The Saint Paul globe., 1904-12-28
CLAPP men URGE
AN EARLY CAUCUS
Circulate Petition Calling for
Gathering of Republican Leg
isIators Tuesday Night

Senator CIapp's friends yesterday TOOK
the offensive in the senatorial contest
when they began the circulation of pa
per among the state senators and mouse
members calling for an early caucus OF
the Republican majority IN the eNpecta-
ton of deciding the contest.
The paper, in charge of Representative
II. A. Rider, of Little Falls, was signed at
II o'clock yesterday morning by Senator a.
B. Cole. of Otter Tail county, and last
night the Clapp managers declared they
had the signatures of more than twenty
five members
The call provides for a caucus to be held
bv the Republican senators and house
members in the hall of representatives
at the new capitol. Jan. 3, 1905, at
o'clock D. m. The call describes the pur-
pose of the caucus to be '.to place in nom
nation a candidate for United States sem
ator by roll CALI
cIapp Men Confident
There are 100 Republican senators and
house members Eighty one will consti-
tute majority of the Republican caucus
and ninetv-tWo will be majority OF both
bodies of the legislature. There are TWEEN
ty-two Democrats in the two houses OF the
legislature The Clapp men declare they
can secure the signatures to call Tor a
caucus of a majority of the Republicans OF
the two houses and a majority OF the to-
tai number of members on joint ballot.
The decision to wage fight for an carry
q. caucus was reached at a conference OF
the Clapp leaders yesterday morning ana
Representative Rider was intrusted with
the document. 1t is probable that sec
ond COPY Of the cali will be put out TO-DAY.
w W. Rich would not say definitely
how many signatures had been secured TO
the call, but said that the number was
satisfactory. Mr.. Rider said that there
were '.twenty-three or twenty-four'
signers, and Walter T. Lemon, st. Paul
member who signed the call, said that
there were but twelve signers when ne
attached his name to the document late
in the day. Senator McGill and Repre-
sentatives Rowe and Flower were the
Ramsey county members who had signed
the call last night. 1t had not been OF
fered to the Gilillan men for their sigma
lures.
The anti-CIapp men professed to be-
lieve that the caucus call two weeks IN
advance of the usual time was a move to
frighten the anti-Clapp men and DOUBT
full ones into his column L. c. Steven
son, manager of J. B. Gilfllan's candi-
dacy, did not conceal his feelings.
Calls 1t Lone-Hand Game
"This is a very strange procedure he
said 1T is customary in Republican
caucuses, where there is more than one
candidate to get the candidates to agree
to a caucus. This affair seems to be
simply lone-hand game. Mr.. Gilfillan
has not been asked to participate in call
ing a caucus and his supporters have not
been asked to sign the call for the eau
Gus. The proper method is to permit
each candidate to select a member of a
caucus committee and then to have this
committee agree on a time and place for
the party's caucus. If no one is being
consulted in this affair but the Clapp
men, and they should fail to secure a ma
jority of the legislative body, I am not
Eure that anybody else would be bound
by it's action. If one candidate may go
ahead and call caucus and hold it, why
not others?'
Congressman c. B. Buckman Of Little
Falls, and Congressman c. r. Davis, of st.
Peter, mingled with the legislators in St.
Paul yesterday. The former is a sup
porter of Senator Clapp, while the st. Pc
ter man is friendly to Joel P. Heatwole,
Of Northfield.