The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1910-07-08
THE TACOMA CONVENTION
Standpat Republicans Planning to Capture
it and Freeze Out the Progress
sive Element

II the Standpat Republican leader;
in this state can accomplish their pur-
pose, the coming Republican state
convention, called for the sole object
of nominating candidates for the Su.
preme Court, will be turned into
weapon for the punishment of the Pro-
gressives of the party. This is proven
by the fact that in five Of the dozen
counties which have thus far acted, the
central committees have chosen dele
gates to the state convention without
holding a county convention or refer
ring them to the people in any way.
This extraordinary star-chamber pro-
cedure already has taken place in Ben
ton, Kittitas, Grant Chehalis and Thur
ston counties, representing 81 dele
gates, while in King county, with 1o2
delegates, authority has been given to
appoint the delegates without the Gus
tomary formality of primaries and a
county convention. This means that
more than one-fourth of the delegates
to the state convention thus far chosen
are fully committed to machine or
standpat policies. In Chehalis county
protests already are being published
against these high-handed methods Of
choosing delegates. Thomas Harlan
writing to the Oakville Cruiser, says:
THE state convention system of
nominating candidates for the supreme
bench having been restored by the
legislature, no power exists in a county
central or executive committee or any
other committee to appoint delegates
to represent Chehalis county in state
convention to nominate Supreme Court
judges. The county central com
mittee, as it now exists, is obsolete, so
far as anything is concerned beyond
calling a county convention in the
usual and lawful way. The argument
attempted, that the calling of a con-
vention would be cumbersome and ex-
pensive, is not sound reasoning. 1t is
subterfuge for set of politicians who
call themselves the county central
committee, to send themselves to the
state convention to give what they call
insurgency a jolt"
The South Bend Journal, which is
not committed to any candidate for
Senator, says.
THE action of the Chehalis county
Republican central committee in ap-
pointing delegates to the coming state
convention without holding primaries
or county convention decidedly is
high-handed, and yet it is the course
being advocated by the machine poll
ticians all over the state. Judges
nominated in a convention composed
of practically self-appointed delegates
will rest under the suspicion OF having
been named by corporations and in
terests which do not dare take their
chances with men named directly by
the people. +"
This sort of talk is an indication OF
the danger that lies in convention
made up entirely of Standpatters under
a unit rule, and under the complete
control of men determined on adopt
ing policies entirely hostile to the best
interests of the state from progressive
standpoint. With the standpatters in
control at Tacoma and the corporations
and special interests behind the Stand
patters, the people may expect reac-
tionary platform against which the Pro-
gressiye Republicans of the state, led
by Representative Miles PoindexteI
will be in honor bound to protest. In
deed, the standpat leaders make no
secret of the purpose to read Judge
Poindexter out of the party, and thus
furnish docile members of the legisla-
ture with an excuse to ignore the man
date of the primary, should the Spo-
kane candidate chance to be the pop
ular choice for senator.
There is one factor, however, that
is left out of the reckoning in these
standpat plans to thwart the peoples
will That is Poindexter himself, and
he is not the sort Of man to be read
out of the party now or in the future