Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-23
OPPOSED TO ELKINS
OBJECT OF so-CALLED INsUR-
GENTS IN WEST VIRGINIA


| Special Correspondence Of The Star
WHEELING. w. Va. July a. 1905.
| Down at historic old White Sulphur
| Springs. Just ten miles from the Virginia
state line. where Henry O. Davis was no.
titled last summer Of his vice presidential
nomination, there gathered this week
galaxy of the so-cailcd insurgent repubn
cans of West Virginia. Immediately fol-
lowing the call for their conference the
heat was forgotten by the politicians OF
! this and the opposing clan. and the event.
| which marked the reopening OF old cores,
marks the beginning of another long ana
bitter fight within the republican party for
| control
1t was bruitcd about at first that the con-
| ferees were bent solely on the dethroning
| OF Senator Elkins, but the man who issued
| the CALL State Senator Sam Montgomery.
| was moved to remark that the object was
| solely to effect plans for the regeneration
of the party in the state and was not anti
Elkins or anti-anybody In particular. This
| declaration. 1t must be admitted, not
taken seriously.
| In plain words. the White Sulphur con-
| ference. which was made up entirely OF the
Teter faction. was designed to effect an or
| ganization to do battle with the Elkins-
Dawson combine for control Of the iegisla-
| ture next year. This Is the paramount con-
| sideration. Senator Montgomery amplified
his statement with the gentle reminder that
| the conferees desired to prevent the loss or
| any more congressional districts to the dem
| ocrats. This had reference, to the recent
success of Col. Tom Davis In the second
district.
Montgomery's Candidate Beaten.
Colonel Davis beat James S. Lakin OF
Montgomery's own county OF Preston, and
| whose nomination he was largely instru-
mental in securing. Montgomery worked
| hard for Lakin. largely to strengthen his
political standing in his own county and
| for personal friendship toward Lakin. On
the day preceding the election Montgomery
| publicly stated that Lakin's defeat could
be attributed largely to Senator Elkins' al
| legged apathy in the campaign and family
relationship to Colonel Davis. Montgomery
thereupon predicted trouble for Elkins IL
Lakin lost. Montgomery was opposed by
| Senator Elkins when he contested with
County Chairman James w. Flynn OF Pres
| ton for the senatorial nomination. and al
| though Flynn carried the county Montgom-
| cry got the support of the other counties in
| The district, and was nominated. There
| was considerable talk subsequently OF an
Independent republican candidate with FL
kins backing, but it went no further and
Montgomery WAS elected almost by the dis
trict's big normal republican vote
In the legislature Montgomery was the
| father of the bill which cut OF the secre-
tary of states fees from foreign corpora
| lions. a measure that succeeded only by
| the votes of the democratic and republican
1nsurgent members, and fought by
the administration. This bill was pushed
enthusiastically In order to embarrass Gov
| ernor Dawson and Secretary OF State
! Swisher. Now Montgomery. who is
| young and virile man, is bending his ef-
! forts to defeat Elkins with Judge Reese
Blizzard as a candidate, the preliminary
| step being to elect legislature that will
| be against Elkins and the Dawson state
| administration. Plans along this line were
| discussed at the White Sulphur Springs
conference Thursday and Friday of this
week but the workings in detail were
bottled up for future uncorking.
| Senator Marshall Recalcitrant.
Oliver S. Marshall. like Montgomery. an
| anti-Elkins follower state senator, who
| lives In Hancock. the Lorthernmost county
| of the state. was anothes conference lumi-
nary. So was Grant p. Hall, the pictures
! que kanawha county republican, whose
| feud with Governor Dawson threatens pos
| siby future developments. Judge T. p.
| Jacobs of Wetzei county, who was chair
| man of a stormy Dawson-Teter convention,
| and Judge Thomas A. Brown of Writ an
| unsuccessful aspirant for state supreme
| court honors were two others from the
Ohio valley.
But the most potential political affiliations
| relied on by the new movement will come
| from the southern part of the state includ-
| ing Fayette, Mcdowell. Summers and
| Wyoming counties where considerable dis
| satisfaction exists with the administrations
| taxation policies and the distribution OF
| state and federal patronage
The insurgents who look to Judge Biz
| Zard the logical leader, also have a faint
| vision of successfully breaking through the
| federal pull of Senator Elkins. In sort
| of indefinite way they believe the difference
to ayic hat
| welt and Senator Elkins on the question OF
| railroad regulation will rebound to their
| benefit in popular way. Senator Elkns'
] opposition to the Roosevelt theory is an
| open secret in West Virginia.
Investigating Conditions.
! The senator's private secretary Colin III.
Livingstone. who is colonel by appoint
ment of former Governor White to his OFF,
| cial staff, came to West Virginia this week
| to investigate conditions. Beginning at
| Wheeling he stopped at the more impor-
| tant towns. He said his was purely bust
ness mission, and that the parties he was
| to meet at Wheeling missed connections
and that he had to go TO Huntington to see
them. Eut the parties were so elusive that
the colonel had to go to Parkersburg after
them. and next to Charleston. and next to
towns along the Norfolk az Western rail-
road, down along the Kentucky and Virginia
borders. incidentally, Colonel Livingstone
met and greeted the politicians and probed
the feeling toward the senior senator.
Later, Senator Elkins who has been con-
| tent to rest on his enormous prestige and
his grip on the organization, viii get per-
sonally active and he will do things The
odds are in his favor but he will be forced
TO concessions. Probably If he would con-
sent 10 the legislature that would be for
him without being for the Dawson admins
tration there would be reenting. but as
/ he took the Dawson side last summer this
is not likely
Elkins, w. Va.