The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-01-15
JOHN N. KERNWAS
DOWNED BY
BREWERS
Beer Manufacturers Respon-
SibIe for His Defeat
SURPRISE IN ALL QUARTERS
Secret Ballot Means Used to Put Late
Candidate for Vice President Out
Of the Running

indianapolis, Ind, Jan. 15.-The de-
feat of John NJ. Kern, late candidate
for vice president of the United States
for the senatorial nomination in the
democratic caucus at 2 O'Clock yester-
day morning came as surprise to his
friends and to the democrats Of the
state generally, for more than half of
the Democratic members had been adj
vised of their constituents of prefer
ence for Kern, and no one supposed
that he would not be nominated.
All calculations gave him forty-seven
votes on the final ballot, these estinl-
ates being based on the known pref
erences for him among the Democrats
of the state in districts where policy
required that the home candidate
should be supported as long as there
was any possibility of his nomination.
The balloting required five hours,
b. F. Shiyely of South Bend being nam
ed on the twentieth ballot. His near
est rival Mr.. Kern, received 80 votes
on the final ballot.
Two things figured prominently In
Kern's failure to get the necessary
votes when the contest was narrowed
to him and Shively. Ten days before
the legislature assembled the brewery
influences in the democratic party be-
gan active work against Kern but did
not combine on any one candidate.
They were known, however, to be
equally hostile to L. Ert Slack and the
natural thing and the one on which
Kern's friends counted was combina-
ton finally between the friends OF the
two men TO whom the brewery infiu-
ence was opposed.
Before the caucus met there was
agitation in favor of secret ballot,
and the brewery element was back OF
this movement. They worked so hard
among the members that the secret
ballot was ordered, Kern's supporters
only standing out against IT, In the
meantime Kern and John e. Lamb,
knowing that the brewery element
was about to combine On Shipely, en-
tered into a combination by which
each was to throw votes to the other
as the ballot progressed. Slack's sup
porters learned OF this and were in
censed by it, and during the balloting
they stood firmly by their candidate
till it was certain that he could not be
nominated.
| When the break came they turned
( to Shively, and thus out Of revenge
threw their support to the element
that had been fighting Slack and as
sisted in nominating their man. This
was surprise to Shively's supporters,
but 1t was engineered by Senator
Fleming who is connected with the
brewery interests, and who was their
active representative in the caucus.
being himself the owner of a large
brewery.
Kern was not regarded as the rep
resentative either of the temperance
or the saloon element, while Slack
represented the temperance sentiment
because Of his votes for local option,
and the Shively represented the brew
ers or was VIGOROUSLY their candidate
1t happened, then, that he was nomi-
mated by combination of the forces
that were for him from the start and
of those that 1t was regarded as i'm
possible for him from the start to get.
The reason that the brewers took any
interest in the fight at all is the fact
that the temperance people are max
ing an effort to have Congress prevent
the shipment of liquors into dry
territory.
Mr.. Shively is a lawyer a graduate
of the University of Michigan Law
! School. He has served four terms In
the lower house of Congress, being
elected each time from Republican
district He will be the first Demo
cratic Senator from Indiana in sixteen
years.
--xuxv,N .a1froAut