Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1902-08-27
MERGERS GAME IS BLOCKED
Blaokburn's Joint Committee Encounters
Some Stubborn Legal Propositions.
INTEREST NOW IN SATURDAYS MEETING
Majority Proposes that County Conn
mittee Shall Take Control of Pri-
maries, Rs it is Required
to DO by Law.

The Mercer Blackburn Joint committee.
which attempted Illegally to absorb the
rights and powers Of the county committee
last Saturday, hesitates to proceed with
the game mapped out for It. While Mr.
Blackburn, who appears to be the whole
thing in the joint committee, Just as he is
In the congressional committee, processes
to be In position to carry out his original
plans for controlling the county primaries,
II is plain to be seen that he realizes that
he has overreached himself. for he wants
now to talk of compromise with the ma
tority OF the county committee who have
called another meeting for next Saturday.
Mr.. Blackburn's joint committee, with
several absentees, met twice yesterday, but
transacted no business. indicating that the
Mercer managers feel the illegal ground
that is under them. During the day they
conferred with Z. J. Cornish and w. j.
Connell, and expressed their willingness to
make concessions IL some arrangement
could be made to have a part of their pro-
gram, as started East Saturday, carried out.
At the conferences yesterday Mr.. Cor
nish and Mr.. Connell discussed the legal
phases of the situation with a clearness
that left no room for doubt as to the county
committees right to name the primary
election officers, select the polling places
and apportion the delegates from this
county to the congressional convention
among the political divisions of the county.
1t was also shown clearly that the county
committee has no authority in law to sur
render the control Of the primaries to a
subcommittee, even Of its own creation.
James H. Van Dusen, the author of the
primary election law. was quoted as say
ing that "the intent of the law was to
safeguard the rights of the individual
voters by permitting them, through their
direct representatives on the county COM
mttee, to control their own primaries"
Furthermore Mr.. Van Dusen Is authority
for the statement that the law does not
contemplate the delegation of the work of
the county committee to any small frac-
tion thereof, which would not be directly
representative OF each and every political
division of the county.
Blackburn is Anxious.
While in interviews Mr.. Blackburn con-
tends that the meeting of the county COM
mittee called for next Saturday would be
ignored by his Joint committee he is dis
playing great anxiety as to the probable
action of next Saturdays meeting and was
ready to discuss terms upon which his
faction might enter the meeting. He was
told that the majority Of the county COM
mittee had come to understand that their
action of last Saturday was clearly illegal
and the purpose Of next Saturdays meet
ing was merely to correct the error that
had been made. The coming meeting had
been called for the purpose of selecting
judges and clerks and polling places and
assuming general supervision of the pri-
maries in Douglas county by the Douglas
county committee as a whole, in compH-
ance with the plain provisions of the law.
While the right of the congressional COM
mittee to make the apportionment of dele
gates among the subdivisions OF the county
was denied 1t was said by Mr.. Cornish and
members of the county committee that
there was no disposition to make an ap-
portionment different from that already an
nounced by the Mercer congressional COM
mittee.
The assertion of Mr.. Blackburn that the
meeting Of next Saturday had not been
legally called, because Chairman Goss had
not even been consulted" was not given
serious consideration. "It is absurd" said
a member of the county committee, Ito
assume that the created is greater than
the creator. AS a matter OF fact. Mr.. Goss
was out of the city when the call was pre-
pared, but even II he had been here a ma
jority of the committee would have had
the same right to call a meeting without
his acquiescence. Do you suppose that IL
the president of a bank should die, or dis
appear, the board of directors would be
powerless to meet and continue the busi-
ness?"
Mr.. Blackburn's claim that the necessary
FIVE days notice of the meeting had not
been given is met by the fact that the call
was issued and mailed to every member
of the committee on the 25th, Just six days