The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-06-24
Chill TON STRS
UP TROUBLES
Watson Element BIames Him
for the Dr.. Thomas Hodges
FiasCo Now
CANDIDACY OF FRENCH
In the Fifth District is Also laid
at the Door of Senator
Chiffon, Too.
(By Charles Brooks Smith,

WASHINGTON, D. c.. June "a
The. feeling Of brotherhood within the
ranks Of the Democratic party in West
Virginia continues TO manifest itself
here from day to day in the colony Of
that party which feeds from the pat
ronage crib here, or fits in and out
from the home state where many of
them fetcherize the official plum pud-
ding provided. for them at that end OF
the line. 1t is significant and enter
tanning to hear these sleek and well
fed fellows WELD the anvil. One would
think that as they are themselves we'll
provided for they would be satisfied,
but they are not. They are among the
worst critics Of their party and It's
leaders. Nothing Is going to suit
them.
or recent date, 1t seems to be the
fashion. among good many Of them
TO take fall out Of Senator Chiffon.
Banging Bill is their bully pastime.
When in doubt blame 1t on William
Fleetwood Is their motto. What with
his mining investments and the pro-
noting Of the same by careless cler-
ical staff as IL the senator did not
have. enough troubles of his very own,
without getting hammered by mem
bers Of the organization.
Just now he Is being blamed for the
Hodges "fasco." The word is applied
by these Democratic critics. They
charge him with stirring up muss
with 1t, and with forcing a situation
on the party that was quite unneces-
sary and bound to leave its scars
They tell you that he started with Hal
Depue and that he became, scared
that the Roane county man could not
be put over, then threw him. They
charge him with disloyalty to Watson
by not accepting Beall, whom Wat
son, they say, favored from the outset
to the day the convention convened.
And the interesting phase OF all this
criticism Is that those who are blam-
ing Brother Bill for all these things,
and more, as will be hastily sketched
later on, have not a harsh word to
say against G. w. Watson. On the
contrary, 1t is all praise for this par
ticular Gold Dust Twin from these
hangers on and dependents of the ma
chine. Watson, they tell you, has
developed" He has broadened and
grown big in his skill as leader. He
Is all to the CONNECTION, Is Watson.
Which appears significant as showing
that the majority stockholders In the
firm is not Chiffon, but Watson. Chill
ton Is the Carranza and Watson is the
Villa in this drama, and Carranza, SO
we are told often enough is a figure
head, and there seems to be plenty OF
evidence to prove it.
In =
fault with for stirring up trouble in
the Fifth district, for bringing out a
candidate against George l. Neal in
the person Of D. e. French when there
would not have been contest at all
had not Chiffon caused one. 1t is a
nasty mess down there to be sure, and
marks the renewal of an old feud be-
tween Neale and Chiffon when the
former at Denver voted for McGraw
instead of Chiffon for national com
mitteeman. Chilton's Democratic
critics land Watson's psalm singers)
charge him with "littleness" in not
long ago making up with Neal for the
good of party harmony, when he had
years of opportunities in which to
restore more or less cordial friend
ship.
Here, again, II all this be of verify,
Chiffon is accused of being in the
position of opposing the wishes and
whatever influence he may have in
the southern part Of the state, OF
Watson, whose choice is Neal. This
tight is in Chilton-MacCorkle Holly
Stephenson territory. That District
Attorney Barnhart should be brought
into 1t, or rather that he should butt
into 1t, is natural enough, since he
was a Chiffon and not a Watson ap-
pointee. Neale was to have been ap-
pointed to that position, according
to the Watson followers. An I'M
derstanding to that effect had been
made by the two bosses, and Watson
sailed away for several months stay
in Europe. During his stay abroad
Chiffon had Barnhart and not Neal
appointed. That was the beginning
of the breach between Watson and
Chiffon, which has been widening
ever since. Barnhart took hand in
behalf Of French to help Chiffon out.
His "pernicious activity" brought a
broadside from Neal in the form OF
letter that contained sensational
charges, which IL true may come near
lOsluk u1lu nAb ONCE. AS soon as Ine
letter was published Barnhart
rushed to Washington, but the
charges made by Neal have not been
formally made at the Department OF
Justice. Not yet. But they are
likely to be.
Again, these Democrats who are
hammering Senator Chiffon continue
their anvil chorus with still another
verse to the effect that he is wholly
responsible for stirring up the
trouble in the party "a the Third
district. They say that had he not
brought out John Dice for the nomi-
nation, there would be no trouble
there. and now there is trouble or a
very serious sort. II he pulled Dice
over and Littlepage under, there is
not the least chance OF defeating
Representative Avis. Then, too, Dice
being brought out against Little
page induced several others to get
into the contest with the result that
a bitter fight is on that means any.
thing else except united and har-1
monious party in that neck or the
woods. In this contest, 1t is claimed
that Watson feels under Obligations