Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-07-31
RAILROADS 100 STRONG
Their Organized Strength Pro-
tected Dawson and Caused
Ketchum's Defeat.
Linn's Treason to the Fifth T.
trict Candidate Inspired by
Hubbard.
Ketchum's Campaign Conducted
Manfully and All Pledges
Kept to the Letter.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines. July 31.-To readers of
the T-R., who had learned to know
Mr. N. S. ketchum intimately thru it's
columns, his candidacy for the nomin-
alton for railroad commissioner WAS of
particular interest and his defeat an
especial disappointment altho Mr.. ket-
chums friends went home with the
consoling thought that their defeat was
accomplished only by the most desper-
ate act on the part of his railroad OPP
position ever resorted to in a political
convention. The work of his friends had
been we'll done When the balloting be-
gan after the success of Mr. Crockett
following the similar success of Mr..
Mullan in the Third district the con-
vention considered that Mr.. ketchum's $
nomination was assured. 1T remained
for Nat Hubbard, of the Northwestern
railroad with his Linn county delega-
ton to deliberately and politically cut
the throat of Linn's district candidate
as he was coming under the wire a sure
winner with his field distanced. The act
was a shocking thing to the convention
and was the one topic of conversation
in the lobbies last evening along With
the overwhelming vindication given to
the tariff views of Governor Cumnlns.
The accomplishment of Mr.. ket-
chums defeat, to many was dramatic.
When Mr. ketchum first thought of be-
coming candidate he was advised In
the T.-R. office that it would be
useless unless the railroads would let
him. 1t then seemed that Mr.. Dawson.
having served seven yeiiirs and a half
would not seek another term and that
if the railroad attorneys knew that Mr..
Ketchum was a conservative man with
no radical views against railroads they
would let him run for office without in
terference rather than incur the public
odium of insisting upon naming the
railroad commission and thereby re-
affirming the issue that had put Gov
ernor Cumnns into office. Having
known the late Judge Hubbard from
5ts--teo4 1..e.7 ',srn- - Northeastern
chum thought he could go to the judge
without selling his soul. The old judge
gladly promised to help him. and Nat,
the son, agreed to see that his fathers
promises to friend We're carried out.
Thus with the assurance of solid
Fifth district behind him Mr.. ketchum
went into his campaign. Nat Hubbard
came to the convention as a delegate
from Linn county and offered to work
for the Fifth district candidate.
On Monday night the word was freely
spread over the convention crowd and
thru the Hobbies that the railroads We're
out in force for Dawson and MIR. ket-
chum was looked upon as already de-
feated. 1t was learned that some dele
gates from Sioux and O'Brien counties
had come in on Dawson transportation.
j. w. Blythe furnished 20" transporta-
ton for the Mahaska delegation from
which county fourteen of the eighteen
delegates held proxies and all We're for
Dawson. BUT Mr.. Ketchum had friends
and they in turn had more friends who
went to work. The fighters from the
Tenth, Eleventh, Seventh and Ninth
districts rallied and by Tuesday night
Mr. ketchum was proclaimed the win
ner.
On the morning of the convention
Dawson's friends admitted that he
could not be nominated and Dawson
himself told friends that he had little
show When the Tenth and Seventh
district friends of Ketchum succeeded
in landing Crockett for clerk of the su-
preme court thus filling up the Third
district with two nomin-
ations from that convention still Il third
one was considered political mpossi-
bility and the convention looked upon
ketchum's nomination as certain.
1t was at this point that messengers
We're sent running down the aisle to
ketchum developed all the strength he
expected on the first ballot, excepting
votes which had been prom
ised him in the Second district. The
second ballot began in his favor until
Linn county was reached. when there
was cornmotion in the Fifth district
corner Nat Hubbard had decided or
had been told that the only way of
beating ketchum was for Linn county
to knife him at home. The measure
was desperate. but Nat was determined.
in the convention mounted
chairs and called out. Vote for the
Nat Congressman Cous-
ins. who had been pleading for Ketch-
um in the Second district with tears in
his eyes. came running to Hubbard:
Keep your word, Nat. Be a man and
make a record was his appeal. Grun-
dy and Benton men coaNed him. Mar
shall county men appealed TO him to
keep the oral and written promise of
his dead father. all to no avail "Note
your delegation," was his command to
his chairman, and Linn county broke
all agreements, threw to the winds all
hope of future harmony in the district
to nominate man for railroad COM
missioner satisfactory to the railroads.
That ended ketchum. His friends
had not realized how strong a candi
date he was until such desperate meth
DDS were resorted to In defeating him.
Cousins flew into a rage and created
scene in the lohbes by telling Hubbard
that if his dead father We're alive he
would be ashamed to look his son in
the face. Politicians agreed that Hub
bard had forever ruined his influence as
4 leader and the outrage of such an eX-
hibition of railroad activity in politics
would have its effect on Iowa politics