The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-03-10
Caleb Conover, Railroader.

to wake" he observed. "Oftener they
Just open one eye and growl at bo.
Ing bothered, and then roll over AMI
go happily to sleep again while tho
Boss goes through their pockets. Don't
start this ca,npai Ign 100 enthusiastically.
Mr.. Standish. And don't get the idea
the people are begging to be walked.
II you wake them you've got to do
1t against their will. Not with any
help OF theirs. Maybe you can. May
he you cant AS you say, It's perhaps
worth try. Even if"
"But they've been walked before,n In.
sisted Standish And when they do
awaken, there are no hnlf-measures
about y. Look how Jerome on an
independent fight, won out against the
Machine in 1906. Why should the
Mountain State"
"The people ere sleepy by nature"
laughed Ansel. '"They wake IN with
roar, chase the Boss out Of thair
house. smash the Machine and then 20
lack to bed again with the idea they're
heroes. AS soon as their eyes are
Machine and reopens business at the
old stand, And that's what you have
TO look forward to. But we've been
all over this sort CT thing before.
I'll have your 'speech-route' made out
in an hour md start a man over II
halls and the 'papering' and the press
work. Speaking Of press work. ] had
your candidsture tclegraphed to New
York 10 the Associated Press early
this morning. Thercll bq perfect
cloud OF rcpcI tiers up here before night,
We must arrange to see them before
the Conover crowd can get hold Of
them Sympathy from ont-of state
papers won't dc us any harm. The
country at large has pretty fair idea
OF the way Conover runs the Mountain
State. And the country likes to watch
n good fight against long odds.
There's lots OF sympathy for the under
dog-as long as the sympathizcr has
no money on the upper one"
How about the sketch OF the situa-
ton that YOU were having Craig write
out, telling about the stolen franchises.
the arbitrary tnx-rate, the machine-
made candidates the railroad rule and
oil that? 1t ought to prove u good
campaign document If he handles the
subject WE'LL
.oh. he's handled It all right. I've
lcad the rough draft. Takes conover
from the very start. Tells of his boy
hood In the yards OF the G. G. 4
X. and how he bulicd and schemel
Until he got into the manngements
Offices the string OF saloons he ran
along the route and the drink checks
lie made the men on his section cash
z in for liquor al his saloons. and all
that. Then his career as Alderman.
when he found out beforehand where
the new reservoir lands and City Hall
site were to be, and his buying them
up. on mortgage. and clearing his
first beg pile And that deal he
worked In bearing tho c. G.. & n
stock to $1.10. and soaring every one
cut and scooping the pot; that's
brought in, too. And he's got the
n r. or - r1x fy,sD
the railroad against the State and the
State against the read, till he had
thront grip on both and
wait moment!" interrupted STAN
dish. us all the sketch made up OF
that sort of thlng?"
Most OF 1t. Good, red hot"
1T must be done all over, then. We
are not digging up Conover's personal
past, but his influence on the State
and on the Democratic party. I'm
not swinging the muck-rake or%ning-
Ing dirt at my opponent. That sort
Of ion-
'But it's hot stun, tell You, that
sort of literature! 1t helps a lot. You
can't hope to win II you wear kid
gloves in game like this"
whats the use OF arguing?" said
Standisl pleasantly. IF the League
was rash enough to choose me to rep-
resent 1t, then the League must put
up with my peculiarities And don't
intend to rise to the Capitol on any
mud piles, If you can show me how
Conover's early frauds and his gem
eral crookedness affect the issues OF
the campaign, then I'll give you leave
to publish his whole biography. But
TIL then let's run clean, shan't we?"
"Clean2'" echoed Ansel aght {.
4 I've been in this bushes matter Of
twenty-five years, and never yet
heard of victory won by drawing
room methods. But have your own
way. ] suppose you know. though,
that they'll rake up every lilo and
sur against you they can get their
hands on?
II suppose so. But that won't af-
fest the general issue either You
don't seem to real e, Ansel, that this
It's an effort to throw or Boss rule
and to free a State. Politics and per-
sonalities don't enter into 1T at all.