Arizona republican., 1914-02-17
DEMOCRATS IN COUNCIL
State Central Committee In Session All Day At State House Does Nothing. Administration Controls Deliberations.

sponSe to the call issued some time back by Chairman Olney. The majority of the members of the committee 1e- nied any knowledge of what the meet ing was called for, prior to attending the executive session held in the after noon, and when this was finished Chairman George A. Olney said the re- suit of he meeting was that the party was found well solidified and ready to down any opposition from the opposite political faiths.
 The first session began shortly after 10 o'clock, when Chairman Olney called the meeting to order In the absence of J. H. Robinson of Yavapai county, who is the secretary of the state com
 mittee, Selim Mchealson of Maricopa was elected secretary pro tenn. While nothing of importance was given out to the public relative to the meeting, it caused a great deal to talk among the democratic politicians, and at tracted a goodly number of them to the state house to view the sessions and hear the speeches providing of course that it was possible to do so. At the last meeting of the commit tee nearly two years ago now, the op- position to the governor by the use Of proxies obtained control of the conI- mittee and rolled the heavy instrument | known as the steam roller in a scme- what blythe manner over the sover- 1 serving the trend of things then ! thought that the governors friends had | probably been caught mapping. At this ! meeting of the committee, the friends 1 of the governor admitted they were caught mapping before, but made up this time by producing a larger ma
 jority than did the opponents at that l time, and controlled the meeting to suit themselves
 | In sessions of his character there are | always test votes that demonstrate the
 strength of the two sides. This was the case yesterday. The test vote
 came early. It developed upon the
 proposition who is qualified to sit in
 this committee?"
 1 The motion was made by Mel Bailey
 of Yavapai that committee of three
 be appointed by the chair, to act as a 1 committee on credentials. This pro-
 voked the first bunch of speeches. The oratory flew thick and fast for short | time until 1t was seen that the gover- | nor's friends were pretty strong. Led | by Senator Roberts of Cochise the gov | ernors' friends developed unexpected 1 strength and soon the motion was amended by agreement so as to make the committee constituted of one men, Der from each county, and that mem Der to be chosen by the county delega- tion. The county selections were then 1 made
 Then J. J. Birdno moved that a re- cess of two hours be taken. Cunniff
 of Yavapai holding a proxy amended for twenty-five minutes and a count showed the strength to be Is to 12 in favor of the amendment On this vote
 the question of the right of the proxies | to vote prior to the report of the com
 mittee on credentials had reported was
 brought up and the chairman decided
 they could not
 Then the report came in. It provided that all proxies made out in accordance with the law, which requires that they be sworn to before a notary and wit : messed by two citizens, be admitted tC the committee and voted by the hold q CTS. but that all others be barred This
 caused each side to lose six proxies | Bailey of Yavapai had a minority re- port allowing all proxies in, but tn, other side jumped this as it would bt disowninG a piece of democratic legis lation. breaking the law in fact, by tn, very party that har put it upon tht statute books. The vote on this pro
 position upon which proxies were al, 1 lowed to vote stood 36 for the majorit, report to 13 against it.
 ' Then the examination of the proXie began and the members were about al seated by the time of the noon recess
 In the afternoon after about forty | five minutes of desultory discussion al
 executive session was ordered and tn galleries cleared. One newspaper mal however hid himself in the gallerie and was not found He stayed ther ; during the entire meeting and obtaine,
 a pretty good idea of what went ol during that time. However, very littl of much interest was brought up.
 The rumored fuses did not develope
 Instead of that the meeting was on in which speeches were made and mucl applause given. The democratic doc
 Urine expounded at the time being re sponsible for the applause. The matte
 of the appointment of republicans t . offices by democratic state officers wa
 brought up. This was given as tn . ostensible reason for the meeting
 Chairman Olney said afterwards tha , the meeting was called at the instanc of several county executive committee to inquire into the matter. Howeve , Gila county from which one of tn , complaints had supposed to have come arose through it's representative an' , disclaimed any knowledge of the letter in question. It transpired that Gil;
 was part of the vote of 36 above re r ferred to.
 | No resolutions were presented as fla! been rumored were in course of prepar
 ation. Nothing was done to embaras
 the administration, and to the outside
 every thing appeared harmonious
 Friends of Governor Hunt spoke wei
 of Chairman Olney's actions as chair
 man, although it was understood tha
 he was the leader of the opposition
 against the governor. The rumor Una