Perth Amboy evening news. [volume] (Perth Amboy, N.J.) 1903-1959, 1906-05-16
COLBY'S GAIN
HAS ALARMED
The MACHINE
State Chairman Briggs Has
Called Meeting Of State Com
mittee in Trenton Today.

TRENTON, May 16-The aggres-
siveness of the Colby reform move
ment has at last got the G. o. p.
state machine readers scared, and
State Treasurer Frank o. Briggs,
chairman of the republican state COM
mittee, has called a meeting of that
body at the Trenton house today at
IL am, to get ready for an active
warfare.
There was considerable discussion
about the state house yesterday as to
the object of the meeting, and 1t was
stated that the committee had merely
been called together for the purpose
of adopting a constitution and by
laws, with a view of getting a more
active organization.
State Chairman Briggs, when ask
ed about the meeting, said the call
had no further significance than the
carrying out of the determination
that was reached by the republican
leaders some time ago to make the
state committee a more active and eff
fective organization. This, he said,
accounted for the unusual proceed
ing of calling meeting of the COM
mittee just before campaign in
which neither a president nor gov
ernor was to be elected.
Chairman Briggs has spent consid-
cradle time gathering data with ref
erence to the workings of the politi-
cal committees of other states, and
that as rule, they play a very i'm
portant part in every campaign; have
permanent headquarters and issue
reports of value and interest to the
members of the party.
The New Jersey state republican
committee has heretofore confined
its activity to years when presiden-
tial or gubernatorial campaigns were
to be fought, and this is the first time
in so-called off year that the body
has been called together this early in
the year. 1t was admitted yesterday
that it was with the idea of changing
this that the meeting had been called.
The regular republican leaders re-
alize that much of the success of the
Colby movement in Essex county last
year was due to the fact that the re-
form campaign was started early, and
was aggressively waged all through
the summer.
With the United States senatorship
at stake this year, and in order to get
in shape for successful gubernator-
ial campaign in 1907, the Colby lead
ers have commenced active opera
tions even earlier this year. There are
already at work planning aggressive
assaults upon every county in the
state. Several have been invaded
with success.
Judge Runyon, of Plainfield, has
forsaken the regular ranks for the
Colby party, and has been made the
Colby leader in Union county.
Glittering offers of fat offices from
the G.. o. p. plum tree have failed to
tempt him to turn from his new love.
er Park, is the latest prominent
regular republican convert to the
ranks Of the reformers. This has
given the new movement very de-
cided impetus in Burlington county.
Colby is now at work in Bergen
county, and has plan mapped out
to skirmish the entire state.
These are some of the things that
have opened the eyes of the regular
republican state leaders, and caused
them suddenly to sit up and take no.
tice. 1t may be taken for granted,
therefore, that there is really more in
the meeting scheduled for today than
some of the leaders have been willing
to admit.