The Indianapolis journal., 1904-01-27
THE DRIFT OF POLITICS


cratic State committed win be opened next
Monday in the Sentinel building and the
| permanent headquarters viii be established
| there as soon as the desired rooms can be
! secured.
State Chairman ". II. OBrien. of Law
| renceburg, was in the city yesterday TO
make arrangements for the opening of
| headquarters for the committee and last
| evening at the Grand Hotel ne announced
that room had been secured in the Sentinel
building and the Office would be opened
Monday with Secretary Joseph ". Reilly in
charge. Chairman O'Brien will be at head
J quarters frequently. but viii not spend
1 much tEoe here until the campaign is well
under way.
/ The first work to be taken up upon the
| opening OF headquarters viii be the sending
| out or instructions 10 all the county chair
] men to prepare for the reorganization OF the
| county committees at once. The State CONF
| mittee at its recent meeting decided that al
| the counties. except Marion. should be or
| ganiZed by March I. and the On.cers OF the
| committee Will keep after the county chai-
men until this is accomplished. The Demo
| Gratis in d few counties have already select
| ed their precinct committeeman and the
committees have effected their organiza-
tiOns. but IN most of the counties 10 action
has been taken along this line
| :
Chairman O'Brien says that the Demo
Gratis are fully prepared to prosecute their
suits to test the constitutionality of the leg
islative apportionment act passed by the
last General Assembly.
''rhe suit in Dearborn county Will be
heard next Monday" he said. "Our at
! tOrneys Will be Greene Smith. Major G. V.
| Menzies and Judge Given, of Lawrence
| burg. The case in Boone county has been
! set for Feb and Dan Simms Judge Davis
| and s. NJ. Raston will look after our inter
| there know
| ments, if any, the Republicans have made
| to defend the epportionment act Our suits
| are against the county officers in the two
| counties, seeking first, TO restrain them
| from holding an election under the new ap-
| pcrtonment, and second, TO mandate them
! 10 hold the election under the apporuonment
| Of 1897. so | suppose that the county attOr-
| neys viii represent the defense, although
the county officers may be represented by
other attorneys. OF course we are confident
we shall knock out the appOrtiOnment- We
wouldn't have brought the suits If we had
not expected to win them"
1t is to be expected that a protest viii be
raised by a considerable element of the
Democratic party against the opening of
the state headquarters in the Sentinel
building-Thomas Taggart's building
where the committee will hold forth a
sort of sideshow to Mr.. Taggarts news
paper and his interesting political schemes.
On the face of the thing it seems that Mr..
Taggart has organized the state commit
tee, and now has moved IL into a room
adjacent to his own office, where he can
easily keep his hand on the lever at all
stages of the campaign. The willy boss
has enemies within mis- own party. especial
ly here in Indianapolis, where city Chair
man Reach and Mayor Holtzman head the
opposition TO him, and II Is from these
Democrats that the protest will come to
this latest maneuver of the man they would
like to put down and out of politics.
During the last campaign the Democratic
| hDnHunprtpTS
! building.
One OF the first things to be taken up by
the Democratic state committee, by the
way. is the advisability and practicability
of getting out Democratic handbook, Civ
ing the entire party organization in the
State and epitomizng political information
of value to the party workers. The Repub-
|. | lican state committee issues such a hand
book each campaign. and the Democrats
have come to the conclusion that here is
one good thing which they can copy from
There is one difficulty in the way of the
/ Democrats doing an extensive campaign
!, work-the state committee is without
funds.
"Yes, and we're likely to continue bank
rupt long Bryan continues to shout
against reorganization and the use OF
money in politics" plaintively admitted
one OF the leaders last night. Il admire
Bryan in many respects, and was a strong
Bryan supporter in the last two cam
paigns, but l think he has lot to learn
about practical politics. There was a good
Z deal of truth in the letter which Bryan
said he received from an Indiana Demo
crat, asking him to get out of the leader
! ship of the party so we could get some
money in Indiana for campaign purposes
Legitimate campaign expenses have In
creased ten-fold within the last few years
We have so much of civil service that We
can't promise to reward a mans service
E by securing an appointment for him, and
Nxa hax n N
bit of work we get done, from the posting
, of bills to the making of speeches, except
in the cases of the candidates.
E ''Ive about come to the conclusion that {
e straight out-and-out anti-civil-service planl
, in the Democratic national, platform
this year would make big hit with The
people. / know lot of Republicans who
e are dead against civil service. 1t is
shame that the men who do the real worl
r | in campaigns cannot hope to get any re
d ward save in an elective office or in Z
| postoftice.'
In other words, this Democrat indorse,
the statement made by Judge Harris, o.
1 | Sullivan county, at the Jackson Club ban
quet at Terre Haute, that the real ISSUE
with the Democratic party is pie.
n The fight for the Democratic congres
t sional nomination in the Third district hal
= reached the acute stage where leaders o
n the Zenor and Cox factions are hurting al
d kinds of charges and epithets at each other
1
that each faction is accusing the other o
. | bringing "Goebel methods TO play in In
. diana politics. The recent district conven
ton at New Albany TO elect district chair
| man is characterized by leading Demo
| Gratis of the Zenor faction in Harrison
county-Afr. Zenor's home-as a "Musi
e | Hair convention, and James r. Duffin tn
b, retiring chairman, who arbitrarily appoint
ed a credentials committee that unseate'
: a sufficient number of delegates claimed b.
: the Zenor people to give him absolute con
$ is being dubbed the Judge Redwine" of tn
q Third district
The contestants for the congressiona
e plum are William T. Zenor, OF CorydOn
e who is now serving his fourth consecutiv
IS term i'm Congress. and Judge w. l.. Cox.
10 woll-knoWu politician OF Jasper. DubOi
% county. Mr.. ZenOr has continuously hel
office for the past twenty-eight years, frs
d as prosecuting attorney, then as circui
&c Judge and finally as member OF Congress
I Judge Cox has succeeded in effccting
,s strong organization against ZenOT and tn
!, election OF Thomas Hanlon. of New Albany
as district chairman, brought about as Ia
e Zenor people claim. by the most high
II handed and Outra geous "GOebcl methods,
IS was decided victory fOg him
state Senator Smith Askren. also of HaI
rison county some time ago announced fha
he would bc q candidate for the congres
sional nomination. but IL now develops tha
m he has been playing shrcwd game ia th
IN | interest OF Judge cox. When The Demo
d, cratic county central committee Of lia'
- ! rison county met few days since TO 50