The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-02-19
ALL ONE WAY.
Little Doubt About Result of
Populist Conference.
VIII Favor Maintaining the
Party Organization.
TWO FACTIONS THERE.
One Wants to Be Divorced From
Democrats.
The Other FavOrS Uniting to
Fight Republicans.

The vanguard of the Pppulists who
will come to Topeka to attend the con-
ference on Friday to decide the future
of their party will reach Topeka tomor-
row afternoon. Senator Harris is ex-
pected to arrive from Washington at
that time, a number of the members of
the state committee will be here, and
some of the men who have special
schemes which they wish to engineer
through the conference.
Secretary Curran, of the state COM
mittee, has SO far heard from sixty
counties which have elected delegates
to the conference. These sixty counties
are those in the more populous portion
of the state and they have about three
hundred OF. the 435 delegates in the con-
Vention. This indicates a lively interest
in the matters in hand, as il is unusual
for such a large number of delegations
to send in reports ahead of the time
they come to attend the convention.
The sentiment of the delegates is
practically unanimous in favor of keep
ing up the Peoples party organization
whether ticket is put into the field or
not. 1t is on the question of voting
with the Democrats under the Demo-
cratic name that the trouble will come.
The element which is headed by
Chairman Ridgley, John W. BreidenthaI
and others of the oId-tine leaders who
are not looking for spoils, will work for
resolution instructing the state COM
mittee to proceed with the calling of a
state nominating convention and it will
ignore the Democratic invitation en-
tirely. Another element, headed by
Jerry Simpson, Andrew Shearer and
others, will want the conference to ad-
wise the rank and file to vote the Dem
ocratic ticket. Still another element
will want to endorse the plan proposed
by George w. Hanna, of Clay county,
which is understood to be the idea SEN
ator Harris favors, that of both parties
maintaining their organizations but unit
ing on a common ticket to be placed
on the official ballot by petition under a
name acceptable to both parties and
composed of nominees of both Populists
and Democrats.
The members of the state committee
will probably hold an informal meeting
tomorrow evening to outline the pro-
gramme for the conference, and 1t IS
likely that there will be numerous eau
cuses of the leaders who favor different
propositions.
been instructed by the home conven-
tions to vote for the preservation of the
party organization, the majority have
been left free to use their best judgment
regarding the invitation of the Demo-
cratic state central committee to come
into the Democratic party. The idea is
to see if there is not some practical plan
of fusion to which the Democrats will
agree.
No matter what may be the action cf
the conference there will be many MEM
bers of the Populist party who will go
into the Democratic ranks, and there
will be many more who will refuse to go
in, no matter how strongly the confer
ence recommends it
The idea with some of the d-time
leaders of the party is to maintain the
organization until the time is ripe for
an organization embodying the undyinG
principles of the Populist party under a
new name. They say that time is bound
to come some time, and there is little
hope of success until it does come. Few
believe that the Populist party under
the name it has at present will ever
again attain to the power it has been IN
the past.