Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1910-09-03
ETRENTON
LETTER
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE
OF THE PRESS


Democratic State convention scheduled
to be held a couple Of days after dele
gates are elected, the question of who
will be nominated for Governor by the
Democrats can only be determined at
this time by conjecture. The honor may
fall to either Dr. Woodrow Wilson, Frank
S. Katzenbach, Senator George Silzer or
Mayor Otto Wittpenn. If former Sena-
tor James Smith, Jr., can swing ma jor-
ity of the delegates the candidate will be
DR.. Wilson. In former years, when he
has sought it, Senator Smith has had d
lot of help from several prominent Demo
Gratis i'll different counties who now,
though they are ready and willing to
help him nominate Wilson, will scarcely
be able to deliver a single delegate from
their respective bailiwicks.
The Secretary of States office has not
thus far been notified Of single candi-
date for either the nomination of State
Senator OF member of the House of As
sembly who has availed himself of the
section of the direct primary act which
permits legislative aspirants to officially
pledge themselves to respect the popular
vote on the question Of electing a United
States Senator. Under the primary law,
legislative candidates can declare them
selves on the United States Senatorship III
one of two ways. The first provision is
pledge whereby the candidate agrees to
vote for the candidate for United States
Senator who receives the largest number
of votes i'll his party in the county where
the legislative candidate is running. The
other provision is i'll the form of a pledge
to abide by the popular vote on the Sena-
torial question as it is affected by the
result in the State. 1t is optional with
the legislative candidates whether they
will sign one of the two pledges, and no
time limit is set for the filing of such ID
pledge. While it is likely that some can
didates for the State Senate and the As
sembly will sign the pledge, it is the
opinion of those who follow State polt-
ical affairs closely that the great ma
iority of aspirants will not do so.
The reason for Frank NJ McDermit.
a Newark lawyer, filing a petition nomi
mating himself as Democratic candi-
date for the United States Senate, still
remains mystery. Some Democrats
seem to think it is merely an evidence
of monumental nerve on the part Of
McDermit, while others analyze it as a
veiled attempt of former Senator James
Smith, Jr., Of Newark, to enhance his
own chances of being elected to succeed
John Kean, i'll case the Legislature is
Democratic next winter, by seeking to
make the contest before the direct prim-
aries appear ridiculous through injecting
an inconsequential local politician into
the fight.
Deputy Secretary of State j. B. r.
Smith said today that the view of his
department is that under the election
laws every candidate to be voted Oh III
the direct primary election Oh September
l3, has the right to name a watcher or
challenger to personally watch the bal
loting. The instructions that are issued
by our office to election officers advise
the latter that every candidate has the
right to name a watcher in his own pc
half, and up to the present we have no
reason to change that ruling said Mr..
Smith. Il understand that County
Counsel Mum, of Essex, has given an
opinion that only county committees
have the right. under the Hines law
passed in 1909, to designate men entitled
to watch the balloting, but all we know
about the situation is what is contain
ed in the newspapers. So far as our de-
partment is concerned we hold to the
view that has always prevailed hereto
fore-that primary candidates can select
watchers for themselves and that such
selections must be recognized by elec-
tion officers
The first sign Of activity by the New
Jersey Anti-Saloon League in relation
to the Gubernatorial campaign came last
week when j. Frank Burke, of Newark,
Superintendent of the League, sent let
ters to each Of the avowed or receptive
candidates among both Republicans and
Democrats, asking for a declaration on
the subject of local option. To each
candidate was sent with the AntiSaloon
Leagues letter copies of the local option
bill introduced by Senator w. G. Geb-
hardt and Assemblyman Samuel A.
Ridgway last spring. This enclosure was
made in order that each candidate might
see that the law that is being urged by
the local option people is simply to pro
vide that the voters in any particular
municipality shall have the power by
their own initiative to determine Dy
means of a majority vote at a special
election whether they shall have licenses
issued or whether they shall not"
Friends of Senator Harry d. Leavitt,
of Mercer, breathed a sigh of relief yes
terday when they learned that former
Senator Barton B. Hutchinson had re-
iected the advice of close political friends
and would not again make a contest for
seat in the upper branch of the Legis-
lature. Mr.. Hutchinson preceded Mr..
Leavitt as Senator, and fathered the
Bishops bill in the Legislature. He fail
ed of a denomination three years ago on
account of the opposition of those who
were dispIeased with his sponsorship Of
the Bishops bill.
The Borough of Princeton, the home
of Woodrow Wilson, vii be represented
in the Democratic State Convention by
Richard Stockton and Joseph S. Holf
who, it is interesting to know, are
against the idea of making the college
president Gubernatoral candidate
They are favorable to the nomination
of former Mayor Frank S. Katezenbach
Jr., of this city.
Those who presume to know declare
that everything is lovely and the goose
hangs high" politically, between Con
gresham Benjamin +. Howell and Stat,