The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-20
MACHINE WAS In CONTROL
SELECTED AN EARLY DATE FOR
REPUBLICAN CONVENTION
Tams Bixby Finds Little Comfort as
q Member of the Minority of the
COmmfttee-His Suggestions Are
Spurned and His Appeal for n
Late Convention Turned Down
Suggestions for u. S. Senator.

David NJ. Clough may be all sorts of
a political chump, as some Of the Re-
publican party organs have Insisted,
but he has succeeded in forcing his
man Van SAINT on to the Republicans,
as far as the state central committee
of that party is concerned.
The committee met yesterday after
noon at the Windsor hotel and demon
strated in one short round that the
anti-machine people were not within
shooting distance of controlling the
body for anything. They were beat out
on every proposition they made, and
those of them who were in the Man
kato conference as against Clough were
either very sfNaepish and willing to take
their medicine, or loud in their prom
ises of boiling in case Van SAINT was
nominated. They won't, though-won't
bolt. They'll take it, and some of them
were anxious to call on the governor,
as soon as the meeting was over, and
make their peace.
Tams BiXby, who pulled Clough
through in the fall of '96, was sat down
upon just as though he never had cut
any more figure in the councils Of the
palSy than Col. Wade does. He was
in the lead of the opposition, and he
hardly got a respectful hearing.
The trial of strength came immedi-
a.tely after Chairman Warner called
the meeting to order. There was but
one member absent.
Dan She'll started matters by moving
that the state convention be held in
st. Paul on June 80.
Tams BiXby wanted to amend, max
Ing the date July Is, and he appealed
to the committee to make the campaign
short one and give the poor men a
chance to get into the game. No poor
man could afford to take a nomination
in the face of such long campaign.
Lemuel Pyrites Hunt, of Mankato,
supported the amendment of Bixby,
and when he got through talking they
took a vote and sat down on the OPP
position by a vote Of 10 to 9.
Just by way of keeping up a front
the opposition didn't want to agree to
the slate date for the county conven-
tons for the election of delegates to
Vthe state convention. Mr.. Hunt again
protested, and the date was changed
from June 20 to June %. That was the
only crumb of comfort given Mr. Blk
by.
In the matter Of apportionment the
machine proposition of one delegate for
every 260 was agreed to. Fred Schiff-
mann ironically begged the committee
to base the apportionment on the vote
cast for Clough, instead Of that given
TO Mckinley. He wanted the sturdy
Republicans of Ramsey county to be
recognized in this manner. He was
scoffed at, and the apportionment fixed
on the Mckinley vote, with five dele
gates-at-large for each county-mak-
ing a convention OF 1 lib members.
Tams Bixby had a form for call
which covered UP woodchuck in the
form of a clause requiring the voters
at the primaries to agree on a candi-
date for the United States senate.
Somebody discovered the woodchuck
and there was some momentary alarm.
Mr.. Bixby explained that there was
only one candidate and that was Sena-
tor Davis. The move disarmed the op-
position to Davis, for they did not dare
to show their hands, and after Mr..
Schiffmann had told them that the
move would be a bad one, citing the ex-
perience Of Senator Hanna to prove it,
the call was adopted including the