Evening star., 1912-07-21

compromise when the balloting threaten
ed to be prolonged. Bledsoe owes his
nomination to a speech he made. offering
to release delegates in his county dele
cation bound by a unit rule. and this
of1er caught the convention. illustrating
on what little things a nomination turns.
But Little Competition.
William r. Thompson, named without
opposition for governor. and Ignatius
Brennan for treasurer and W. +. Alex
ander for auditor were the beneficiaries
of cinches. while Hal De Pue had little
trouble in beating William NJ. Sawyers
for secretary Of state. The three electors
at large were consolation honors given to
sawyers. Smith and Butcher. The plat
form adopted was concise and progress
I've and reflected a Bryan sentiment,
but the convention refused to take the
initiative and referendum. The recall Of
judges was evaded. but there was plank
calling for enlarged grounds for impeach-
ing judges and another for a reform in
court procedure to the end that litigation
be simplifed. The convention refused to
adopt a Jim Grow" plank, largely be-
cause such a plank proved embarrassing
four years ago.
The convention was noteworthy because
OF the failure Of the leaders and bosses
to handle things. Ex-Gov. MacCorkle
in attempting to offer a resolution the
first day, was hooted at and Missed, and
he left for his home at Charleston that
evening The feeling against MacCorkle
was inspired by reason Of his controversy
with Bryan at Baltimore.
Senator Chiffon was too ill to attend,
and Senator Watson returned to Wash
while John T. McGraw could not hold
his followers. In other words, it was an
Independent, progressive aggregation. en-
tirely Embossed. and the younger element
showed thu older fellows into d corner
whenever there was a clash.
Republicans Somewhat Bewildered.
dered. Most republicans want to remain
regular Those inclined to Roosevelt
would live to vote for him in the repub-
lican column. Most of these hesitate
about allying themselves with a new
party. They believe the present compli-
cation is only temporary. and those with
political ambitions do not want to be
classed as boilers, but they are not har-
monized to a rule Of regularity that in
sists on their voting for Taft
The test, as they desire TO put it. is
on support OF the state and county
tickets and not the national ticket,
this year. 1t is understood that all or
nearly all of the state and county can
didates hope for an arrangement that
would permit their names to be placed
on two tickets. SO as to get the aggregate
republican vote. but this suggestion is
distasteful to the other crowd, who in
sist on regularity for the presidency as
the acid test
L. d. Vickers OF Charleston, one of the
presidential electors recently named, def
initely refused to commit himself to
Chairman Highlands inquiry as to
whether he would support Taft. Another.
J. W. Harman. declared for the with
drawal of both Taft and Roosevelt.
In the meantime. speculation on West
Virginia. which has been. put lin a class
by itself by Woodrow Wilson and his
managers. runs to a division Of sentiment
on state and national tickets. Even with
the Taft Roosevelt mix-up republicans
field to the governors chair and carry
with him the balance of his ticket. They
believe the people have famiiarized
themselves by independent voting suf-
hciently to scratch certain parts without
sacrificing the entire ticket
Conservatively Optimistic.
On the other hand, the democratic
leaders indulge in a sort of conservative
optimism. They do not think they can
lose West Virginia for Wilson. except by
q very small margin-if they lose it.
They expect to carry ii by a good vote.
but intend to work on the theory that 1t
with the tariff as the main issue. They
are not so confident OF electing their
state ticket, but contend that Thompson
10 as popular as Hatfield in the southern
section, where they both hail from. But
the TACT remains that Hatfield is more