Charlevoix county herald., 1912-11-02
Desperate Attempt Being Made
to Cast Discredit on President
Taft's Nomination Fails.
EYEWITNESS TELLS INSIDE
True Story of Fight From Wayne
County Told In impartial Manner
by Weli-known Political Writer
Fair Example of All Contests.
BY w. L. CaInon.

One OF the most desperate efforts
made by the enemies of the Repub-
iican party in Michigan to destroy the
high regard and respect felt for it
throughout the state, was at the Bay
City state convention last April. Fail
ing miserably in their efforts to seize
control OF the party, it's enemies
created all the trouble possible, even
posting state troops in the conven-
ton hall. They turned around later
and by a policy of continuous misrep-
resentation have endeavored to make
the voters OF the state believe that
the Republican party was responsible
for all the disgraceful scenes enacted
by its bitter opponents.
An understanding of the real events
leading up to the Bay City convention
and occurring in Bay City itself-the
true story of the Michigan campaign
for delegates to the Republican ma
tional convention-is sufficient for
any one to grasp the plot that lay
behind the effort to seize control of
the party or to wreck It. A full I'M
derstanding OF what happened in
Michigan throws flood of light on
what happened later in Chicago,
where Michigan was but one of many
states involved in the effort of the
enemies of the great party of Lin
coin, Grant, Garfield and Mckinley
to destroy it.
The struggle for eventual control
of the Bay City convention was
statewide, but the enemies of the
party concentrated their efforts in
Wayne county because OF it's voting
strength of one-fifth of the delegates
in the convention. In many districts
of Wayne county the opposition did
not even have candidates for dele
gates, but depended on the great size
of the county convention gathering to
cause confusion and to so entangle
matters that the city and state at
large would remain in doubt as to
which side really had a majority of
delegates.
Knowing in advance that they did
not have even one-third of the dele
gates, they boldly claimed majority
and declared that all they feared was
"gayel rule" on the part Of the chair
man.
Before the county chairman had
completed the few words needed to
call the convention to order, City
Clerk Charles A. Nichols mounted
table in one corner of the hall and
called upon all his followers to leave
the hall with him. A total of 50 men
followed him down the stairs to the
floor below, and not all Of the 50 were
delegates to the convention Nichols
announced that their convention al
ready had been held and gave out
copies of the resolutions" adopted.
That was all the pretense to holding
convention. For some time later
Mr.. Nichols stood around outside the
hall writing, down names of men who
might go to the Bay City convention
as delegates"
The county convention proceeded
regularly with it's business. The Gre
dentials of 1872 delegates out of
total of 215 were passed upon and all
seated, and the Wayne delegation to
the state convention named.
The day before the Bay City con-
vention was to meet, it was ascer-
tanned that only two contests of seats
were possible. the one expected from
Wayne county and another from
Calhoun county. The state central
committee met as usual to hear con-
tests. Evidence in the Calhoun case
was considered and the regularly
elected delegates seated instead of
those named by a trump" conven-
ton. Mr.. Nichols and others were
notified to submit their Wayne con-
test il they had any, but they failed
to make any presentation of their
frail case. The regularly elected dele
gates then were seated.
Then followed the effort of the par
TVS enemies, who knew that they did
not have a third of the delegates to