Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-03-02
PeeiEc4 i~
Pe~~eqeSo~io
BY the Ex-Committeeman

III III
This is the first day upon which
nominating petitions for the May
primary can be circulated in Penn
sylvania for signatures and accord
ing to officers of the Department of
the Secretary of the Commonwealth
hundreds will be started around be-
fore nightfall. For the last ten days
many petitions have been sent out
from the state capitol and in ad-
dition it has been learned candi-
dates who will have many petitions
| have their own papers printed, as
! has been done in previous years. A
number of requests for the style of
the official papers have been made.
Signers must be qualified electors
| and no voter may sign for more
! candidates for an office than he can
vote for, while affidavits as to sig
natures must be made by men in
charge of the papers. The papers
| must be filed by April IL and an Of
fetal suggestion is contained on
papers that they be entered at the
Capitol before that date so that err
rors may be corrected. Ordinarily
there is a jam of such papers on the
last day, which it is desired to avoid
so that all papers may be gone over
De1ore doors close.
The dates for registration for the
spring primary, which will be held
May 81, will be April II in first
and second-class cities and May l in
third -class cities, while the enroll
ment dates in boroughs and town
ships are March 10 and 20.
In addition to the state ticket
there will be nominated this year
candidates for Superior Court and
Congress at large, all district Con-
gress seats, twenty eight senatorial
seats and the whole House of Rep
reSentatives.
Governor Brumbaugh in Phila-
delphia yesterday came out fatty in
favor of J. Denny O'Neil for Cover
nor. "I an for O'Neil,' he said. II
believe this has been well known for |
some time. I am surprised that any |
particular stress should be laid on |
it at this time The Governor |
added that he thought the ques-
tion of prohibition is more i'm
portant now than ever. AS for
an extra session of the Legislature.
he repeated that he is considering |
it but has reached no conclusion. At |
the same time Democrats in Phila-
delphia were said to be re-opening !
the movement to have Nance'C. Nc |
Cormick reconsider his decision not |
to be a candidate for Governor at |
this time and run with prohibition |
as a distinct issue.
DR.. b. +. p. Prugh state chair |
man of the Prohibition party of
Pennsylvania. and one of the two /
members of the Prohibition national |
committee from the state, left last |
night for Chicago. where he will at |
tend a meeting of the national COM |
mittee on Monday and the national |!
convention on Tuesday. Among the |
matters to be considered at the ma |
tional convention will be the election |
Of members of Congress next Novem-
ber that will stand unequivocally for !
immediate nationwide prohibition |
without waiting for the adoption of |
the amendment. But the matter of !
chief importance to be considered |
will be the proposed merger of the !
Prohibition party and the new Ma !
tional party. DR.. Prugh says he feels |
sure there will be strong sentiment |
both for and against the merger. The |
late Pennsylvania state convention !
seemed to be strongly against it, |
though in favor of the closest kind !
of cooperation at the polls. The |
delegation, however, goes unin-
structed. The conditions existing in |
Pennsylvania are such that the Pro- |
hibition party feels compelled to go !
straight forward, as in the past, re-
gardless of the action at Chicago; !
but the action both by the state |
committee and the state convention I
provides for active cooperation with |
any man or body of men that will |
20 y;
the Prohibition party stands for. DR.. !
Prugh also stated that he believes !
that it would be a good strategic |
move of the Governor to call a spe- |
cial meeting of the Legislature of !
Pennsylvania to act on ratification |
of the prohibition amendment spe- |
cifically. The next Legislature will |
approve the Prohibition amendment |
he believes, and says the only thing |
to fear is overconfidence.
While there is a marked drift |
in the Republican party toward |
backing up the prohibition amend |
ment the indecision which caused |
the conference of Democratic state |
leaders in Philadelphia the other |
day to duck the problem seems to |
prevail generally in the party. Fail |
ure of some of the Democratic state |
bosses who have been very loud in |
years gone by in their advocacy of |
local option to demand that<the or |
ganization, in which they are big |
factors, should declare for the |
amendment, has produced unfavor- |
able impression. Republican state |
and county leaders are wrestling |
with the proposition, but the at
titude of the majority of the Demo-
cratic leaders. state and county,
seems to be to sit on the fence.
And in spite of all the outgiv- |
ings of the Democratic windmill and
the peace pipings of the Democratic
organs here, the big Democratic
newspapers of the state. look for a
new fight within the party. The
nomination of acting state chairman
and petroleum administration Joseph
f. Guffey. manager of Pittsburgh
public utilities in private life, is not
taking we'll among the dry ele-
ment of the Dem ocrats. The ma
chine bosses are thinking of vacci-
mating the party again.
One of the humors of the Dem
ocratic situation is that the bosses
who steam rollered Lowry Humes
and other candidates and handed out
Guffey as the party candidate for
governor indulged in the very same
sort of procedure as that which they
denounced so vehemently when
practiced by Col. Jim Guffey,
uncle of the acting chairman. In
deed, it was the shrieking in the
market places against such things
~, tka rracanf boccac fbot anobIod