The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-03-31
.RROI ER. ACK.ERl.
THE RECENT REPUBLI-
CAN CONVENTION On.
he Charges The Lewis fsction Wit, In
siiesties end Planning The
Assssit.

-
County and the State OF Virginia:
Inasmuch as there was convention
held at Harrisonburg, Va. on the nth
day. of March. 1900. OF the, Republicans 0:
Rockingham County, for the purpose Of
e1ecting delegates to the Republican State
Convention. which meets in the City OF
Norfolk on the 10Th day OF April, 1907, 4
and clecting delegates 10 the Congress
sional Convention, which meets at Front
ROYAL on he Sd day Of April. 1900: and
.inasmuch as said convention at Harrison
burg resulted in riotous and unlawful
conduct on the part Of cert ain members
of said convention and their adherents,
and various 1nslcad ding statements have
been circulated as to swha ranspired on
that occasion. I deem IT proper In vindt-
ation or myself and the gentlemen who
are in sylnpat thy with me, to make 1.-THE
following statement:
The convention was called to order by
Mr. Chas M. * eezcl, the County Chair
man. He selected as tellers the Rev. A.
p Funkhouser and Mr.. NJ. B. Lewis. IN
der the rules as announced by the State
Committee. Mr. Kcczcl. the County CHAR
man, called the convention to order, and
after reading the roll Of delegates as Ger
titled to him from the various precincts,
announced that nominations were In order.
for the election Of a temporary Chairman
Of the convention DR.. ]. b. Webb was
placed in nomination by what IS known
as the Lewis faction" I was placed IN
nomination by Mr.. j. W. Lie3uty, OF
Bridgewater Thereupon Mr.. l:eeze, the
County Chairman. proceeded to call the
roll Of delegates as certified to him from
the various precincts ofsinc comfy. ana
upon the completion of the Toll-cai!, ana
before Chairman Keezel. " Swt:onlEi It was
the duty Of the tellers to report tha'r.
count. and before MIR. Funkhouse!.s one 81
the tellers, could report his count TO me
chairman, Mr. N. B. Lewis, the other
teller, a son CT Mr. ID. S. Lewis. the lead
ser of the Lewis faction, without deisn-
ing to report to the chairman the count
arose from his seat. and with his hands
over his head and a the top of his voice,
approached the front Of the stage and an
nounced: Webb 35, Acker 50. We have
got them: which was not true. md
which statement was Immediately contra
dicted by the chairman, who announced
that Hon. John Acker was elected chair
man ofgthe convention. The vote was
40 for Acker and 416 for Webb, as shown
by the official report of the convention.
Immediately upon the announcement so
made by Chairman 1<eezel, that$1 was
elected temporary chairman of the con-
rention, proceeded to the platform TO
take the chair. but before could address
any remarks 70 the convention wa &V1o-a
lcntly and felonious!y@ assaulted, being
knocked down not only by the fists OF
the opposing faction. but also by clubs
and other dangerous weapons. and for a
while rendered unconscious. After being
taken from the stage and administered
to by a physician, l was at length ena-5
bled TO preside over the convention,
though still bleeding.
The Lewis faction having in the mean
while, before l was able to take the chair
by reason of the injuries inflicted upon
me. taking the advantage Of my being
thus incapacitatcd, had proceeded to in
stall DIR. Webb rs their chairman. and
appointed their committee on credentials,
when /. though still bleeding from the
wounds ] had received, assumed the chair
upon the same platform, and proceeded
with the convention as prescribed in the
official report he1einbefore referred to,
whilst the chairman Of the Lewis faction
and his adherents were going through the
form Of holding a convention on another
portion of the stage. The convention, as
presided over by me, ana as certified as
above stated under the organization OF
the party, as announced by the State
Committee. could only be considered to
be the regular and lawful convention of
the party in the County of Rockin CHAM
for the purposes for which it was assem-
bled. The action Of Mr.. NJ. B. Lewis,
one Of the tellers appointed by the chair.
in recording the vote otherwise than as
announced by the chairmn n, and the ac-3
ton of the Lewis faction In not waiting
for the announcement Of the County
Chairman, s to result Of the vote upon
the roll-call under the certified list OF dele
gates. or waiting until all Of the precincts.
Of the county had been certified to the
chairman and been voted upon. and the
action Of; their adherents In rushing upon
the stage and attacking, and Tor time
incapacitating me- from acting as chair
man Of the meeting. showed a predeter-e
mined purpose not TO abide by the re-
turns from the precincts but to control
the meeting without regard to conse-a
a,lences, or, as expressed by one5nfstheir4
active adherents on that occasion, t hat
they intended to control that meeting il
they had to wade through blood 10 do
So
MY injuries received on that occasion
have been such as to prevent me, until
to-day, from giving any statement to the
public as TO the occurrences on the said
18th day OF March. 1900. and the 1sepubii-f
can Convention held in Harrisonburg. I
deeply regret that any Republican Con-
yention should have been characterized
by such lawlesSness, and that any gentle
men claiming to be members Of the party
TO which ] belong should be SO far obli-
vious to their oblisat atoms as citizens of
the State Of. Virginia and the United
States as to be guilty Of conduct. which
II have this day felt it my duty as a citi-
&C. to swear out warrants against them
fo1 elonious assaults; yet, still as a
xna tier OF duty to myself and as a citi-@
zen, n nave thought it proper to place
my vindication and the vindication Of
the public peace. as well. in the hands of
the proper officers. and leave it to them
to determine whether I and my followers
who were in that convention assembled,
and at all times during the proceedings
Of the convention were e.;er actuated by
any other purpose than 10 give expression.
to the opinion Of the Republican voters
Of Rockingham County. as certified
through the5sproper officials. I never
dreamed OF attacking any person or per-
sons whatever. or of being attacked, but
the conduct Of my adversaries. as exein-
.pltfied by the fact that none of them
were injured. but that only and my
friends were injured, and that there Is
no charge against either me or my friends
for any violation of the law and that
my adversaries Immediately after the
vote by the said NJ. 3. Lewis. jumped
.upon the stage from every accessible