The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-16

Inc hight, which is to come today. be-
tween the fusion element and the md
readers at the meeting of the state
central committee of the Populists In
Minneapolis, is growing warm. and il
now promises to be almost a draw
great deal depends upon what action
!he committee takes upon a proxy that
Is sald TO be in the possession of Iena
tlts Donnelly, who is not himself q
member of the committee If Mr.. DON
heily Is admitted the committee NAV
stand even up on the proposition Of an
early convention. But as Mr.. DouneIIv
mas no say as to his own standing upon
the committee, 1t is probable that he
may be turned down.
Last night the fusionists were all in
a hutter. They had heard that Chair
man Gibbs was coquetting with the
| iEld-rcaders, and they also heard that
he was to have a conference with Dom
nelly and his cohorts. In order to head
OH this meeting Mr. Gibbs was sent out
10 dlne last evening with Senator But
Ter, With the understanding that he was
10 return in time to confer with Messrs
boWler, Lynch and others at the West
motel at $50 o'clock. Messrs. Gibbs and
Butler returned at the appointed time.
out the former gentleman slipped aWav
readers. When this was known as a
TACT no time was lost in sending a
committee after the recreant chairman
to bring him back to the West hotel.
The committee went direct to the
windsor and found their worst suspic
IONS verified. Gibbs was there and so
was Donnelly. What happened there
no one knows save those present. but
the committee soon returned to the
West hotel with Mr. Gibbs in the'r COM
peny.
This feeling of suspicion toward
Chairman Gibbs is very pronounced
among the adherents of fusion. and
they make no bones of classifying the
chairman among the mid-roaders. al
though they hope he may be brought
tc see the error of his ways and act
with them.
The state central committee is COM
posed of tWenty-one members, or three
from each congressional district. and
of that number the fusiOnists admit that
the following nine gentlemen are mid
readers: T. j. Meighen, A. f. Rudolph.
II. A. Swain, II. V. POore, e. w. Bon
ham, j. w. Lydiard, David Cochran.
Lewis Hanson and Dr. Chris Johnson
Inasmuch as the strength of mid
readers Is admitted by their opponents.
II is more than possible that there are
others who may be added to the list.
one OF the committee is out Of the
state, and that leaves the committee
but tWenty-one members. Thus 1t can
be seen, If Ignatius Donnelly is admit
ted upon a proxy, it would give the
mld-road element ten votes or one
half
rms plain statement of the standing
of the committee shows that. If Mr.
Donnelly is admitted today, it will onlv
be after the hottest kind of a fight.
senators Marion Butler and Frederic
dubois arrived in Minneapolis yester-
| day morning over the Wisconsin Cen
tral, instead of the ST Louis road as
mad been arranged by the local recep-
! tlon committee, and in consequence
there was repetition of the fiasco
which attended the arrival Of Mr. Bry
an last month, though the local peopIe
were not at all to blame in the mat
| ter, there being a misunderstanding
winch could not be corrected In time
| Consequently, the two gentlemen wend-
ed their way to the West hotel unat-
| tended, and were seated at the break,
IaSt table when the committee discOv-
cred their whereabouts.
The coming of William Jennings
Bryan, which had been announced bv
an Associated Press dispatch, was free
~ discussed, but was not believed by
the party leaders, inasmuch as Mr.
Bryan had not been invited to partici-
pate AT a late hour no word had
been received from Bryan, and his
coming was not considered a possibiI-
! lty. a story was current that the To-
cal silver Republicans had taken II
upon themselves to ask Mr.. BRYAN to
De present, but it cOuld not be verified.
The Populists were chary of touching
upon the subject, as it was generally
considered by them to be sOmethinp
which it would be good politics for
them to avoid, because, as they stat
ed, or the appearance it would give
or turning the demonstration into n
| Democratic gathering. They would nnt
wire to Lincoln to discover the truth
OF the report, saying that, If Mr.. BRYAN
| did come, 1T would be 50 much to the
| good and dfspensation of Providence
But, if he did not come, they would
| nave nothing with which to repr0ach
themselves. Senator Butler declared
that he knew nothing of any attempt
! to secure Bryan'S presence and Mr.
Dubois expressed equal ignorance.
Therefore, if the young Nebraskan
does arrive this morning it will be not
because Of any invitation received from
those having charge of the meeting.
telegram was received from John
| Lind late in the evening saying that
he could not be present, but it had a
postscript saying that he would wire
! again this morning and might be i'm
| the city in time for the evening meet
! ings. Accordingly the committee will
| leave his name upon the programme
| Mr.. Dubois also received a telegram
| from Congressman Hartman dated
| Washington, in which he stated that
his physician had promised to get him
to Chicago Wednesday morning. and
that he would wire from there today.
| 1t is thought he will be present.
After Messrs. Butler, Weaver and
/ Dubois had breakfasted, they were
w. K. Hicks and in company with
Messrs. Dobbyn and Lynch were taken
in carriages to the South Side high
school, where each of the three ad-
dressed the scholars briefly.
The arrangements for today's meet
ings are unchanged from yesterdays
announcements. The meeting Of the
general committees will be called to
order at o'clock at Labor temple by
Chairman Gibbs. This meeting will be
open to all and will be addressed by
Senator Butler. The senator will also
read an address sent out from Wash
ington yesterday by the national com
mittee, which apepars in another col
unn.
At o'clock the state central COM
mittee Is scheduled to meet at the
Windsor hotel, and 1T is expected that
here that the real fight will come off.
and, if possible, the fusionists will
make it open to all, that their op-
ponents may be placed upon record. At
! least, that is what they say.
At 1915 Senator Butler and eX-Sen-
ator Dubois are expected to address the
students al the state university.