Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-01-23
COMBINE CONVENTIONS
Suggestion Made That Iowa
Republicans Could Save
Time and Worry
NOT MANY CONTESTS ON TICKET
As the National Platform Will Have
Been Adopted There Will be No oc-
casion for a Special Iowa Platform
Contest on Railroad Commissioner
the Only One in Sight.


Des Moines, Jan. 23.-There will be
two republican state conventions in
| Iowa this year. one in April or May.
and the other probably in September.
and while the state committee has not
acted on the matter as yet, it is re-
garded as certain that one of the con-
vcntions will he held in Des Moines and
| the other in some other city of the
state. The first convention is likely to
be the most interesting and largest. for
| 1t will be the one that will adopt
| platform or give expression to what the
republicans OF Iowa desire at the hands
OF the national convention. and 1t will
select the delegation to the Chicago
! convention. The second convention
| will select state ticket, but as ma
tional platform will have been adopted
there will be no occasion for special
/ Iowa platform.
But in view of the fact that the state
| ticket to be nominated may all be named
without contest. the suggestion has
| been made. and this may be acted on.
| that the two conventions be combined
and the state ticket be nominated at
| the convention held before the meet
| ing of the national convention.
| The five state officers whose terms
OF office expire with the year are all
candidates for denomination. w. B.
Martin, secretary of state; Gilbert s.
Gilbertson. treasurer of state: and c.
4 Np1l att NJ nj
candidates for denomination for third
| terms. Horace c. Deemer. chief JUS
! tice of the supreme court is candidate
| for what Is practically a third term.
as he had nearly whole term by APP
| rointment and is now concluding one
| full term by election Edward c.
Brown. railroad commissioner. is a
candidate Tor u second term.
The only chance for contest ap-
pears to be on railroad commissioner.
! n. S. Ketchum, of Marshalltown, and
| w. ID. Blakemore, of Bedford. are cam
| didates against Brown: but the CAM
paign has made such little progress as
yet that nothing can be told of Its
| character. If the three stay in the race
| TO a finish, it will be pretty three
cornered fight. There is candidate
| being mentioned in a preliminary way
| for state treasurer, Fred Kretschner. OF
Dubuque. but the belief is that he is
! is sparrlng for position and hopes
merely to gain sufficient prestige to
make 1t easy for him to get in the
| race to succeed Gilbertson.
| Deemer, Mullan and Martin will not
have show of opposition in the con-
vention. and therefore the nominating
work will be comparatively light this
year.
| In view OF the possibility that the
nominating convention will have very
| little to 6o.sthe suggestion of only one
state convention for the party COM
mends itself to a good many persons.
| II Is pointed out that X there Is to be
a contest on one or two of the offices
the matter could be brought to head
within the three or four mcnths that
will elapse before the first convention.
The legislature will submit to the
voters next fall a proposition to cut
| off half the elections in Iowa and elm
mate half the politics OF the state. II
the biennial elections proposition has
merit, say some of those who favor it.
has equal merits for this year. for it
would dispose of republican state poll
itics before the heated term and pre-
| vent the wear and tear OF two state
conventions.
| But II there are to be two state
| conventions, of the republicans this
year, then a strong effort will be made
| to take one of them away from Des
4 Ns S.ntt - 81,
| to the unsavory reputation Des Moines
| just now bears in relation to political
matters. Three years ago the state
convention was taken awaN from Des
Moines deliberately because Of the fear
| that local influences would prejudice
the delegates. The experience of that
| year was not encouraging, however,
| to the theory that a convention may
be manipulated in part by local influ-
| ences, for the Des Mones candidate.
| won In another city. 1t is presumed
| that the state committees would pre-
fer that it should be the first of the
| two conventions that should be taken
TO some city in Iowa other than Des
| Moines: but ii the convention Is held
| Immediately after the close of the leg
/ islature there would be strong argu-
| ments in favor of holding II in Des
| Moines, and permitting the second and
| probably smaller conventions to go
elsewhere.
There will be one chance for some
interest in the nominating convention.
1 and that will be because the state COM
mi,tee will be reorganiz d at that time.
| There Will be sharp contests in some
of the districts, and they will involve
the control of the state committee in
4 the presidential campaign and prob
ably for several years thereafter. The
committee has been closely divided for
] several years. generally there being on
4 ly one majority. one way or another.
as to factional lines This failure of the
campaign will therefore attract much
attention.
The democratic preliminary campaign
with regard to the forthcoming nation