The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1900-03-30
WHY THE GANG
ARE SORE!

ruled. "A delegate cOnVenUlOH Is not
different in this respect from a mass
convention or any other convention.
The State convention is a delegate
convention, and made up entirely OF
delegates from So counties. In that
convention no comfy is permitted to
act independently of the majority OF
the convention. What the majority
says, goes, and nobody ever questioned
the right of the majority of any con-
vention to pass npon all questions that
come before it.
The county delegate convention was
called to select 80 delegates ''for Logan
county" The call of the Congress
ional Committee was not for the Sc
lection of 80 delegates from the town
ships of Logan County, but from 'Lo-
gan county" The call of the County
committee was for convention of the
''Republicans of Logan County," and
the precincts were called upon to Sc
lect delegates to this ''County Conven-
tion."
When the delegates so selected, met
in that county convention, that con-
ventiOn had right to select delegates
to the Congressional convention in any
way that a majority of it might deter
mine. It'could have selected them by
appointing a committee of three, by
authorizing Col. Warnock to appoint
them; by constituting all persons dele
gates to the Congressional Convention
who would go; or by appointing a COM
mittee of one from each precinct to Sc
leet them. The precincts were all rep
resented by men chosen by them at
primaries, and whatever way major-
ity of those representatives decided,
was the work of those precincts. Con-
ventions have selected delegates in
Logan County in all these ways; and
where the conventions were fairly con-
Quoted and were chosen according to
the call, no one ever questioned the
manner of their selection. Every man
who has any intelligent knowledge of
political matters knows that these
things are true.
Saturday, the County Convention
was composed of delegates, and it adop-
ted a motion, on call of all the dele
gates from all the precincts, to appoint
a committee to select the Congress
sional delegates should be made up of
one member from each precinct-to
be chosen by the members of the pre-
cinct. That committee, by majority
vote, selected the 80 delegates to the
Congressional Convention, and its ac-
tion was ratified by majority of the
convention.
Nothing could be fairer. The con-
vention might have provided that each
precinct might select some of the dele
gates, but that would not have been
majority rule; it was not contemplated
in the call; it would have been minor
ity rule; and it would have been con-
trary to any precedent in this county,
or in any other county in the State.
This is Government of the people by
the majority, and the Convention acted
not only in accordance with all prece-
dent, but in accordance with the fun
dament a principle of our Government
rule.
But this did not suit the gang. They
had ruled the county and district by
mass conventions, trickery, the ap-
pointment of candidates and delegates
by all sorts of dishonest methods, and
now they hold up their dirty hands in
horror, because the people, by ma
jority vote of their delegate Conven
tion have chosen delegates to the Con-
gressional convention.
Like all others who are dishonest in
their professions, they show the hy
pocrisy of their pretensions by their
actions.
They clai m that the precincts should
have each selected its own delegates;
yet they recognized the right of ma
jOrity of the Convention to select by
other methods by voting to endorse
Judge Price of Lima, and give him the
right to select his own delegates. And
they also recognized the right of the
majority to act upon the question of
selecting Congressman, by all voting
| for Mr.. Kennedy's motion to endorse
Gen. Warnock's candidacy. If ma
jority of the Convention had right to
indorse Gen. Warnock, the majority
had a right to say who should go to
the Convention to vote for him..
All this cry of unfairness, made
against the action of Saturdays Con-
vention, comes from the gang-the
most unscrupulous gang that ever eX-
listed in Logan county-a gang that
is made up of men who have fattened
themselves by misrepresenting the
people, corrupting our primaries and
conventions, and living for years at
the public crib. They were there at
Saturdays Convention. The three
men who attempted to appoint Rep
resentative for Logan County: the men
who tried to do away with primary
elections; the men who packed mass
con ventions with Democrats; the men
who corrupted politics with Doodle and
/ Doodle methods; the men who wanted
Ayres nominated; the men who want
i Lybrand renOminated; the men who,
!! as far pack as 1884 tried to cheat Blaine
out of q renomipation. They were
there, either on the floor or in ths
gallery, and their object was TO divide
! ~ Io ~,