The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-09-10
FUSION CAMPAIGN Is ON
Continued from First Page,

Continued from First Page.)
shrewd political leaders who see in the
selection of Burrow as chairman OF
the state committee the reelection OF
J. r. Burton as United States senator
and in event of his conviction, the
transferring of his Office and the emo
luments thereof to Dave Mulvane, who
In event of Burton's conviction, viii be
elected to succeed him in the senator
snip as soon as the state Legislature
gets action upon itself. This is what
the anti-machine leaders mean when
they insist that the 'reformers shall
take care in every county and senator
tai district to see that only men who
are opposed to the present state admin
tstration are elected TO the legislature.
The first revolt against the caucus
slate last night was when the fedora
ton OF commercial interests at their
meeting in the commercial club rooms
decided to take a hand in the temper
airy organization of the convention and
selected Tom Potter of Marion as their
candidate for chairman of the cOnven-
ton The fight Will be made in the
antt-machine caucus and the leaders
refuse to say what the result will be
in the convention if the request is de-
MED. Never before We're the cattlemsn
and commercial interests of the state so
determined to take so aggressive part
In politics. Never before in the history
OF the Republican party in Kansas was
, any combination so completely under
the domino ton of the railroads as the
one that will convene in this city to-
morrow. and never before were they so
brazen in pushing their demands Two
railroad attorneys are holding up the
convention and demanding to be sent
as delegates to the national convention
and their demands will be acceded to.
One of the greatest railroad systems
In the state is demanding that it have
a representative on the board of rail-
road commissioners, and in order to
give Mr.. Curtis a standing in one of
the counties of his district. the conven-
III ~
goods and Mr.. Walker will be nominal
ted if il is in the power of this combi-
nation to accomplish it, while the COM
mercial interests of the state Will be set
at each others Threats in the hopes
that each may be slaughtered.
But this is all in the interests of
harmony In fact there is to be nothing
but harmony at the convention tomor-
row. How could there be ANYTHING else
with everything agreed upon before
hand2 If there is any trouble 1t will be
because the rank and file of the party
does not accept the dictates of those
who are running the new machine and
they must expect to be run over as
those before them have been. What
right has the commercial and industrial
interests of the state to attempt to die
tate to those who have started this
movement for men and not measureS?'
What right have these interests to in
terfere with the plans made by the
leaders to select railroad contractor
as chairman of the convention instead
of a stOckman? Isn't this a railroad
convention. for the railroads and by the
railroads. Didn't the railroads furnish
the transportation to the delegates with
the understanding that certain men
were to be nominated and won't the
goods be delivered? The ma jOrity of
the delegates will be in the city by
this morning and by noon the most of
them will have been told what part
they are to play in the game of politics
that is on. There won't be much for
them to do. In fact the less they do
the better. and all they will have to
do is to watch the leaders and be care
arrival of the delegates, the whipping
in for the caucus this evening COM
menceS and when they are bound by
that the rest will be easy and the con-
vention that is to follow tomorrow will
be a perfunctOry affair
And I want to take this occasion to
state that no one in the state of Kan
sas has spent more time and energy
in working for just and equitable rail-
road legislation and against unjust
Determinations than Colonel Murdoch. |
the editor of that paper. l now read
you what the Leavenworth Times said
of this convention shortly after it adj
JOurned:
1T is undeniably true that the rail-
roads dictated the nominees for rail-
road commissioner, nominated every |
state officer and elected the chairman
of the convention, besides sending
some of their number to the national
4
Dental elector.
THE strangle hold which the rail-
roads have on the party at this time
must be broken by the men who are
in control or the party is bound to /
suffer The people are crying out
against the oppression of the corpora /
tons. Not a town in the state but /
which complains of unfair and dis I
criminate freight rates, Wichita going 1
so far as to take her case into the 4
courts With such a condition, with 4
the allied industrial and commercial /
interests of the state in arms against 4
the railroads. it behOOves the new /
managers of the party to take such I
steps as will insure the people the /
needed reforms and protect them 1
against corporations
Letters from j. III. Richards.
other Republican papers charac- |
terized this convention in similar Ian |
guage, but time will not permit the I
reading of them. If these criticisms ,
were just then, they still remain So |
But as demonstrating the truth of the !
tiers from the general attorney of the |
Missouri Pacific for Kansas. to show /
YOU the attitude of that railroad I
toward the Republican party and that
convention:
The Missouri Pacific Railway Co.,
Legal Department; ]. H Richards,
General Attorney; c. z. Benton.
First Assistant Attorney; Ralph
Richards. Assistant Attorney.
Fort Scott. Kas-, Feb. % 1904.
Dear Sir and Friend am in re-
ceipt of so many letters as we'll as
verbal assurances from my personal
friends and the friends of my COM
pany everywhere over the state, and in /
a number of instances heretofore IA
Vorable to Mr.. Bailey, voluntarily ten
dering me the compliment of the |
hearty support of their delegations as
delegate at large to the national con-
VentiOn that / have. unexpectedly to !