Newport weekly independent., 1902-08-15

properly entitled the head of the in- surgent movement within the Repub- lican party of this state, addressed a crowd of between 75 and 100 voters at the court house Tuesday evening, be- ing the only meeting of political na ture thus far announced for Newport by the campaigners of either side, who are apparently giving this city wide berth from unknown reasons.
 The speaker opened his talk by re- lating the manner of his conversion to belief in Republican principles while in college, where he was assigned the other side in a society debate and the research which he made in secur- | ing argument, he claimed had made | him Republican. He related the ac- complishments of this party in graphic language and coming down in history to the Spanish American war, he lauded the patriotism of the people which made partisanship an after thought.
 The Republican party of this state, he claimed, had been retrograding and cited the votes of 1896, 1898 and 1900 in support of his contention. He be- lieved there were 60,0OO men in the state entitled to vote who did not ex- ercise the privilege, because they were | disgusted with the machine.
 The speaker passed to the records of the leading machine Republicans, against whose public and official re- cords he made severe charges. His address was in part as follows:
 He had only known Powell Clayton twelve years, and not until one year ago did he have an insight into the character of the man which he had always defended until that time. Two years ago Clayton was alarmed over his waning prestige and returned from Mexico to preside over the state con- vention, which had so fixed the party machinery in the election of a state central committee as to form an end less chain, perpetuating the suprem- acy of the machine. The executive committee of thirteen men, named then, wLich was supposed to have acted as jury, had picked the eleven largest salaried offices for themselves. In the fight for marshal between Alt heimer, Remmel and Cooper, the two last named had met Clayton in St. Louis, spent the night in one room and announced next morning Cooper would be marshal.
 | The insurgents were contending for local self government and against the dictation of party bosses, whose only friend in the cabinet of Roosevelt was H. c. Payne, postmaster general and a friend of Clayton. An old soldier, Hunt, of Fayetteville, efficient and faithful as postmaster, had been up- held by the president, but through the scheming of Payne had been sup planted.
 l A republican house offered impeach- ment proceedings against Clayton, which he had dodged until the senate adjourned. Wm. G. Whipple, now Clayton lieutenant, had him indicted for fraud in elections and was busted by Clayton for this insubordination. This same Whipple in 1872 said Clay ton would be in the penitentiary if he had his deserts, and Clayton at New Lewisville had asserted Whipple be- longed to as scurvy set of knaves and thieves as were in the peniten- tiary.
 For the endorsement of Remmel, Cooper had given him $500 out of his salary, and Altheimer, to secure the Pine Bluff post office, had to take care of Ferd Havis, in the payment of $1 1000 to the latter, who had also held Clayton up at the national convention in 1884 for $400 when he violated his instructions and cast the vote of the state for Blaine.
 The Rosebud post office in White county had been given to Democrat named Robbins for $25.
 | The President had told him to carry the fight to the polls, if the machine was able to perpetuate itself and could not be broken into. The insurgent convention had been more represent ative than that of the regulars, having 297 members to 250 of the latter.
 Myers had always fought Clayton up to the time he needed a federal