The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-12-01
NOT FOR STUBS.
Topeka Club Refuses to PERMIT
Governor to Dine There.
Was Invited to Attend the VAL
entine.JOhnstOn Dinner.
A CHANGE is MADE.
Banquet Will Be Held at Elks
Instead.
Mr.. Valentine Refused to With
draw Invitation.
A CHANGE is MADE.

tors of the Topeka club today
ra.o,,,tion was passed unanimously
that Dell Valentine. clerk OF the su-
preme court who was to give n uin-
ner at the club rooms tomorrow hlsht
in honor of Chief Justice Johnston. oe
requested to Withdraw his lnV!atlol
to Governor Stubbs to be present at
this dinner Mr.. Valentine at once
decided to give the dinner at the Elks
club.
Governor Stubbs is on the program
for a speech and his address is to be
one of the features of the evening
entertainment.
When Dell Valentine was asked To-
dav what he intended to do in view
of the clubs action in declining TO
entertain one of his guests. he said:
1.-The Topeka club did not want TO
entertain one of the guests l heo IN
vited to a dinner at the club, there
fore 1 have cancelled the order for
the dinner at that club and will give
my dinner at the Elks club.
Yes. the governor will speak at
the dinner tomorrow night as ar
ranged. That is all l have to say
about the matter.
The Elks' club, like the Topeka
club had allowed its members to keep
their private stock of liquors at the
club rooms That was before the at
torney general got busy with his new
prohibition law. So the governor
will be a guest in the tents of the
wicked after all And the Elks will
have the esteemed privilege of enter
tanning the prohibition governor to-
morrow night.
First Time in History.
This is the first time in the history
cf the state of Kansas that governor
was barred from attendance at a So
cal gathering of the states distin-
guished men. And to make the incl,
cent more unusual and the rebuff
more humiliating, the governor had
iready received his invitation to the
.iinner had accepted and had prepared
lis speech for the occasion. 1t was
announced in Governor Stubbs' ofhce
this morning that he would attend the
Johnston banquet at the Topeka club
sId would make a speech at the din
~
of course there is a reason for this
extraordinary action on the part of the
Topeka club directors. Governor
.stubbs had been a member of the
Topeka club for several years and had
often dined guests at the club rooms.
nly a few months ago he had Cover
! or Hadley OF Missouri for a guest at
Z dinner at the club. Shortly after the
Hadley banquet the governor wrote to
rhe club directors demanding that the
locker system used by the club mem
hers for their private stocks of liquors
te abolished it was contrary to the
state law. In this letter he intimated
lhat if this was not done he would
withdraw his membership from the
Cub.
The president of the club replied
that the locker system would not be
abolished anu this reply carried with
it the implied intimation that If the
governor wanted to he could quit the
Cub.
Governor Stubbs sent in his resigna-
.Ion at once, and later Attorney Cen
eral Jackson started proceedings
inst 20 1I1I viz Of In
prohibitory law through its use of the
locker system. The attorney general
occurred an injunction against the club
3rom the district judge of Shawnee
county and this injunction suit is now
Iending in the courts. There is also
sr custer suit against the club pend
ing in the supreme court. The custer
suit is based on the allegation that
1he club has violated it's charter in the
maintenance of the locker system con-
rary to state laws.
Now the directors and house commit
tee of the Topeka club argue that as
the injunction suit is still pending ic
the courts the club is under the ban If
the club was SO bad four months ago
that the governor was compelled to
cancel his membership in the organiza-
tion it is still too bad for him to enter
as a guest. The club is still beyond
the pale of the law as the governor in
terprets that law. No member; no
guest. That is the clubs argument in
a nutshell
After the governor withdrew his
membership from the club and made
that withdrawal public no one dreamed
that he would ever cross the threshold
of the club again. But the governor
evidently experienced a change os
heart. for he accepted the Valentine in
vitatiQn with alacrity and hastened to
prepare his speech for the Johnston
dinner.
Why Governor Was Excluded.
When the club directors learned tha.
the governor was to be a guest and
speaker at the Johnston dinner a meet
ing of the directors was called to con-
slider the matter. The governor had
experienced a change of heart. it ap-
reared. not so the club members He
had publicly insulted the club by car
ceiling his mem berShip through III.
newspapers and giving as reasons
therefor that the club was disobevinr
the law. The club membership is com
posed of the leading business and pro
1esslonai men of Topeka and many
other of the important cities of the
state The Topeka club is considered
the swellest organization of the kind a
the state and has entertained scores OF
the famous men of the nation in past
years.
Tit for Tat.
AS one of the members put it:
The club has a dignity to maintain
as wen as the governor The governor
cancelled his membership with the
club. as was his privilege. Now the
club in its turn declines to entertaia
the governor as a guest within IL
portals. Tit for tat
The club was humiliated in public.
Now it is the governors turn. The
club is sorry to have to refuse hospi-
tality to the chief executive of the
state. but its directo- feel that as they
have entertained no change of heart as
regards the locker system about which
the governor SO virtuously complained,