The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1908-07-31

. At $3.50 o'clock this afternoon,
the democratic party, Of West Vir-
ginia, in state convention assembled,
went on record as being opposed to.
the colored citizenship Of the state
by incorporating in Its platform, two
planks, one TOR the acknowledgements
of the colored electorate as it Is
i practiced In the south, s.t,aild the 9th
er demanding = M Grow cars on the
rRiaroA da< opefate fl West Virginia.
Heeding not the warnings Of the last
democratic governor of the state,
William A: MacCorkle, that such ac-
tion meant the defeat Of Louis Ben
nett, their candidate for governor;
hearing not the pleadings of w. E.
and Col. Joseph e. Chiffon, their
leaders for many years through ad-
versity, who condemned such a.
course as suicidal. listening not to
the words Of their keen-visioned lead
er, Col. John T! McGraw, who fore
saw defeat, the democrats of West
Virginia, early this afternoon, ruth.
lessly scattered to the four winds Of
heaven whatever chance they had af-
ter the nomination of their guberna-
- torial candidate, Bennett, and plung-
ed headlong into the abyss of defeat,
carrying with them their candidate
for the, presidency, william Jen-
nings Bryan, and. effectually blight
ing the hopes of carrying the great
states Of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
The extent OF their action this az
ternoon the democratic delegates do
not realize, nor can they foresee, like
their leaders, the blasting Of hopes
it carries with 1t. Immediately af-
ter It's passage had been announced
and that the two planks in question
would be INCORPORATED In the state
platform the delegates left the wig
wam for a. recess until 3 o'clock ut
terly oblivious OF the position In
which they placed the party. But on
the faces OF the leaders was written
a stern realization of their predica-
ment. Feeling that they had a
bright chance for victory in Novem-
Der, these leaders are now cast down,
believing implicitly that that oppor-
tunity has been thrown away and will
come no more.
The Incorporation In the platform
of the two planks is big victory for
the Byrnes, George and Will. The
former has battled year in and year
out for such plank and defeat has
not dampened their. enthusiasm for
the object which he attained this
morning. He g8mbly fought against
the biggeBt men In his party, and
when with the assistance Of J. J..
Davis, the old Harrison county lead
er and chairman OF the committee
on resolutions he had the two planks
reported favor@bly In the state plat
form he knew that he had won.
When last night before the conven-
tion he said, This is the proudest
moment Of my life," everybody rea-
lized that it was true.
The two planks came before the
convention this morning when J. b..
Finley, Of Wood county, mounted the
stage and submitted the report of the
committee to which the planks had
been committed last night for fur
Their consideration. Finley stated
that the committee had met again
this morning and now desired to re-
port back to the convention the two
planks without the dotting of an "T''
OF the crossing OF a "p.
Immediately 70. T.. .Nuckolls, Of
Faystte& county received recognition
: and launched out into an effort for
the incorp6r ration OF the two planks.
~ 81 aS l - ~ sS.sks - e :.