The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1906-08-02
CUMMINS WINS OUT
lie Has a Clear Majority on Roll
Call and will be Nominated
on First Ballot.

on First Ballot.
The great battle which has been rag
ing at Des Moines since last week is
over, and Governor Cummins has won
out in his desperate fight against the
stand-patters who were bound to defeat
him by fair means or foul. Des Moines
has been crowded with delegates and
visitors. The first of the week it looked
as if the stand-patters were going to
force split in the party, as the state
central committee under the direction
of the notorious Ed Hunter, decided
they would decide the contests and
made up roll of delegates prior to the
coming of the convention. The stand
patters had instigated contests in many
counties relying on the fact that they
controlled majority of the state COM
mittee, and their plan was to throw out
enough Cummins delegations to leave
the convention in the control of the
stand-patters. This seemed to be their
program until Tuesday evening when
the political leaders at Washington
fearing the effect of such mighty split
in the republican party in Iowa as
would be sure to follow such action, got
busy and sent an edict to Des Moines
that it would be better to lay down
than to jeopardize the reelection of the
congressman from Iowa, and intimated
in strong language that the national
party would not stand for deliberate
steal. Following this notice the
Iowa congressman got busy. Willy
Pete Hepburn was conspicuous by
his absence, but nine of the rep
resentatives held meeting and
decided that it was time for them to
interfere. They called on Chairman
Spence and informed him that the
committee must give some sort of a
deal tending toward harmonizing the
rapidly dividing factions, and this the
committee did, although there We're
many groans and some few curses.
Late Tuesday evening the state COM
mittee made it's report, and announced
they had voted to seat the Perkins
delegates from Dallas, Audubon, Jasper,
Jefferson and Wapello counties, and the
Cummins delegates from Polk, Boone,
Scott, Carroll, Delaware, Allamakee and
Lyons counties, but it was reported that
when the committee met again on We'd
nesday morning they would reconsider
their decision as to Dallas county and
the Cummins delegates from that
county may also be recognized.
The decision of the committee seats
SS Perkins delegates out of the 266 that
were put in contest and protest, and
1S0 Cummins delegates, which gives
Gov. Cummins not counting Dallas
county, S57 delegates, or a majority of
y. Should he secure Dallas county it
would give him 10s majority.
All kinds of overtures were made to
Cummins looking to compromise
which would allow the stand-patters to
name the candidate for lieutenant
governor, but he fatty refused to con-
slider any kind of a deal, saying that he
considered the nomination of Garst as
essential to victory as his own nomina-
tion, and it looks at this time as though
the Cummins faction would absolutely
control the nominations, although they
may consent to giving the stand-patters
a few of the minor Offices.
1t is great victory to the progress
i've element of the republican party,
and terrible black eye to the old time
bosses who made the fight of their
lives, but have gone down in sorry
defeat, and it is exceedingly doubtful
whether Blythe, Hunter and the gang
of followers who obeyed them will ever
regain the power which they have used
with such an iron hand in Iowa politics
There is deep gloom among the old
bosses and nowhere is it deeper or
more bitter to swallow than right here
in Decatur county.