Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-09-13
FIRST ROUND
FOR finch
ABERDEEN man CONTROLS Re.
PUBLICAN STATE Committee.
Wins Every Point of Contention at
the r1eeting Held to Call District
Convention. Makes Winnir q
Combination Against PierCe e
County.

TACOMA, Sept. 11.-At the Re-
publican committee meeting held
here yesterday afternoon to name the
time and place of the coming con-
vention to nominate congressman
to take the place of Congressman
Cushman, Pierce county went down
and out before solid combination of
the other twelve counties of the
Southwest. The big feature of the
meeting is that it was dominated
from start to finish by Edward c.
Finch, of Aberdeen. the Chehalis
county candidate for congressman,
and as an opening preliminary of the
congressional fight indicates that
Pierce county will hereafter have to
reckon sharply with the counties bor-
dering on the Straits of F'uca and the
Pacific.
Finch came to Tacoma few days
ago and began preparing for the
meeting of this afternoon. Tacoma
politicians paid no attention to him,
but as a political pipe layer the
session of yesterday shows that he is
an artist
There were two important things
that he desired from this ses-
sion as helps in his fight for the
congressional nomination. He want
ed the apportiOnment for the conven-
ton changed and he wanted the con-
vention pulled away from Tacoma.
Pierce county wanted the convention
and it wanted the apportionment
based upon the vote cast at the last
general election. Resolutions passed
by the meeting We're exactly as writ
ten out at the Finch headquarters at
the Donnelly hotel and even the call
for the county convention was die
tated either by Finch or his lieuten-
ants and pounded off on his type
writer.
b. W. Coiner, chairman OF the
meeting and other Republican lead
ers who opposed the Southwest COM
bination, admitted after the session
was over that Finch was practically
in the saddle throughout the proceed
ings.
The first fight came up on the ap-
portionment for the convention. The
Finch people submitted their appor-
tionment, one glance at which sent
Chairman Coiner, who also represent
ed Pierce county in the meeting, up
in the air. When he came down he
had his coat off and his war paint
on. The apportionment, nevertheless,
went through by vote of IL to l.,
his being the only vote cast against
it.
In word the apportionment pro-
vides for six delegates at large from
each county of the district and one
delegate for every 200 votes cast for
Congressman Cushman at the last
election. Speaking for Pierce county
Coiner declared this arrangement
practically destroyed the difference
between large and small counties by
giving the small counties the delega-
tion-at-large He held the appar-
tionment should be based on one dele
gate for every hundred votes cast in
the several counties and declared
that such an arbitrary arrangement
might easily give the small counties
twenty or even thirty delegates-at-
large and curtail the representation
on the vote cast.
The Finch people declared that on
the basis of one delegate for every
one hundred votes for Cushman the
convention would consist of 800 de-
legates of which ia would be from
Pierce They held the delegate-at-
large arrangement would give Pierce
a good lead and be more fair to the
smaller counties.
The convention is called at Olym-
pia at / a. m, September 20. Pierce
county had no objection to the date
but it either wanted the convention
itself or favored Centralia. Eight
ballots were taken. For the first siN
Aberdeen received six votes, Cen
tralia six and Olympia one. Their
votes began shifting, Chehals ant
Lewis counties throwing theil
ctrancth m the canita1 CITY and or