The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-04-15
WASHINGTON NEWS >
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.(BY CoNpo.)

WASHINGTON, D. c., April 10
Today is the day and Berkeley Springs
is the place for the holding of the
convention of Second district Repub.
licans to nominate a candidate to
stand for election on May 9Th TO fill
out the remaining months Of the late
Junior" Browns congressional term.
What the convention is going TO do the
most reckless political forester
wouldn't have the nerve to undertake
to say.
There are enough candidates, good.
ness knows, and each has his follow.
ing. There will probably be more in
the Offering when the clans gather IN
the Morgan county resort OF healing
waters. There is Sam. B. Montgomery
who, II the nomination goes to him,
will cheerfully agree TO stay out of the
primary as a candidate for the L.omi-
nation for a full term. If he doesn't
get It, he will agree to no such thing.
but will get into the big race. Fred
o. Blue, who Is more widely known TO
the men in the streets as the vide
awake director Of the ~bootlegging fer.
TGI6 llhu ue 10 do 6IhhS NhA
sioner, will gladly become the nomi-
nee II It. is "tendered"-he can't spare
the time to go after II himself. There
is also George NJ. Bowers, whose am
bition to sit in the House Of Reprcsen.
tatiYes was frustrated by the late Mr..
Brown on a dark and cloudy day In
November 1914. Also. there is L. j..
Forman, the Grant county man who
was once conspicuous in state politics
as president of the state senate, and
who had ambitions some years back
for the self-same congressional nomi-
nation, which was neatly sidetracked
by Aston Gordon Dayton. Then there
Is J. w. Harmon, Of Parsons. These
are the regular candidates out in the
open on the eve of the assembling OF
the convention, but the signs are that
there will be others OF hand when
the band begins TO play In the morn
ing. Bowers, Forman and Harmon
want both nominations, the one tomor.
row and the n June s. but their
wants are subject to change prior TO
the fall of the gavel,
The reason for that statement Is. as
has already been told in these dis
patches, that the Republican National
Congressional Committee wants the
convention to do one thing for II, and
since that committee Is expecting to
carry the burden Of the special cam.
paign, II thinks its advice should be
needed. Having studied the situation
closely and coming to know II thor.
oughly, the committees advice to the
candidates Is to get together and de.
eide on a man to nominate for the
short term, who will agree not to en-
ter the contest for the nomination fol
the full term. II the candidates will
not or cannot agree on that. then the
committees appeal will go direct to
the delegates. Chairman Frank. Wood
has stated that he doesn't care who
is nominated, but he asks that the
nominee shall be a man who will agree
to stay out of the June primary. II
that isn't done, the committee fears
faetional complications which will
tend to discourage q victory May 9th
and the national committee wants a
victory on that date moro than 1t wants
anything else Just now. 1t wants to
herald to the country that a Democrat
ic seat in congress has been lost with
a %slap.bang Republican majority that
will serve as a'speclmen OF b hand
writing on the bulletin board OF ma
tional politics for the voters OF the
country to read.
The convention today, 1t is possible,
may be somewhat in the nature Of a
partial replica OF the struggle OF the
Democrats at Keyser on Wednesday.
That was a fight Of the radical wing,
backed by labor's influence, against
the conservative or, shall we say,
"capitalistic" element. Col. Lavelle,
the Tunnelton telegraph operator and
train dispatcher was backed by the Ia
Dor and liberal faction. Sam ". Wood,
the millionaire lawyer and politician,
got the support OF the birds OF that
feather and. after skating on thin ice
through eight ballots, finally emerged