West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1914-02-12

zeal OF interest. i have passed the three.
score and ten and feel that am grow.
my weak both mentally and physically
hut az long as I nave life and strength
shall not cease from the practice Of ex.
horiing my brethren 10 be men and I.
not wear the collar of any political bns
nor exhibit the brand Of cnrrupt rim,
which cursed this county tor 20 man,
years i am one of the few left VIII
started early in the seventies h. fight th.
organization Of ring politics i'm Preston
The conditions at this period were mos,
favorable for unprincipled men to organ.
iz' rings and machines. IL was snortl,
after the close OF the civil war and sec
'ional feeling ran high. Ii was at thi,
time that WIN. NJ. o. Dawson gathered
around him score Of Republicans and
formed an organization which was dec
tined to control the politics of Presto,
Tor years. The county Offices were par
crled out amongst the men who com.
posed. the organization. OF courss the,
claimed that the organization itsel
~ the Republican party of Presto,
county" Everything was done in th.
name oil the Republican party" Tn,
Journal, of which Dawson was editor
kept the "bloody shirt" waving vipor
"usly and continuously. 1t was an ap.
peal to hatred and prejudice, and il
proved most valuable asset To the or.
ganization to incite the people and blind
them to all reason and argument A,
long "a the "bloody shirt" could bt
waved effectively there was no danger o
the organization lat this stage a few mer
began To fight and call the organization
the courthouse ring') losing control o
;'arceling out the county offices. A few
Republicans braved the wrath of tn,
organization and protested against the
courthouse ring debating ali the nomina
tons for county offices Immediately
they weru branded 10y the Journal a,
'rehels' and traitors" 10 the Repub
lican party. AZ the sectional feeling wa,
intense the cry was taken up by the rank
and file and it was not safe to show
ground and fought on were Ed Messen.
yer, Nelson Baker, f NJ. Huffman, Le,
shaw, DR.. Bryte, and few more of us
OF course, the odds were nnety-nine e
one against us. We had no newspaper
to give our side to the pubic and th,
columns Of the Journal were closed tn us
The Democratic newspapers that wonlo
flourish for a short time were too tint,
To publish anything for ns. Under sucl
conditions the Dawson ring 1ourishec
like green bay tree. The county office
were owned by the Dawson ring, to b,
disposed of AZ il saw fit. But our it'll,
baud of TRAITORS" and 'rebels' (toda,
we would bee called 'progressives"
fought on. We began to gather few
recruits as time wore on.
At last the light began to dawn. 4
paper was started called the New Era
lt was appropriately named Sam Nc
CrmIck had just move To our county
As he was an able and experienced mar
we had him To lead our struggling few
and make war on Dawson and his asso
cated ringsters. Mccormick was tn,
much for Dawson. The Dawson force,
begausto WAIVER and at the next electio,
Dawson's candidates we're defeated. I'm
fortunately fer the anti Dawson element
OF the Republican party Mccormick wal
taken sick. lie was taken To Washing
ton for treatment, where he died shortl,
alter reaching Washington. The dealt
OF Mccormick was serious blow to tn,
anti-ring boys. Eventually the New Er,
went to the wall and it left us without
paper. The ring once more came int,
power
When / recall how Bill Dawson, will
his ringsters, defeated Frank Hoffman
Nelson Baker, Bob Hollis. Bill Scharffer
DIR. Bryte, Dan Jackson, Lee Shaw
Henry Glover. Mace Watson and score
OF other good and loyal Republicans wher
they offered themselves as candidates,
now wonder how the ring retained il
power 80 long. Many of them passed t,
the Great Beyond; many of them il
after years succeeded i'm defeating tn,
ring and got the nominations and wer
elected. When Dan Jackson was cheate,
out OF the nomination for sheriff he RAJ
independent and was elected. Bnt BoI
Hollis could never get the nomination
tie was always defeated by the ring, al
though the ring proiessed each time /,
be for Hollia.
The rising generation has no idea how
that damnable ring tyraunized over ~
republicans for years and years. An,
the strangest part about it all is tina
many whom the ring threw down for IN,
nomination later on became the mos
ardent supporters Of the ring Aftel
many years Of fighting and strugelin,
We finally licked Dawson and he left IN,
county.
My chief object in writing thi. letter
Is to warn my snt-ring brethren to be on
their guard. a preconceued effort j,
being made on the part Of the chief actor.
ia the old ring, backed by Bill Dawson and
jim Lakin, 20 yet control Of the count,
organization. see evidence Of this ON
every hand. Trey are getting active al
along the line. They have Organized Ia
make war on everything that is opposed
to ring rule. But il will fail Cat. tn,
SPECIAL fight is on our county court.
which is composed Of both Republicans
81 Democrats. Ever since We have got
ten a divided court we nave had a busi-
ness court They have gotten the county
free Of debt for the first time since we old
vctcrans- rrlnrn from Tho LlIn argnnlent