The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-01-11
COP. CALLED
into SESSION
ON FEBRUARY Y

Members of the Republican Ma
tional Committee are preparing to
meet in st. Louis Feb. ~. William
r. Wilcox has sent out a notice of
the date and place of the meeting.
In statement he said yesterday:
'At a meeting of the Executive
Committee last year, it was decided to
have a meeting of the National Com
mittee once a year. 1nasmuch as at
the elections next fall an entire new
House of Representatives and one
third of the membership of the Sen
ate will be chosen, directly or tndi-
rectly, we believe it is exercising
sound judgment for the Republican
National Committee to get together
for conference and action
According to the judgment of the
Republican party, the statement con-
tinues, there never has been a time
SO important to WELD a maximum of
power in Congress. 1.-THE. Importance
of questions to come up at the close
of the war, or even before that, can
not be overestimated," says the state
ment. 1.-THE Democratic party never
has shown competence in a crisis in
dealing with the economic questions
OF the country"
A Hughes Roosevelt Whitman
combination is forming to prevent
the seizure of the Republican ma
tional organization by the Penrose-
Crane-Smoot "O1d Guard" at the ma
tionsl committee meeting in st. Louis
on February -.
IF will OnnOSa the e1aofiO0 af TnbD
r. King, of Connecticut, or John T.
Adams of Iowa, or any other favorite
| of the reactionary crowd for national
| chairman. 1t will insist that Chair
man William R. Wilcox shall retain
his job unless Will H. Hays, of In
diana, or some other progressive can
| be chosen as Willcox's successor.
Tending the alignment of anti
"Old Guard" forces, Chairman Will
cox will Withhold his proposed resig-
nation at the risk of the execution of
the threat to GUST him.
Wilcox Is Active.
The foregoing information was in
circulation yesterday within a few
hours after Chairman Willcox's re-
turn from Washington conferences.
After a talk with the head of the
national committee, an influential
| leader said:
eff the Penrose Crane Smeot
clique attempts to GUST Chairman
| Wilcox and put in either Penrose's
office boy, King, or Adams, it will be
{, resisted by all the elements back of
! Hughes, Roosevelt and Whitman in
the last presidential campaign.
chairman WILCOX desires to retire
as chairman. He is not disposed,
however, to surrender his place to an
agent of a self-seeking piratical po-
litical group that all but murdered
the Republican party in 1912 and car
| ried only two states of the 48 for
Taft"
Chairman Wilcox himself, while
declining to discuss in detail the war
fare waged upon him, made answer
to this question:
"PeRrese-C Crane Smeet leaders al
lege that you oppose straight Re-
publican Congressional ticket this
fall, and that You are engineering
as an appeintee under President Will
son, campaign to nominate and e1ect
a non-partisan patriotic American
Congress to back the President?"
Congress Fight Vital.
THAT allegation is not warranted
replied the chairman. CT regard il
as of prime importance to put forth
every effort to secure a majority o.
Republicans in the next Senate ant
House. AT the close of the war the
country will face the greatest eco
nomic question in its history" he
added:
= ''Never has it been more importan
than it will be next fall to elect a.
many Republican members of Con
gress as we can. At the same time
= every Republican in Congress SHOULD
stand for national unity and supper
the United States government il
bringing about a victorious conclusion
Of the war"
: 1t is understood that Charles E
Hughes, Republican candidate TO
President in 1916, and Colonel Roose
welt have insisted that Wilcox shall
not retire until assured that an anti
"Old Guard" man will be elected ma
tiOna1 chairman They are lining III