The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-11-09
POLITICAL GOSSIP
Will Be No Republican -Ratifica-
tiOn Celebration.
Chairman j. N. D)IIey VetOes
the Plan.
WILL BE ONE SIDED.
Contest for Speakership Is Rap
idly Taking Form.
Senator Getty Planning to Con-
test for Seat.

There will be no Republican
ratification celebration Captain j
N. Dolley has vetoed the plan. He does
not believe in ratif1cations.
| 81 don't know where this talk of a
ratification meeting started, said
Chairman Dolley, "but personally
don't believe in 1t. 1 believe it is a
good scheme to lick the opposition to
a standstill, but after you have got
them licked. don't believe in rubbing
it in. We have licked the Demo
Gratis in Kansas good and plenty this
| year, and now | can't see what there
| is to gain by making a demonstra-
| ton the only object OF which would
be to crow over. them. If such a
| demonstration was held, there would
be a lot of over-enthusiastic Re
publicans who would think it the
proper thing to get out and parade
around with banners and trans
| parencies inscribed with all sorts of
unpleasant remarks about the Demo-
Gratis, and such things would only stir
up party bitterness. 1t wouldn't help
the Republicans any.
1.-THE idea that a political cam paign
was a warfare in which every man on
the other side was a liar, a scoundrel
and a horsethfef, who ought to be
hanged or burned at the stake is go
ing out of date. The way to make
converts to your side is not to use
honest argument. That's the way we
conducted this campaign, and that's
the way the state central committee
will be run as long as 1 am chairman
of it,"
Chairman DolIey does believe in
having the headquarters Of the Re-
publican state central committee kept
open the year around at 919 Kansas
avenue, and this plan will probably be
adopted by the committee
The way the politicians are talking
it looks as though there would not be
much to the speakership contest at
the coming session of the legislature
but J. N. DolIey.
Most of the Republican members
have "hearn tell about Joe Dol1ey,
and they will be more likely to vote
for him for speaker simply because
state committee and made a winning
fight.
There are only-2o Republicans in
the house who were formerly con-
nected with that branch of the
legislature, and as the new members
have no special reason to feel ac-
quainted with the work of Robert
Stone, w. L. Cunningham, A G.
Mitchell, S. L. Ryan or other candi-
dates, it gives DolIey a considerable
advantage. I'll.
DolIey has done a great deal to
smooth over the factional fight in the
Republican party since he has been
chairman, and this fact will make him
not undesirable to the MACHINE
crowd The chances now seem to be
that Dolley will not have very much
opposition on the Republican caucus
w. A Reeder is now reported to
have been reelected to congress in
the Sixth district by the narrow mar
gin of 290 votes.
The friends of Speaker Joe Can
non say that Reeder's close shave is
due to the fact that he came out with
a statement just before election that
he was opposed to Cannon for
speaker. Reeder's majority two years
ago was $500 and he has never re-
ceived less than 2,100 until this cleo
ton. Tt is now reported that the
majorities in the Reeder counties of
the district were as follows:
Cheyenne, 1874; Ellsworth, IS; Cove,
1876; Jewell. 200: Logan, 1876; Graham,
140; Lincoln, AZ; Smith, 143; Osborne,
371; Phillips, 10S; Rocks, 40; Russell,
321; Trego, 1854; Wallace, 1O6. To-
tai, 2.106.
ConneiIy's majorities came from
these counties: Decatur, SIG; Ellis,
654; Mitchell, 113; Rawlins, 81; Sher
man. 10; Thomas, 270; Norton, Ill;
Sheridan, SO.
From very meager reports received,
the two constitutional amendments
which were proposed at the recent
election are said to have been lost.
One of the amendments proposed to
raise the pay of members of the legis-
lature from So per day to $500 for the
session. 1t was a good amendment, !
and should have been adopted.
The purpose of the other amend |
ment is generally misunderstood, and
the chances are that not one person in
a hundred who voted on it knew what |
he was voting about.
The purpose of the amendment was |
to define what offices a judge of the |
supreme court or a judge of any court |
of record might hold. It was to |
amend section IS, article of the con-
stitution wherein it says:
:" Such justices shall receive |
no fees or perquisities nor hold any |
office of profit or trust under the au- |
thority of the state or the United |
States, during the term of office for |
which such justices or judges shall be
The amendment proposed to insert, |
after the words UNITED States" the |
following:
federal court or justice or judge of |
any court in this state"
This was a fair amendment, Tor 1t |
simply enabled judges to be promoted /
from the district bench to some high |
er bench. But in drafting the minor |
and incidental portion of the amend |
ment, the wording was changed to IN
clude "au courts of record instead OF |
UlStT1CI courts Change
would include probate courts, and the |
section as amended would operate to |
deprive probate judges of all their |
income during the next two Yeas. |
This was not the intention of the
but it apparently would |
have had that effect. It was therefore
a defective amendment, and its defeat |
will save a lot of trouble.
state Senator James Getty is plan
ming 10 contest the election of T. A. |
Milton, the Democrat who was elected
to the senate from Wyandotte county.