Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-10-20
PsestS;c4 ~
Ps"~eYgsasSa
By the Ex-CoInmittccn1aI

decision of the Supreme Court
at Pittsburgh on Saturday uphold
ing President Judge George Kunkel
In refusing to accept the contention
OF Judge Henry G. Wasson, of Pitts
purgh, that the Legislature exceed
ed its powers in prescribing a method
Tor determining sole nominees un-
der the nonpartisan act amendment
OF 1919, was no surprise to people
at the Capitol or those who heard
the argument. But the fact that
the States highest court was unani-
nous in reaching that conclusion
created some comment. Virtually
every question raised at the argu-
ment in the Wasson case, except the
| language of the act of 1919, lad
been passed upon by the Dauphin
and appellate courts in ACTIONS
brought under the acts of 1913 and
1915. There have been few election
statutes put upon the books of Penn
sylVania in century that have
caused more discussion. controversy,
litigation and dissatisfaction than
the nonpartisan acts and this latest
action in the courts, which involved
the judge who had much to do with
putting 1t on the books six years
ago, is likely to crystalline the grow
ing sentiment for wiping all nom
partisan judicial and municipal acts
off the books. .....
The State Department has for
mally certified the five high men in
the Allegheny judicial primary as
the sole nominees thus complet-
arfiE a.. TrJl.
are Judges Evans and Haymaker,
| renmoinated after considerable serv-
ice on the bench Stone and Kline,
| appointed by Governor William G.
| Sproul when Allegheny received two
| new judges from the last Legisla-
ture, and Drew, who is now a mem
| Der of the county court and has
aspired to the common pleas bench
| for years. Judge Wasson, who ran
sixth and lost, was IL Brumbaugh
appointee, and but for the activity
of the Drew campaign would have
! been one of the five on the ticket
| His defeat was one of the turns in
the strenuous Allegheny county pri-
mary when the Finn element
aligned itself against the Leslie peo-
| pie who are said to have turned in
| for Drew. The other four candi-
dates were generally supported.
| The decision in the Wasson case
makes comfortable all judicial can
didates in the State.
With all questions raised in this
campaign about, sole nominees" and
various contests, Independent move
ments and uncertainties cleared up,
the printing of ballots can now go
| ahead and the final work of the
campaign undertaken. The election
, Is two weeks from tomorrow and
there arc going to be, as pointed
out in this column, some battles in
counties and cities which will be
historic because of their effect upon
the personnel of State delegations
and State committees next summer.
| d m cra t C ehieftains are
| especially busy this year in an ef-
fort to make a showing so that they
will be in a position to either be
candidates or have a hand in shap-
ing 1he nominations for delegate
| seats and State committee posts.
| Partisans of Attorney General "A.
| Mitchell Palmer declare that he Is
| not likely to be seriously opposed
in his campaigning for the Keystone
State delegation and say that they
are not going to be caught mapping
in regard to the State committee as
| occurred in 1918. More than once,
| say men familiar with Democratic
affairs, the Palmer Mccormick ele-
ment was worried as to how far the
Bonniwell people had gotten into
the State committee. Now as Ron
niwell got left in his Philadelphia
aspirations and his Pittsburgh foray
and as Palmer is the outstanding
| leader among the Democrats and not
embarrassed by nagging or ambitious
! side partners, it is figured out that
the greatest attention will be given
| to the candidates for delegate hon
ors and State committee seats.
! Democratic leaders, especially
when they were reorganizing, used
to lament the sending of letters to
officeholders asking for contributions
for maintenance of party committees
and wept much over the way the
Republicans financed campaigns. In
the last half dozen years the Demo-
Gratis have been able to give the
Republicans some lessons in collect
ing from officeholders and to invade
services which have been held
sacrosanct by Republicans. Hence
some paragraphs now appearing in
/ Harrisburg.
Judging from newspaper articles
| tile III Is get
ting very. much like that in Pitts
burgh and Scranton. The losers,
after some racket on the sidelines,
are making the best of 1t and lining
up, having an eye on national dele
gate, State, congressional and legis-
lative nominations in 1920. Most of
the Ware leaders have Sworn in"
at the Ware headquarters and in due
time and with proper recording ap-
paratus Senator Edwin f. Ware will
follow suit
The Public Ledger, in n review
of the situation in that city, has this
to say about the Wares: Both the
adherents of Ware and the men in
control of the reorganized Republi-
can party in the city agree on one
point--that the Wares will work for
the ticket as it stands. The Wares
are building on the hope held out in
Mr.. Moore's statement that the
status of all factions in the new or
ganization will be determined by the
November election. What the Ware
brothers want now. as frankly told
by men who are still loyal to them.
is to be left in uncontested control
of the Thirty-ninth and the Twenty
sixth wards From that foundation
they hope to build again.
The Press says the Wares are
scheming to defeat Lambertson for