The San Francisco call., 1906-09-02

OTTUMWA, Ia, Sept. 1.-Charles A.
Walsh, the Iowa member of the Demo-
cratic national committee. and who
was secretary of the national commit
tee during the two Bryan campaigns,
has rendered his resignation as a mem
Der of the national committe. giving
his reasons for so doing in the follow
ing letter. which was mailed today:
"OTTUMWA. Ia, Sept. l. 1906.-Hon.
Thomas Taggart. French Lick, Ind
Dear Sir: Permit me TO herewith hand
you, as chairman of the Democratic
national committee. my resignation as
member thereof, representing the
State of Iowa thereon.
For the future / intend to be in po-
sition to support, or not support. as /
may see ft, the candidates of the
Democratic party.
While 1 have heretofore always
been known as a partisan Democrat,
and will always be a sIanch supporter
of Democratic principles. as 1 under
stand them, II has been steadily borne
in upon me for a long time, as 1 came
closer and closer to q knowledge of the
inner workings of the party system,
that from the standpoint of true
Democracy, there can be nothing worse
or more injurious to the country than
the yellow dog party feeling that i'm
pels good srnen to support a ticket of
unfit nominees merely because they
bear the party label.
Within the Democratic party, as
within the Republican. there are two
contending factions, the vastly more
numerous but. during ordinary times,
the least influential, peing the great
rank and file which believes In the
principles of Jefferson. The other
faction, numerically Insignificant but
10 la ~
special privilege and those who seek
to use all government as an asset to
their private business, is, by reason of
wealth and lack of conscience in using
it, vastly more powerful and usually
controls the party plan, its organiza-
tion and its nominees.
VIOLATION OF PRECEDENT.
LAS an instance of how important
the corporation element believes con-
troll of machinery to be, l might men
tion the fragrant violation of all party
precedent in the appointment of the
present Democratic national executive
committee.
The executive committee had al
ways prior to the campaign OF 1904
been appointed chiefly (and so far as
my recollection goes, wholly from the
regularly elected members OF the ma
tional committee and usually being
made up of those members from the
more doubtful States which 1t was
necessary to carry in order to elect
How was the real campaign organiza-
ton formed in 1904?
AN executive committee was made
up, carefully limited to seven members
and those seven members were William
f Sheehan (chairman) of New York
City, August Belmont of New York
City, James Smith Jr. of New Jersey
Thomas F. Martin OF Virginia, James
NJ. Guffy of Pennsylvania, John r
Mclean of Ohio and the city of Wash
ington, and Timothy E. Ryan of Wis
consin.
The first four mentioned were not
and are not members of. the national
committee.
''Sheehan, formerly discredfted
Buffalo politician. builder of the most
vicious political machine ever known
in Erie County, arrested for fragrant
violation of the civil service law, his
machine finally routed and he prac-
tically driven from Buffalo, is now
with his partner, Judge Parker, one
New York, representing among others
the Brooklin Rapid Transit Company
and has represented in legislative
halls and the courts Consolidated Gas
Edison Electric and many others. He
is a director in the Cord Meyer Devel-
opment Company, lately caught steal
ting the city's water on Long Island
and in many other corporations.
Belmont is the head of the Ameri-
can branch of the famous European