The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-03-01

mons w. E. Johnston. ]. G. Nicholson.
| H. F. Toevs, P. NJ. Hoisington, G. w.
| Kanavel. Robert Dougherty, Avery
Ainsworth, w. 7. Dillman and NJ. Har-
r. P. McCulloch. Senator T. A. Nostz-
ger, D. T. Hurst. E. S. Semple, James
| Gillespie, c. E. Denton, S. c. Labauch
and James Glover.
There are county conventions in ses-
sion today electing delegates TO the
state convention All but four of them
are in the Seventh district. These four
| are Woodson, johnson, Douglas. and
Coffey. Those in the Seventh district
are: Mcpherson. Kingman, Edwards,
Stafford, Wichita. Sumner. Pawnee,
Kearney, Seward, Barber, Finney, Bar
ton, eMade. Lane. Ness Next week
there will be seven: Usage, Pottawato-
mic, Linn. Cherokee. Thomas, Lyon
Montgomery, with Shawnee coming the
following Monday. There will probably
be others next week in the Seventh dis
trict which have not yet reported. Tie
majority of those in the Third. Fifth
and Sixth districts will not be held for
several weeks.
Hutchinson will be the gratifying ground
Of the candidates and politicians this
week on account of the Seventh district
convention which meets there on Well
neSday to renominate Congressman
Long. 1t is probable that majority OF
the candidates for governor will be there
other places. There will be little inter
est in the congressional convention it
Self-it will all be in the contests for
state offices outside of the convention.
The Mcpherson county convention to-
day will record another defeat for A
w. Smith-that is, if Smiths name is
mentioned a all. In the primaries held
on Thursday it was hardly evident that
Smith was running for anything, yet he
aspired to be candidate for the Re
publican gubernatorial nomination. At
the same time Frank Nelson wanted the
endorsement of Mcpherson county for
state superintendent. 1t was useless for
both to ask for endorsements, so it be-
came a contest between them, and Nell
son won everything. A dispatch from
Mcpherson concerning the primaries
says: Smith says that the fight in
this county was one of the hardest ever
made with the chances against him
from the start. Every newspaper in
the county, he said, was supporting Mr..
Nelson. Simpson and every county
officer was backing him. 1t was also
given out here by Mr.. Simpson that
Long and Burton We're both support
ing Nelson, all of which made an ire
sistible combination. Continuing, Mr..
Smith stated that Thursday morning he
returned to his home and Immediately
the report was industriously circulated
throughout the county that he had
withdrawn from the race and conse-
quently many of his friends, hearing
of the report, refrained from going to
the primaries.
Smith is naturally a good man. Ten
years ago he was at the head of the
Republican party in Kansas. He was
nominated for governor and received
the highest vote ever cast for Repub-
ican candidate, but he was defeated
by Lewelling. The trouble with him is
that officeseeking has become chronic
with him, and the people of his own
county are tired of being asked to al
ways be supporting him for something
or other. He has aspired not only to
high state offices, but even to a cabinet
position In 1896 Smith had his plans
laid to capture the Republican nominal
ton to the legislature from Mcpherson
county. He expected to be nominated
and elected, and then intended to cap
sture the speakership of the house. With
the patronage of this position he ex-
pected to be able, to land either the
agricultural portfolio in McKinley's
cabinet or at least United States SEN
ator. These were the plans he had
laid and which he confided to his
friends, but he fell down in his own
county. He was defeated for the legis-
lative nomination by Eli Williams, who
affiliated with the Populists after he
came to the legislature If Smith had
supported his friends occasionally in
stead of always asking them to sup
port him he would doubtless have been
a power in Kansas politics today in
stead of being unable to control his
home county.