Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1920-08-17
STATE CAMPAIGN GETS AN
AUSPICUOUS START.

present state campaign in Wheeling
today, in the opinion of the party
| leaders expressed here tonight.
With ringing keynote speech at
| the opening of the State Judicial and
/, Platform Convention by former Unit
ed States Senator William E. Chiffon,
followed by an even more vigorous
pronouncement of Democratic prin-
ciples by Governor James M. Cox, of
Ohio, the party's nominee for Presi-
dent, the Wheeling meeting proved to
be Democratic rally of the greatest
significance.
But these were not all the features
that aroused the enthusiasm of the
convention delegates and thousands
of visitors who had journeyed to the
Panhandle city for the big meeting.
The short, vigorous, straight-from-
the-shoulder challenge to the g. O. p.
of the state issued by Arthur B.
Koontz, the young Democratic nomi-
nee for Governor, in his first speech
of the campaign, left no room for
doubt regarding his qualifications for
| leadership.
Then the clear-cut platform state
ment of the party's position on the
issues of the campaign, covering
both state and national questions
furnished definite material for the
assembled party men to carry back
home with them and pass on to the
thousands who did not attend the
convention.
Convinced of the party's great op-
portunity to win in the state this
year. and having had but small OPP
portunity to make the acquaintance
of their candidate for Governor,
Democrats from all over the state
were particularly interested in Mr..
Koontz's first public utterance in the
campaign.
Their hopes that this first speech
of their nominee would give promise
of vigorous campaign for election
| and fair, honest and efficient adj
ministration of the affairs of the
state after his election, were not dis
appointed
They saw in it vision of state
| manship that recognizes the rights
and interests of all elements of the
of that age-old Democratic doctrine
of equal rights for all, special priv
ileges for nome"
He declared that neither the group
of coal operators who have placed
their branding iron on Judge E. F.
Morgan" for a sign and token that
| he is their candidate for Governor,
nor the larger group of labor leaders
who have "resoluted" that Samuel B.
Montgomery is their owned and tag
ged candidate, has any right to ex-
pect' that the rest of the people of
West Virginia are going to trust their
interests in such hands.
He pointed out, and has the histori-
cal proof, that f'class rule always
leads to private warfare" which is
the peril of all free government, and
touched the high point of his address
| in declaring that "no class of indi-
viduals can be trusted to limit its am
bition or to decide the justice of its
own grievances"
Mr.. Koontz said that he had no
personal criticisms to make of either
of his opponents, but eff half of what
| Grosscup and Montgomery said about
! Morgan, or half of what Morgan and
| Grosscup said about Montgomery in
the Republican primary campaign is
true, then neither one of them should
be entrusted by the people to be their
executive for four years"
"Mr. Morgan, himself, in his prim-
ary race" Mr.. Koontz pointed out,
advertised that he represented all
interests of the state, but he immed-
lately killed the effect of his adver-
tisement by accusing Grosscup of
representing the manufacturing and
oil and gas interests and Montgomery
| the labor interests.
''If you desire proof of the fact
that Mr.. Morgan is marked, stamped
and branded by clique of the coal
operators of the New River, Norfolk
& Western and Kanawha fields, |
would refer you to Mr.. Bradley, pres
| ident of the West Virginia Coal
| Operators Association, or to Mr.. Nc
Kell, of Fayette County, or to Ed.
Houston, of the Norfolk & Western
or to Walter Cunningham, who is
Secretary of the Operators Assoeia-
ton.
81 also refer you to some of the
others closely associated with these
|
toned and whose meetings are re-
ferred to, both in the utterances of
| Cooper, of Bramwell, who was not
taken into the combination nor per-
mitted to use branding iron, and
who was a supporter of Grosscup in
the primary.
"And would refer you further to
almost any of the speeches of Samuel
Montgomery, either before or after
the primary, or to a certain writing
signed by him, and sworn to, which
now rests with the circuit clerk of
Kanawha county.
ut is my purpose to furnish you
with testimony provided by the Re-
publican party and all the factions
thereof, in order that you may be sat-
isfied that the accusation made
against Judge Morgan of represent
ing a certain class of individuals is
not merely an accusation by Defo-
crat against a Republican for poll
teal purposes, and unfounded."
Mr.. Koontz then turned his atten-
ton to Mr.. Montgomery, State Labor
Commissioner, "a friend of the labor
ing man. ''In this case he said, as
in that of Mr. Morgan, have moth
ing detrimental to say of him as a
man, but do say that the same rule
applies to his class even though it be
a larger class, as applies to Mr.. Nor
gan's class or to any other class in the
state.
sit is just as reasonable to say"
he continued, 'that the farmers of
the state should have an executive,
or that the manufacturers of the
state should have an executive, or
that the oil and gas people, or the
wholesale people, or the railroad peo-
pie, or the bankers-and in each case
for the particular interest of the
class Representatives to say that
oithar ono of tho cfaSSes ,-onrasantad