarded From
Hanna Standpoint.

Columbus. O.. Jan. 9-Ex- Governor
Charles Foster, who was secretary Of the
treasury under Harrison, arrived in the
city tonight. He has been considered as
a compromise candidate for senator, and
by some considered as unfriendly to
Hanna, but he soon declared himself for
the senator under the existing circum-
stances, and was in conference with the
senator soon after his arrival
The following was given out tonight by
the Hanna men:
Some recent developments regarding
the early history of the present senatorial
campaign are especially pertinent to the
present movem ent because they fully JUS
Tify the course of those men who are now
asking to withdraw from an agreement
which they may have made to support
another than Senator Hanna. 1t is now
known that the plan to elect Governor
Bushnell or Mr.. kurtZ for the senator
ship was developed Immediately after the
appointment of Mr.. Hanna on March 4
and before the month of March is ended
pledges on behalf of Governor Bushnell
were being obtained in various parts of
the state from men ambitious to become
members of the legislature. The man
ayers who outlined their plan knew who
would be likely to be candidates for the
nominations and in cases where it was
possible to make combinations with them,
did so, requiring the candidates in return
Tor their support for the nomination to
pledge themselves to vote for Governor
Bushnell. 1t is known in a number of
cases agreements were made in March or
ApIIi, long pflOT 10 the meeting OF the
state and county conventions which. when
held declared unanimously for Senator
Hanna. That the ante-electiOn pladgeS
thus became q matter of temporary en-
barraSSment to the men who had made
them without the knowledge that the
convention would declare for any indi-
Vidual, goes without saying, but that their
first duty after accepting a nomination
and election under these circumstances
was to withdraw their pledges made be-
fore these new conditions arose, is equal
ly apparent. That those pledges were
made on the supposition that the election
OF a senator would follow the usual course
and each member would be entirely free
to vote for such individual candidate as
his judgment distate.
when it developed later that both the
state and county conventions declared
unequivocally for a single individual the
men accepting the nominations under
those conditions were placed in an en-
tirely new position. Their first duty as
Republicans was to obey the mandate
of the party or to decline to be its repre-
sentative.
1T is not surprising, then. in view of
these facts, that many men who made
these pledges prior to action of the state
and county conventions have voluntarily
and with q frankneSS which marks as
men of high sense of honor. asked to be
released from those promises Indeed
otherwise, and the only surprise is that
either of the men to whom these pledges
were made should not expect or demand
that they be kept Every individual who
thus pledged himself has since doing so
been informed by state and county con-
mand that he support Senator Hanna and
no other, and thus every one of them is
not only justified in withdrawing that
pledge, but Is in duty bound TO do so.