The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-06-01
COLORED DELEGATES
LONELY IN CHICAGO
So Few. No One Cares for
Them. Two Sofas Hold
Advance Guard.
not LIKE GOOD OLD 1912

cyrc,io. May 3I-Thc day Of the
,o.n-cA delegate ut Republican conven-
tons ras passed. \ few turned up
orc to-day. They dropped into the
s~cadouartcrs Of some of the candidates,
..civ,d n fcN bland smiles and some
r,.r,,ure. we're told to drop in as often
they fcl, like it and were then per-
.u,,,ed 10 wander out into n cold world
a. thou, 50 much as being asked where
they we're staying.
y, was not like this our years aeo.
or even eight years ago. In 1908. when
,.e "alIics'' made their futile fight
arains, Taft. these color,d delegates II
heir frleuds were fairly dragged Into
,ne various headquarters.
The appearance then Of a southern
eolored delegate generally was the aus
Of A whispered conference and then he
would depart. looking very wise and
y.ry important. There we're not only
The delegates themselves, nut the con-
,ce,an,s. who that year were crushed
urder the Hitchcock stoam roller. They
made n iNTEllulI' uuIfItT.
Blu, what happened In 1905 was as
nothing to what happened in 1912. Chi
raso four years ago fairly flowed with
milk and honey for these colored dele
gates. The Taft men and the Roose-
Welt men furnished them with sumptuous
auarte.s. They were feted. courted and
fought over. Nothing like Il was ever
seen before. 1t approached a scandal.
But to this convention there are 10
BE- not over twenty-five colored dele
gates, whereas four years ago there were
more than three times that many. THIS
IL because Of the new representation
rule adopted by the National committee
which has affected chiefly the delega-
,lons from the Southern States.
To mollify the feelings of he colored
brethren Al effort has been made this
year 10 squeeze in here and there a
colored voter In the delegation from tho
Northern States. Many State delegations
Which for years have not contained any
colored men will n at least one this
time. But these delegates are of a class
distinctly different from the colored rep
,esentatlves 81 ReCublicanism who havt
hitherto appeared from below Mason and
pixon's line.
James II. Hayes Of Virginia, who -four
years ago was in charge of the enter
tainrent Of the colored men whC
ospoused the Colonel's cause and was "
charSe Of the headquarters fitted ny fo'
item on Thirty-sixth street. complained
bitterly to-day that nobody had vac th'
f~crethought to provide any meetins
place for them. He had heard rumors
he said. that Candidate John a. Week,
thought enough OF the colored delegate
10 provide a resting place for them. bu
these rumors had not materialized. A
the Weeks headquarters they Disclaimer
all knowledge OF such a plan.
The fact is that nobody cares ap
parertly as much az a red apple for tn
colored delegates this year. There ar
81 few as 10 make them almost
negligible factor. OF course "A situation
IS conceivable where these few deleS ate
might turn the scale. but that does no
aipear to be entering INTO the presen
calculations OF the boon
The slim advance guard of colore
deleeates did not take up more than tw
sofas in the Congress Hotel. They an
hose who are To follow them are "A
uninstructsd. They are waiting to decid
who Is the best man for the party I
nominate.
THE coloreh delegates are still potter
tally important" said MIR. Hayes. bs
tween trips made TO Presidential Row.
But II there is any barrel waiting I
he tapped for the benefit of these colore
delegates, nobody could discover 1t I,
day.