The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-10-28
AADE A B)ICH Of /
William Grimes on Manage
ment of Nefs Campaign.
REAL LEADERS IGNORED
And Little Pop-Gun ineffective
Tactics INDUCED In.

cause it has tendency to persuade some
Of your partisans to remain at home in
the idea that they are not needed but
feel perfect safety in saying that Dennis
Flynn will be reelected in the territory
by as large if not larger majority than
Two years ago. OF course you under
stand that Dennis Flynn's majority was
5000 in 1898 II 1t is 5000 this year the
victory viii be much greater. The reas-
on for this is that in 1898 there was
short vote. In the election Of 1895 there
were in round numbers cast in the terri
tory $1,000 votes. In 1893 when Flynn was
elected there were cast 1900 votes. or
5000 votes short Flynn in 1898 had his
vote out The other side did not A
large part of it was stay-at-home. Now
in this year in case of complete vote If
Flynn gets 5000 majority the showing will
ne remarkable, and as I said in the be-
ginning 1 expect him to get either that
or larger, for there is a silent vote which
may make his majority beyond the big
Eest estimates"
What kind of a campaign has Flynn
snade?"
Altogether a fine campaign I be-
lieve he is working too hard. His sus-
tained effort the campaign does not
Justify, for he knows as well as 1 do that
he is going to be elected"
Have you heard anything of the effect
of Neffs campaign
Il will tell you how Neff is best de-
scribed. He has his lines well. That
tells the whole story. He has one speech,
a speech as inelastic and stiff as a stone
wall. It doesn't modify itself to cir
cumstances. isn't easy or graceful.
doesn't inform any one and is merely a
parrot-like song to the prejudices of his
hearers. Fifteen minutes of his speech
is given over to abuse of Flynn. He
doesn't touch upon a territorial issue ex-
cept it includes an attack on his oppon-
ent- 1t is not an effective speech; to a
people living in a formative territory with
engrossing problems relating wholly to
themselves and their communities II
lacks everything that interests the So
Der, intelligent Oklahoman..
But notwithstanding that, Neff is not 1
all to blame for his sorry campaign. 1t
is his territorial committee which would
bring tears to the eyes of a tyrant.
Neff's territorial committee under the
leadership of Mr. Taylor, is about the
weakest, fiabbiest ineffective thing that
ever appeared before the Oklahoma pub
lie 1t is so small and peanutish in its
workings that the big brainy men of the
fusion forces in the territory refuse to
cooperate with it,
And right here" continued Mr..
Grimes, Il want to tell the fusion forces
of Oklahoma something That is this.
80 long as they put into leadership of
their campaigns men who cannot gather
around them the big brainy men of their
parties, just so long will they lose. What
was the result when they placed one of
their heavy weights in charge in 1896
They got Virgil Hobbs as chairman and
he gathered about him every big brainy
leader in the parties and they beat Dem
MS Flynn with a weak candidate, Gala
han. Do you think today that Tavlor
would consult with Virgil Hobbs? Oh
no, Taylor is too busy sending out little
pop-gun circulars. which he hasn't the
courage to publish in his party news
papers, circulars which he expects to get
into the hands of people too slow to take
a newspaper. He is working with that
element. and forgetting that the wav 10
win campaign is to appeal, not TO fg-
norance. but TO intelligence. The other
day Taylor put out circular in Wash
tia county telling the people of Cordel
that Dennis Flynn was working for Clou6
Chief for county seat and would have
the county seat changed to that city
Flynn has satisfied the people out there
that this is a lie OF course ANYBODY
but man who was too far behind 10
take a newspaper would know that Con-
gress has nothing TO do with changing
county seats
But that is Taylor's tactics all over.
little. picayunish. pop-gun tactics. What
do you suppose natural fusion leaders in
the territory think of this kind of a cam.
paign, men like J. W johnson OF Oklaho-
ma county; Bob Forrest and 7. F. Hens
ley of FL Reno; J. L. Isenberg Cromwell
Colonel Denton Of Garfield county; Leslie
Ross OF Cleveland. Pat Nagle, ex-regigter
SPillman and ex-Chairman Hobbs of
kinstisher county and scores Of other "
What do you consider. Mr.. Grimes
the strongest element IN the whole cam
paign?"
The sincerity of purpose in Dennis
Flynn. Let me explain that. In his
.
doubted Dennis Flynn. To them. and
that includes a whole lot of Republicans
as well as PopGlists. that free homes
proposition sounded visionary, but the
young man was so much in earnest that
they decided 10 let him take a whirl at #
After his first attempt he came back and
told them how near he had come to it
Over half the people in Oklahoma de-
cided that perhaps little Dennis could
really do it. But party majority de-
Gated him by a narrow margin. HIS sue
cess0r did nothing. had nothing 10 ten
when he returned home, no effort 10 re-
count. Dennis was out again however
in the same. strong sincere strain. beg
ging for chance 10 try II again. SIN
hundreds, being those who voted for him
because they liked his enthusiasm. &c /
lleved he was visionary. And thew sent
him back The night that the news came /
into oklahoma that free homes was n
lax. hundreds of settlers could not be- |
lieve their ears at first. They AN knew
that Dennis was trying to do an almost /
S1nOossibie thing, bat that he had nna9v 1
done 81. stunned them And now today
they do not look upon him as insineere. 4
visionary or a dreamer The great ma /
jority OF people regard him as 10. the |
most sincere. outspoken man on the /
stump IN America today"
1T is a strange thing in politics that |
a man who has met the charge of in |
sincerity so often should be tire most |
o1tspoken: and that the man who wa, |
called visionary. should turn out the |
quickest little bundle OF practically in |
tie American congress, and that believe |