The Florence tribune., 1900-09-29
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

per Era gives the dearest account of the democratic imbroglio that we have yet seen:
 The Democratic Convention which met at Phoenix last week to nominate a candidate for delegate to congress was unfortunate in it's agreement as to who should be the sta ndard bearer at the coming election, and the de- plorable result of ''split" was the outcome, wherein both Mark Smith and Col. Wilson were nominated by their respective factions. These two gentlemen had made friendly can vass of the territory and when the con vention met it showed Smith had clear majority of twenty-two. The trouble arose in Maricopa county, which had declared for Smith by very decisive majority at the primaries and county convention. At the latter Smith had sixteen majority on organi- zation and thirty-three delegates were then and there chosen to the Terri torial Convention and instructed to vote for Smith. Not one word of protest against the action of the con- vention was heard at that time and the Wilson men who were in the county convention remained to the end and participated in all of it's de Alterations, such as organization, the selection of thirty-three territorial delegates, the nominating of a full county ticket and selection of county Central Committee. How they could, three days after, bolt and trump up eontesting delegation, God only knows, but they did and it was done by -four men only" three from Phoenix and one from Tucson, who, in dark room, on dark night, by the light of dark lantern, gave Arizona democracy the deepest stab it has ever received. There was never a time when these bolters had any standing, and no claim was ever made that they were legal. Yet, Col. Wilson is the nominee of this dark lantern proceeding and has ac- cepted the nomination thus rendered him. He had hundreds of friends in | Arizona few weeks ago who would have scorned the idea of his accepting such a nomination. But alas they are friends no more. Honest men can never endorse such methods. Contrast the two men. When proposition was made to Mark Smith to contest Yavapai county in the same way that l Maricopa was contested he waved it to one side, saying: 'No, if l cannot get the nomination fairly and honestly l will not have it at all." And no one can honestly say be has not so received it. Having a clear majority of twenty two of the legally elected delegates no other conclusion could be logically reached by any honest man. Yet, to give these bolting Maricopa delegates a chance to present and force their claims, a conference committee of three from each side was appointed, with power to choose a seventh man and for three days the committee was in session reviewing the case in all it's l phases, but no agreement could ever | be reached. At no time during the con vention did any of the Wilson men deny that the records of the Maricopa county primaries and county conven- tion were not legal, straight and just. To have done so they would have said: ''Our part in nominating a county ticket is all wrong and the ticket is tainted with corruption" This they could not well do, after having helped to create the ticket. The burden of their song was, five must beat Mark Smith" and they resorted to the dirt fest of political methods to do it. But l they failed in their efforts to defeat him in the convention, so they bolted in order that they might carry out their methods, regardless of the con- sequence to the party.