The Mt. Sterling advocate., 1912-06-05
Nice Compliment Paid
Mr.. Henry r. Prewitt.

Argus" for the Louisville Her
aid, predicted on the day before
the State convention that the con-
testing delegations would be
counted for Senator-elect James
for chairman of the convention.
On several occasions since Argus
has made the statement that Sen
ator-elect James would have been
elected chairman if he had con-
sented to have these delegations
counted for him. Argus, in max
ing these statements, is, in the
opinion of The Herald, makingAn
unfounded insinuation against the
integrity of former State Chair
man Henry r. Prewitt, whose
duty it was to pass upon the right
of delegates to participate in the
temporary organization when there
were contests. In other words
Argus intimates that if Senator
elect James would have accepted
stolen goods Chairman Prewitt
would have stolen them for him.
The simple facts are that Chair
man Prewitt ruled fairly and
squarely on every point brought
before him. He preserved his
temper admirably and welded a
a fve-pound bungstarter with tell
ing force at times in the effort to
restore order. In taking the chair
and calling the convention to or
der he announced that he held the
welfare. of the Democratic party
above that of any man or set of
men and his action as chairman of
the convention until an organiza-
tion was effected bore out the truth
and sincerity of that statement.
He said that there would be no
rough riding and he kept the word
he gave the delegates and the peo-
pie of Kentucky the night before
the convention when, in answering
an inquiry of the newspaper men
as to the truth of the rumor that
the James people were trying to
induce him to rule the next day so
as to seat all the James contestants,
he said that every ruling of his
would be governed by the party
law.
The Herald does not believe that
Argus is correct when he implies
that Henry Prewitt stood ready to
steal the Kenton county delegation
and the organization if Ollie James
had been willing to stand for it.
1t does not fit in with Mr.. Prev
tits course as chairman of the
convention. 1t does not fit into
the reputation Mr.. Prewitt has
won as chairman of the State Cen
tral and Executive Committees and
Mr.. Peters knows as we'll as any
one else that all his effort to heap
glory on Ollie's big brow because
he wouldn't accept a stolen election
as chairman is what is known in
the vernacular as "guff." There
was at no time in evidence any dis
position on the part of Mr.. Prev
lit to be unfair. While his ruling
in the Campbell county case was
questioned by some of the dele
gates his rulings in the Pulaski
and Kenton county cases, immedi-
ately following, showed that he
was not disposed to disrupt the
Democratic party by being mixed
up in the scheme to steal a victory
fairly won by the State Admins
tration and which everybody but
Argus, the Courier-Journal and
Times knew had been won, and
knew it on the Saturday night of
the mass conventions in the coun-
ties.
Let Mr.. James receive due credit
for all that he has done. but let
that credit not be given at the ex-
pense of unwarranted and untrue
assumptions that the chairman of
the State convention stood ready
to perpetrate any kind of crooked
ness to help Mr.. James achieve his
object and that only the Senator