The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-07-13
P0PULIST CONVENTION.
1t Had HIa>lzk< Features TO .Sta>t With, and
Closed With q Razmbow of
Peace Over 1t.

Policemen were required at the hall in
| Labor Temple yesterday morning, where
the Popusts of Hennepin county were
gathered for the purpose Of nominating a
county ticket.
1t was the warmest of all the warm con-
ventions ever held ty the Peoples party.
Oaths were thrown across the floor from
| mid readers to fusionists, and from fusion
lists to mid-roaders. DR.. Fay, the leader
of the mid readers. was attacked by a man
| about five feet high, and the athletic look
| ing doctor lost his bouquet and narrowly
| escaped a black eye and a broken nose.
1t was some time after 10 O'Clock when
the delegates gathered in the small hall on
| the second floor of Labor Temple, that is.
some of them. The balance were down on
| the sidewalk waiting. s. M. Fairchild.
chairman of the Populist county committee,
was one of those upstairs. The call for the
convention was read. and Captain
A. H. Nelson then moved that Mr.. Fairchild
be made temporary chairman. He put the
motion, and Mr.. Fairchild was declared
duly elected chairman, and took the chair.
THE TROUBLE BEGINS.
Then the trouble began. The fusionists
| in the hall were soon increased in number
by those outside. Everybody wanted to talk
at once, and the chairman was busy putting
before the convention a motion inStructing
| the chairman to appoint committee on
credentials. The noise, however, was so
great that the chair could not make him.
self heard. Finally F. N. Stacy succeeded
in raising his voice above the hubbub He
placed in nomination the name of G. A.
Westphal for temporary chairman. This
was seconded, and Stacy put the question
There were loud cries Of AYE" and few Of
mo- Mr.. Westphal was escorted to the
platform. The other chairman, Mr. Fair
child grabbed the chair and raised it over
| his head as though to strike anyone who
| would approach him. Someone grabbed him
| from behind, and then Westphal stepped
upon the platform.
Capt. Nelson sprang to the front and
seized Westphal by the coat, pulling him
| from the platform. Fairchild broke loose
with his chair raised in the air again, and
someone went after the police. Soon two
buecoats appeared in the doorway.
The wings of the dove Of peace f1uttered
once or twice. then the dove died, for peace
and PopuiStS were not for one another on
this occasion.
On they went, everyone talking, some
swearing, few of them hanging back and
laughing, and one or two timd ones the
window sills. ready to jump if the chairman
should escape with the chair still raised on
high.
PEACE AT LAST.
AS every storm is followed by its calm,
peace had to come at last, and a man with
q
effort, make himself heard A few of the
fusionists had conferred and decided to al
low Fairchild to continue in the chair as
temporary chairman.
When quiet was restored, the chairman
announced that the motion instructing him
to appoint a committee on credentials had
been put and carried Then came another
storm. A fusion delegate objected, decar-
ing the motion to be entirely out Of order,
as a secretary had not yet been appointed
4l,~ -kai, k;<,v,e
for secretary. and G. A. Westphal, the Sec
ond chairman, was duly elected. Then
Fairchild undertook to annunce the names
Of the committee on credentials. He had
them all prepared, and had read two or
three names when Thomas Chapman, a
nervous little man In the front Of the hail,
jumped to the platform and seized the slip
Of paper from the hand of the chairman
He crumpled it in his hand, threw it the
floor and stamped on it, and then with both
! fists went after DR.. Fay, who had inter-
fered.
Time was called by several delegates, Dr.
Fay was escorted to one corner of the room
and Chapman to the otner.
While this was going on, Chairman Fair
child had been induced to entertain motion
to the effect that the credentials committee
should be appointed by the ward and country
delegations, one from each ward and two
from the country. The previous motion
was then reconsidered, the substituted mo-
ton submitted and carried.
motion then made that COM
mittee on organization be appointed in the
same manner the credentials committee,
This the chair refused TO entertain, and
recess taken to allow the ward and
country delegates to select their committee
men, The committee was chosen, and at IL
o'clock the convention was again called to
order and a recess taken until l o'clock.
The committee on credentials consisted Of:
First ward, Patrick Callahan; Second ward.
H. ]. o. Reed; Third ward j. A. Temple;
Fourth ward. w. G. Thornton; Fifth ward.
r. p. Hoskyn; Sixth ward, F. w. Moss;
Seventh ward, M. L. Fosseen: Eighth ward,
D. w. Emery; Ninth ward, +. OBrien;
Tenth ward, l.. A. Weberg; Eleventh ward,
S. G. Snyder; Twelfth ward, F. N. Stacy;
Thirteenth ward. l. b. Farmer; country
George Ley, Maurice Luby.
TWO POLICEMEN THERE. @
There were two policemen in the hall
when Chairman Fairchild called the con-
vention to order shortly after l o'clock
yesterday afternoon.
Officer Fern occupied a seat on the edge Of
the platform, near the reporters table
and gave it out in unmistakable terms that
no chairs or heads would be broken as long
as he was there.
The committee on credentials was slow in
reporting, not having finished it's labors in
the time given it, When Chairman Fossen
of the committee, presented the report, it
was adopted with slight change.
was found that Capt. Nelson, the man who
| caused all the trouble in the forenoon, was
present by virtue of proxy received from
| a delegate elected from different district
! than that in which Nelson resided. The
; committee, therefore, refused to seat him.
! With slight change the report of the COM
mittee adopted.
| Paul Fontaine moved that representatives
| Of the Silver Republican and Democratic
parties, who were present, be heard by the
| convention. H. M. Parker, the Silver Re-
| publican representative, and c. B. Marvin,
| Of the Democrats, addressed the convention,
| saying that conference committees had been
! appointed by both parties. and asking that
the Peoples party do likewise. If COM
mittee was appointed it was asked to meet
| with the committees Of the other parties at
! 226 New York Life building. as soon as pos
| sible
After the speakers had been heard and it
was manifest that the two factions Of the
| convention could not further work together.
| delegate moved that the Hennepin county
| Populist convention adjourn sine die. The
! motion received two or three seconds. Chak-
| man Fairchild put the motion and declared
the motion carried. The noes were loud