Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-27
PEACE PACT SIGNED
West Virginia Republicans
Bury TomahaWk.
RIVAL LEADERS STEP DOWN
William E. Glasscock at Head of Re-
united Party.
IS REGARDED SAFE FOR TAFT
Outcome on Governorship Not So
Certain-Party Shows But Lit
tie Enthusiasm.

Special Correspondence Of The Star.
WHEELING. w Va. September o6. 1908.
After a full twelve months of fitful
futtering on the gubernatorial stage. c.
w. Swisher and A c. Scherr bow their
adieus to a patient public and step
through the exits William Ellsworth
Glasscock a new Richmond is suddenly
projected on the scene as the one and
only republican bearer of the guberna
torial standard. Peace has come at last
to the dominant party. But there is a
conspicuous absence of the festive dove.
Within the week Swisher announced his
withdrawal and the state committee filled
the vacancy by nominating Glasscock. OF
seventeen names submitted to the Scherr
leaders who gathered for the doings at
Charleston seven were struck off as I'M
desirable. GlaSscock was one of the
seven, but the so-called Swsher commit
tee named him by a majority of three
over all. nine for Glasscock, six scatter
ing. The Scherr people feel they were
insulted in being asked to pick out a
bunch from the seventeen suggestions as
satisfactory and then have the commit
tee name Il man to whom they were hos
tile.
Consequently. while the Scherr party
Withdrew it's rival state ticket it said a
1t passed resolutions which failed to in
dorse Glasscock and by implication really
denounced him IS an obnoxious machine
candidate. and promised to add to the
hilarity by pronunciamento or manifesto
to the republicans of West Virginia later
on.
Party Reunited.
Glasscock heads the ticket named at
the regular convention. and. therefore,
ho will no Of no
complications of two tickets. The out
come means a united If not enthusiastic
party. 1t means but one set of pres
Dental electors, distinct gain for Taft
at first sight, but it is a question if the
Taft vote would not have been greater
with both factions striving for future ma
tional recognition by bending their
energies On respectively big votes for
Taft. There is the danger that the dis
content aroused at the Glasscock nomina
ton may induce the Scherr followers to
scratch Taft in order to fasten RESPONSE
bility for slump on the Swisher~ Elkins
machine. now ruling the roost exclusively.
That may be a remote conjecture but
it is grounded on the former utterances.
of Lincoln party leaders that if the ma
tional committee had expressly declared
against putting the electors on their
ticket they would have endeavored to
throw the state to Bryan. SWisher pre-
diets plurality of $1,000 for Taft.
Swisher is by nature unusually sanguine,
but many of his tips in the past have
been accurate. Other republicans OF
high degree say Taft's margin will not
exceed 1000 unless conditions change
before the election.
Grant Dissatisfied
Another thorn in the Lincoln factions
side is that the nomination of Glasscock
is peculiarly distasteful to E. NJ. Grant,
the Lincoln party's state chairman. Both
are citizens of Morgantown and rival
leaders of two republican factions in Mo-
nongalia county. They have been at odds
for years, with the Glasscock element
usually in the supremacy. 1t is not
difficult to figure the present state of
Grants feelings.
Many causes have been assigned for
Swisher's withdrawal He personally dis
misses all of those advanced by saying
with a characteristic touch of humor that
he did not quit because of any influence
of Senators Elkins and Scott or any deal,
but reached the conclusion after hold
ing a conference one day with himself"
The collapse of the Scherr movement
subsequently was a foregone conclusion,
since the backbone of the Scherr cam
paign was a bitter personal opposition to
Swisher. OPPOSITION to the state commit
tee and to Elkins, and, in less degree, to
Scott. were side trimmings.
1t is believed that Swsher contemplate
ed withdrawal weeks before, but delayed,
pending the official recognition by the
tional committee of his nomination and
of the state committee selected at his
convention. After the national committee
gave him the official seal he was in d
position to dictate his successor,
which, otherwise. would have been impos-
sible. The whole thing would have been
left wide open If Swisher had quit be-
fore this recognition.
Loss and Gain.
From an organization staGpoint the
rival factions leaders are now out in the
cold, or exactly where they would have
been if they had abided by the result of
the regular convention at the start but
they gain the satisfaction of eliminating
Swisher and of securing from the state
committee set of rules which will
govern the future selection of dele
gates.
Swisher and Scherr have until. the 4th
of next March to serve. respectively, as
secretary of state and auditor. Specua-
ton is rife as to the consideration for
Swisher's withdrawal Glasscock. the
new nominee, is the present collector of
internal revenue, and there were rumors
of deal which would make SwiSher his
successor. but that is discounted because
Swisher could not succeed him in the
near future. However Glasscock will
hardly resign until he is elected governor.
and will hardly do so if he isn't. But it
is known that he has been ready to re-
sign. If his office would solve the fac
tional troubles even as far back as the
beginning of this year.
AS matter of fact the republicans
were so relieved by the withdrawal of
Swisher and the peace pact it insured that
they were not inclined to be fastidious
about the new nominee. OF course this
excludes the percentage of those intensely
interested in state politics who had pref
erences selfish or unselfish. but the great
mass of voters wanted nothing so much
as one republican ticket in the field.
Satisfied, But Not Enthusiastic
They are not enthusiastic over Glass
cock. They would not have been over
any one of the other sixteen names sub
mitted. For the settlement comes late
after a ng-drawn-out. monotonous en-
broglio. giving every man the tired feel
ing Rut there is wide and pronoupced