The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-26
THE DRIFT OF POLITICS

/ Democratic county committee will be
opened this week. Candidates may not be
announced. but the work of oiling the ma
chimes and getting them in good running
order will be begun at once Last evening
| Thomas Taggart. Joseph T. flaming. the
district chairman. Joseph r. Bell and w
w Spencer. tho present county chairman
held conference at the Grand Hotel and
while they protested that they had met by
/ chance and that there was nothing doing
/ it is known that they had the county
craftsmanship under discussion.
The Taggart machine is in excellent con-
dition and VIII require little attention be-
/ fore the county fight is taken M. In the
contest for the district craftsmanship II Is
/ demonstrated that the machine Of the WHY
/ boss was i'm frst-class order. and certain
/ IL is that ii never worked more effectively
/ Such cannot be said Of the Reach machine
This machine. which worked so success
fully last winter and in the Democratic
primaries last summer. was badly damaged
in the fight for the district Craftsmanship
and had TO be sent TO the repair shops
| Immediately after the head-end collision
| with the Taggart machine The rebuilding
| of the machine was started at once, how
| ever. and as the inventor and operator.
James Leroy Reach, Is a person OF re-
|
i'm fair order by the time the county hght
is well under way.
The managers of both factions are keep
/ ing their plans very much to themselves
at present, are denying, in fact that they
have even begun to think of prospective
candidates The Taggart people say that
they have not taken up the question OF
a candidate, but that they will do so I'm
a few days and will then not only announce
their candidate but name the man who
will be the next county chairman. Their
! confidence, since their overwhelming vic
tory in the reelection of Tanning to the
district craftsmanship. is unbounded. The
Reach and Hoffman crowd will not talk
! at all on the subject and Reach will not
! even declare that he will defeat any man
! Taggart may put up, but that Is taken
merely indication that they learned
| lesson in the district fight and have
| decided TO talk less and work more They
| will have a candidate, but they viii at
| tempt to disguise the fact that he Is the
| candidate of the administration forces as
| much as possible and will run him as an
| anti-machine candidate, the platform upon
| which Reach was elected city chairman last
| winter. Charles Polster wants to be county
chairman-he wanted to be district chair
| man too, ii Will be recalled-but Reach has
| again said him nay and this time has laid
| down his ultimatum before Polster has
| talked with his followers or announced his
| candidacy. Some of the faction have limited
| that Reach ought to make the race him.
| self for county chairman, but the potato
king" has promptly silenced all talk of that
kind. He is not likely to do the thing
that the Taggart people are most anxious
he should do. One OF the TagSart crowd
said last night that his people would make
a liberal donation towards Keach's cam
| paign expenses on the condition that he
would be a candidate for county chair
| man.
Hiram Brown. former president of the
Indiana Democratic Club, is being men
toned as the probable candidate of the
Keach-Holtzman faction, and il is learned
on reliable authority that he is being SER
iously considered. His strong points, ac-
cording to the administration people is that
he has not been prominently identified with
either faction, has few enemies, has not
taken a sufficiently active part in politics
to make him marked man and would be
altogether at the command of the crowd
that elected him. In other words, Reach
is casting about for a man who would be a
after his election. City Attorney Henry
Warrum has also been spoken of a pos
sibility, as has Evans WoolIen. Warrum
however, is too closely allied with the adj
ministration, an objection that cannot be
so readily raised against Woollen.
Several men are under consideration by
the leaders in the Taggart camp. A few
days ago it was virtually determined that
j. A. Mahoney of the Thirteenth ward,
should be the candidate for county chair
man and a man was sent to feel him
OUT Mahoney, however, is not ambitious
to become the head of the county organiza-
ton, and he politely but firmly declined to
make the race, at the same time pledging
his support to anyone the Taggart people
might name. John Christian, Charles B.
Clarke and Elliott Hooten are now being
considered and il Is possible, although hard
| nf MAJ Iaa
lected to head the fight The question is
going the rounds among the Taggart faith
full, why not make Joe Bell county chair
mani, and the only answer that has been
vouchasfed I'D to date is a counter-ques-
ton, does Bell want it?''
Mr.. Bell served as country chairman in
the campaign of 1898, has for years been
one of the most active workers in the Tag
CART camp, having taken an especially ac-
tive part in the recent district contest, and
is in every respect eligible" but it is in
timated that he has other things in view.
To be more specific. it is said that Mr..
Bell would like TO be the Democratic can
didate for Congress this year He has not
taken even his closest friends into his con-
fidence on that point. but I'm talking poll
tics from time to time he has let droI
several remarks that indicate an unusual
interest in the congressional proposition.
However, pressure may tie brought Il
bear on Bell to make him take the chair.
r manship. Mr.. Taggart and the four or fiv,
; men really close to him do not want TO take
any chances on letting the county organiZa-
elect man chairman who is not absOlutelN
and unqualifiedly allied with them, for Their,
: some men who might be with them this
, year and against them in the next fight
Consequently. they would like nothing bet
ter than to have Bell, who has been trieC
and found not wanting. at the head Of thu
county machinery. If he insists that n,
will not take il, and, instead. claims tn,
congressional nomination as his reward 70
faithful service, then it is not at all i'm
probable that w. w. Spencer, the presen
r chairman, will be made candidate for re
! election. Spencer had said positively tina
he will not be candidate to succeed him
self and it is conceded that he does ne
1 want to be. but his loyalty to the loca
+ Tammany is such that he Will serve /
I drafted. on the whole. the indications ar
. that IL Joseph f.. Bell is not made tn
: | Taggart candidate for county chairman, W
w. Spencer will be called upon to make tn
race
AS the opening gun in the county fight.
h story has been set in circulation 10 the ef
: feet that the administration forces assessor
all the city employees for the fund 10 pa.
the expenses of the campaign to elect Wal
lace Names district chairman. Men in tn