The Topeka state journal., 1899-11-22
KICKED OUT.
Secretary Upton of POpuIist
Committee DepOsed.
Used His Position In Interest
of Breidenthal.
RIDDLE WAS SAVED.
Marked For Slaughter His Sup
plicatiOns Won Mercy.
United With Ants to Help
Down His Co. Worker.

Taylor Riddle was reelected chair
man of the Populist state committee
last night because he got down on his
knees and begged to be retained but he
accomplished the removal of w. T. Tip
ton from the office of secretary because
he was working for John Breidenthal
for governor.
If the walls at the National hotel
room where Riddle held his seances
could tell what transpired yesterday af-
ternoOn, it would be a thrilling story Of
supplications offered up by Riddle to
the members Of the committee in his
own behalf. Riddle put up the job to
dethrOne Upton, affected innocence and
then with tears starting from his hon
est eyes threw himself upon the mer-
cies of the committeeman and pleaded
for a prolOngatiOn of his official life on
the committee.
Mr.. Riddle denies that he INDUCED in
any such childish actions but members
of the committee declare that he did
all that is charged against him and add
that Riddles voice was tremulOus and
pathetic in the extreme while he was
exerting its soothing powers on the
committeeman. Riddles plan worked
but he did not breathe easily until the
danger line was passed and the thirst
for gore seemed in measure satisfied,
a condition which prevailed when Tip
tons removal was effected and the
committee proceeded to the cOnsidera-
ton of other business.
COlllnlII66 seems
to have been inspired secretly. Leading
POpulists are angry because they were
not notified and given an opportunity
to be present. Their desire was to make
a big showing of workers but the fact
that the meeting was one planned on
the quiet brought but a small number
of gentlemen not members of the COM
mittee to the city.
Riddle denies responsibility for the
removal of Upton. 1t is charged, as a
subterfuge apparently, that Upton is
incompetent. 1t is further alleged that
IlptOn IS arbitrary and inclined to run
things in accordance with his own
ideas. It is also charged by Riddle that
Upton will not permit other men to
submit schemes for campaign work;
! that he insists upon using his own plans
and unless his suggestions are adopted,
sulks and refuses to play.
One of the prominent members of the
committee was asked by a Journal re-
porter last night for an opinion of Mr..
Riddles standing. The reply was quick
~ given, as follows:
Riddle if anything is more incoul-
petent than Upton. Re knows X5Ah-
ing of the local conditions in the var
ious counties and can not manage the
affairs of the committee in any of it's
departments. He will be removed at the
next state convention. We must have
a man who has ability in the campaign
next fall"
Mr.. Riddle denies responsibility in
the removal of Upton, yet he named
Carl VrOOman, ex-senator Shearer of
Marshall county and B. Logan of Usage
county as a committee on reOrganiza-
tiOn Of the committee. These men are
aVOwed enemies of Upton. They
planned the removal of Upton and Mr.
VrOOman through H. D. Clarke of Law
renee, presented it to the committee
last night. It was upon motion made
by him that Upton was removed and
A. H. Curran of Parsons elected to sue
ceed him. Curran is a newspaper man.
but is now employed in the NJ. K. & T.
offices at Parsons.
VrOOman has not made his grievances
public. The other two men have been
talking. Shearer was put on the execu-
tive committee in place of Grant Har-
ringtOn of HiaWatha last year. Upton
did not remember the change and in
sending out notices of committee meet
ingS notified Harrington who was chair
man of the committee on campaign
literature. In this way Shearer was
not informed of the committee meet
ings. He got mad about it and was
revenged last night for the manner in
which he claims to have been ignored.
Last year Upton charged Bert
Logan with not having properly ac-
counted for all monies collected by
him as an officer of the Usage county
central committee. Logan was also re-
venged last night.
Despite Riddles denial of response
bility the friends of Upton charge that
Riddle moved secretly in naming three
of TiptOn's bitter personal enemies to
'reorganize" the committee and they
further charge that Riddle saved his
own scalp by tacitly cooperating in
the ousting of Upton. Added to this
were Mr.. Riddles tears which saved
him from picking along with the secre-
tary-
The other feature of Tipton's removal
his friendship for Breidenthal has sew
eral phases. Upton was not aware of
the effort to remove him until a few
days ago. In Kansas City where he
now lives z. B. Pfost, an office seeker,
said just as it is here recorded
''TiptOn, you have got to get out of
the Office Of SECRETARY of the commit
tee because you are working for Breid-
enthal. If he is nominated and elected
Upton then wrote to one of his
friends on the committee inQuiring as
to the report that he was to be re-
moved. The reply was truthful that
they knew nothing of such move
ment. The friends of Upton on the
committee had not been notified The
scheme to get rid of him had been
worked too cautiously to be detected.
Only TiptOn's enemies had been noti-
fed. When NrOOman presented the
proposition to remove Upton there
were but two dissenting votes: Grant
Harrington of HiaWatha and Judge W
J Babb of Wichita. The remaining ten
members of the committee voted to
Oust Upton and efforts on the part of
Harrington and Judge Babb to smoke
motives for the purpose of making a
record for future reference failed. H.
s Clarke of Lawrence and Carl VroO-
man of Parsons handled the work be-
fore the committee. The other members
voted as Clarke and VrOOman planned
The committeeman deny that Upton
was removed because he has been
working for BreidenthaL Yet. the man
who was the loudest in declamations OF
this character said to Journal report