Bridgeton pioneer., 1904-06-09
HEARST DELEGATES
WILL ENTER CONTEST

The following appeared yesterday
afternoon in the Camden Post Tele-
gram:
The Post Telegram has been re-
quested in the interest of fair play, to
publish the following statement and
charges of political ohicanery and de-
liberate fraud in connection with the
recent democratic State Convention.
which elected delegates to the national
convention to be held in st. Louis
next month. AS there will be Hearst
contesting delegates from this State.
the allegations herewith presented are
OF interest as showing substantial y
the ground on which the contest will
be based. A flood Of light is thrown
upon the high handed methods of the
leaders of the Democratic party in this
state-methods which will not be
countenanoed by any honest, fair
minded man.
1t was an Introductory paragraph to
almost an entire page of the evidence
that will be submitted at ST. Louis
by the contesting Hearst deleation.
In the long article is the following
protesting against the action of the
Cumberland county delegation
Fight in Cumberland.
"A most determined fight was made
against the machine in Cumberland
county under the leadership of James
Craig, leading Democrat of Vine
land. The Craig men elected ~ out of
the 80 delegates. All of their men
could not attend ths convention at
Trenton and promised to send proxies.
These proxies, it was arranged, should
be taken to Trenton. by George Betch-
ner, the County CLERK OF Cumberland,
but he failed to appear, and much to
the surprise Of the anti-machine men
Mr.. Iredeli. the member of the Demo-
cratic State Committee from Cumber-
land, turned up with some of the
proxies which the County Clerk de-
clared he had sent to the anti machine
men. How Iredell got these proxies
the Craig men do not pretend to say.
whatever their thoughts on the subject
may be.
Herbert Bartlett, weiI-known
young lawyer of Vineland, and Craig
man, was chairman of the Cumber-
land delegation, and. he told Iredell
that the Cumberland delegates would
caucus in the Hotel Sterling on the
morning of the Tuesday the conven-
tion was held. The anti machine men
who attended his caucus numbered 10
regular and 2 proxies. They waited
until 1880 o'clock, but neither Iredell
or any of his delegates or proxies ap.
peared The Craig men then went to
the convention Of the First Congress
sional District and named their men
for the various committees, Craig be-
ing their nominee for member Of the
Committee on Credentials. When.the
call Of the counties was made in the
convention, Bartlett named the anti
machine men and Iredell sent up an
other list, on which he appeared as
member of the Committeevon Creden-
tials.
When the Committee on Creden-
tials took up Cumberland county Ire
dell said. referring to the anti ma
chine men. These men came up here
and caucused behind closed doors.
They have the proxies of men who are
here themselves and want tlleir
proxies, but these men won't give
them to them.
''This Craig denounced as false, and
produced the credentials which his
men had obtained in the regular way
While he was doing this he noticed
that Iredell was circulating among the
members of the committee whispering
in their ears "Hearst men, The
anti-machine men then Withdrew from
the room and when the meeting Of the
committee was over, Craig asked one
of the members who did not know him
whom the committee seated from
Cumberland. THE Iredell men will
be seated, the member replied.
''When the convention reoonvened
after the recess and the anti machine
men saw that the machine men had
been seated, they left the convention.
Among the anti i-maohine men was
Walter Dawson, who was named by
this caucus as the member of the Com
mittee on Permanent organization.
Mr.. Dawson says that he met with
the committee during the recess of the
convention, that during the meeting
some mention was made of Hearst as
Presidential candidate, whereupon
one OF the secretaries of the conven-
tion. who acted as chairman of the
committee, said that they didn't pro-
pose to recoRnize many Hearst men in
that convention.
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