Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1905-11-02
CONVENTION SPLIT.
THE OPPOSITION ATTEMPT CAPTURE
Only Delegates FavorIng Regu1a-
tion Were Admitted-Others
Meet in Another Hall and
Call Themselves Regular.

/ NAAA AMBh4hGANGB hAgb
Chicago, Oct. 27-Preparatlons were
made early Thursday by the advocates
Of free speech to demand entrance Ia
the interstate commerce law convention
which was scheduled to be called in
| Steinway hall at 10 am. Facing the
possibility of being denied admittance,
arrangements were made to hold q
''Rump" convention II necessary to
protest against what the free speech.
partisans terms gag rule. Badges
were distributed which read as fol-
lows: Interstate Law Convention.
supervision not commercial revolu-
ton"
Wearing the badges conspicuously,
all the delegates at the auditorium
annex meeting, headed by D. M. Parry
and Robert Lake, Of Michigan, marched
in a body to Steinway hall where tho
so-callcd Bacon" or Regular" dele
gates were assembled with doors
guarded by uniformed police to pre-
vent the admission Of alleged repre-
sentatives Of the railroads.
Following the plan decided upon by
an executive committee to avoid
clash with the dissenting or Parry fac
tion no delegates had been admitted to
the convention except those who sub
scribed to what the oflcers Of the or
Kanlzation called "the creed and arti-
cles of faith" which endorsed Presi-
dent Roosevelts message asking en-
airing legislation by congress enlarg-
ing the powers of the interstate COM
merce commission 80 that 1t may
regulate freight rates subject to
judicial review. In addition to police,
half a dozen regular" delegates
guarded every door leading to the hall
and all who had not signed the en-
dorsenent Of President RooseveIt't
message were denied admission. Among
the first delegates to subscribe to the
principles Of the convention and gain
admittance was L. w. Moves, repre-.
senting the Illinois Manufacturers as
ISOLATION. Mayor Dunno was also an
early arrival and he hastened to con-
graduate the officers on their decision
to har delegates charged with being in
sympathy with the railroads.
Among later arrivals were Gov. Gun.
nins Of Iowa, and Former Gov.
Laramie. Of wyoming.
In the absence Of M. c. Bacon, chair
man Of the executive committee, who
is III, Judge s. H. Cowan. Of Texas.
called the convention to order.
Nearly 200 delegates assembled in
studebaker hall for so-calIed trump"
convention after they had been refused
admission to the Steinway hall con-
vention.
While the Studebaker hall meeting
was in session, the Steinway hall con-
vention perfected organization by the
election of the following oficers:
Chairman, W. e. Hughes, Colorado.
Vice Chairman, John w. Kern, Indi-
ana. Secretary, P. F. Goodrich, Indiana
Assistant secretary. C. A. Shroader.
Wisconsin.
The report Of the committee on Gre
dentials was read and approved and
all delegates in the hall were seated.
Chairman Hughes discussed the pres
ident's position as to railroad rates,
saying:
This is what the people at present
want. What people Of the great west
want, and what we shall earnestly and
presistently demand. The people Of
the west are not unmindful Of what the
railroads have done for them. They
have brought the comforts, even the
Injuries of life to every door. They
FASTENED the development Of the coun-
try; made the wheels go faster, as 1t
were. The last 25 years have brought
great change. In this time about all
the public utilities Of the country
transportation, insurance, food, light
and water, have passed into the hands
Of corporations These soulless crea-
lions Of modern law own about all that
is valuable now and hold It with q
grip that death never relaxes. think
/ can truthfully say to you to-day that
unless you put the railroads under
state and federal control. neither your
wealth nor well-being will be adj
vanced In this generation nor in the
next.
A strike has been started on the
Siberian railroad