Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-07-24
GLOOMY REPORTS
MADE To MORRIS
Democratic State Chairman Loses
His Suavity in Discussing
the Newspapers
NO PATRONAGE TALK NOW
Jim Blakslee Making Harrisburg
One of His Summer Visiting
Places This Year

State Chairman Roland S. Morris
second receiving Thursday at the
Democratic windmill yesterday was
not as pleasant a function as he had
hoped it to be. The attendance was
not as large as expected, the weather
was hot and the reports presented
were so gloomy that the chairman for
got his suavity and declared that wick
ed men were printing stories about the
| Democratic party. Mr. Morris en-
deavored to give the impression that
there are no dissensions in the Demo-
cratic party in Pennsylvania, but when
| his remarks were analyZed ii appeared
that he considered only the little
coterie of reorganization bosses as the
| Democratic party.
Mr.. Morris saw about a score of
| Democratic bosses of greater or less
degree of influence, energy and need.
He discussed fusion on legislative
tickets, it not being proper to discuss
fusion on State or congressional tick
cts now; arranged for organizing the
districts, listing voters and holding
meetings. Some of the visitors COM
planned that the chairman was not
very definite about where the money
was coming from for all of the work
he outlined.
When Mr.. Morris had finished his
conferences or receptions he gave
Isome interviews and declared that
p r o ge had not
been discussed. When
he made that surpris- Headsman
ing statement { h ere Present mt
was sitting beside him Interview
the official heads
man. of the national administration,
James I. Blakslee, fourth assistant
postmaster general, the man COM
monty believed to be the holder of the
rubber stamp in. the distribution of
| patronage. Blakslee, who was here at
III st weeks conferences and at other
Democratic meetings, appears to have
the prevailing habit of absenteeism
from Washington that is so popular
among Democrats, but which among
| Republicans is held to be a crime.
Charitable folks thought Mr.. Norris
i was joking last night when he an
nounced in the presence of Blakslee
that patronage was not discussed.
| Blakslee Knows more about the detail
of politics in Pennsylvania than any
one else in the Democratic party and
If his frequent visits to Harrisburg
and his appearance here when Morris
! is in town do not mean discussion of
jobs the only other conclusion is that
Blakslee likes hot weather travelling.
The Democratic city committee got
into fashion last night by determining
to start its campaign early and to
take a share in it in
stead of allowing the
Democrats county committee to
Planning stage the whole show.
Campaign The committee met at
the rooms of the Cen
| trail Democratic Club
iN1t ife
placency by Jesse J. Lybarger, one
of the legislative candidates, who de-
clared that the time to start action
was right now. This appeared to ap
peal to many of the committeeman
and they agreed to have President
Chairman Jones start things, trusting
to the State committee and the candi-
dates to supply the funds. Herr Noes
lein and Candidate John A. Marshall
Joined in the oratorical feast that fol-
lowed. The plan is to arrange to
block the precincts and to pick watch
ers before they are snapped up by
anyone else.
Senator Penrose, DIR. Brumbaugh
and EX-Congressman B. K. Focht
have been invited to
address the people at
the Union county fair Focht's
at Lewisburg during Campaign
the week of September Budding
l21 and it is expected
that they will attend,
although the itinerary has not yet
been announced. Focht's campaign
for reelection in the Seventeenth dis
trict, of which Union is a part, is pro-
crossing very we'll and it is expected
that between the blundering of Nor
ris, Blakslee and Dershem in the dis
tribution of post Offices in that dis
trict that there will be abundant
hatchets welded. The chairmen of
the division embraced in this district
were summoned to Harrisburg yes
terday by Division Boss Duncan and
told to get busy. Dershem is in bad
shape for campaign managers, there
being none who can beat Focht when
it comes down to campaigning.
Whether the Philadelphia contests
engineered by the reorganization ma
chine in an effort to unseat the men
elected by the people
to the Democratic
| city committee will Philadelphia
! be pushed or not Contests in
does not appear to Dark just Now
be known at the
democratic windmill.
The committee named to wash the
party linen arranged to call a meeting
for next week in Philadelphia, but up
to date nothing has been done in the
way of giving notice. 1t is believed
| that Chairman Morris will sidetrack
| the resumption of the hearings until
later in the fall so as to hold the mat
ter over the heads of the Old Guard as
a club. Others say that he wants to
get out of the snarl by having the
matter dropped.
REDUCING THE MEAT BILL
| In the Woman's Home Companion
! q hl1tclar. aYnIa ing hnxu mslriI.tn stnal.c