Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-05-24
SOME IeLL.IALE INCIDENTS.

SOME TEll-TAlE INCIDENTS.
II we want any more evidence Of the
| powerful influences that dominate the
old machine faction within the republi--
can party we can turn to the incident
of recent conference in Des Mcines.
| 1t might not have been sufficient to
have listened to great convention
shouting Blythe" the name of the per-
sonal representative of Jim Hill and
the regularly employed political attor-
ney for the roads of the Northern Sc
curities Company. But there was a
caucus wherein certain prominent poll
ticians met to insist that an effort be
made to defeat the denomination OF Gill
bertson and Martin because these men
| went into office by the votes of Cum
Minis men.
! For several days political gossip of
this movement had been persistent. The
Des Moines newspapers announced that
the fight would be made. Their. the
conference was held to plan the attack
but what happened? The next morning
the newspapers announced that the
scheme was dead, dead. dead" What
killed 1t? Why, Carroll Wright, gem
eral attorney for the Rock Island, and
Northwestern, sat down on 1t. The ex-
ecutive council of which Gilbertsorl and
| Martin are members, must make an
other railway assessment before they
retire and these railway attorneys
could not afford to have their crowd
make any attack on these men for
fear OF repmsals. This fear ought to
| have been groundless but railway at
torneys are human and by profession
suspicious. Without the railroad! at
torneys any scheme OF this anti-tSum-
minis faction will fall dead, dead.
dead"
The man who wants to believe that
these conditions do rot exist in reTubli-
can politics will sneer at the fellow who
proclaims these truths and call Him a
radical. But If the average voter were
forced to see as much of politics as
newspaper has to see and If their bust
ness took them behind the scenes at
state conventions they would realize
that this is the paramount issue in
TaNny uya n onnv1nfinn
calling for Blythe to come forward and
show himself the great statesman he
had been proclaimed to be, but Blythe
did not appear. He could not have
made a speech OF ten words and have
appeared creditably before that con-
vention. Blythe is q shrewd politician
but his talents are all those of back
| room manipulation. He never Nude q
notable speech in his life. He couldn't
ton. Yet he can go to Chicago with
| jam HILL as Hanna said he did do, and
urge Hanna to run for the presidency
for the sole purpose of defeating Roose-
Welt In the interests of the Northern
Securities company and then within two
weeks of Hanna's refusal to be so used
| he can appear in Iowa as President
Roosevelts special representative. Such
! f,-the power of boss who controls
many nevspapers.
| Likewise, when he wants to down
Cummins, who vetoed the railway
merger bill, he can lead the forces OF
ultra high tariff when a prominent
state politician, who once held high
| federal office by virtue of Blythes ia
vor but lost it when said politician es-
poused Cummins' cause, insists that he
used to hear Blythe repeatedly declare
| himself to be an absolute free trader.
| This politician asked Blythe how he
happened to change front on Sc i'm
portant question and received the re-
ply, "A fellow can change his m9nd If
he wants to, can't he?" When such
things are known to be true, 1t almost
makes a cynic Of a republican but yet
there is plenty of hope. So long as clean
| men like Cummins will lead the fight
| the special interest politicians can be