The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1920-06-18
ELIZABETH CITY MAN
HELPED PICK HARDING
co Meekins Was Right There On The Ground
Floor at The Convention in Chicago
Last Week

x,rArnrer. one Elizabeth City
,a, will be in on the ground
iloor Of the new administration.
Tlsf+ man is Col. Isaac NJ. Meek
rs an original Harding man.
rof Neekins is not only an orig
;na1 Harding man, but he was one
= = little coterie who met in
New York early last winter and
nicked the nominee for last
weeks convention. The choice
- 4f-at New York conference was
Warren @. Harding, the Senator
from Ohio.
But they couldn't go before the
countrv with Harding. There
was too much Johnson and too
much Wood and a certain bother
some Hoover possibility. To pave
the vav for Harding it was nee
essarv to trot out some one to
cut down General Woods follow
inc. And so Governor Lowden
of Illinois was put on Woods
trail. The Lowden boom worked
too we'll. Lowden proved even
mere popular than was anticipat-
ed and his boom hadn't been
booming very long when Low
den declared that he had a look
il and asked permission to go to
ii. The permission was granted,
hit with the understanding that
il he couldn't carry enough dele
gates to the convention to get
the rcnination, he was to throw
his strength to Harding.
Governor Lowden was so sure
of Ills chances that he spent close
l. ta1i million dollars of his
own money. Having been close
t. the meat packing interests
may account for his having had
50 much money to spend. But he
ieU down by buying the wrong
sort q delegates. He bought a
pair from Missouri, who confess
ed ~ the eve of the convention
that they had put $500 piece,
Of LoWden's money, in the bank
to their credit, not knowing what
else the money from Lowden was
for. That killed Lowden and got
him out OF the way of that quiet
little Harding boom.
The daily press reports show
ed how the game was played on
the floor OF the convention, how
Lowden was played against
Wood while the Harding forces
lined up until from a signal from
Boise Penrose the Lowden dele
gates were released to Harding.
The Old Guard carried the con-
vent1on the way it had planned,
after all the old sterotyped con-
vention stuff had been played to
tie galleries.
Col Meekins is back from the
chicago convention, highly elat-
ed citizen. His ideal candidate
1t~ presidency has always been
Of the moss-back, stand-patte1
type. Next to Harding his choice
Wa Taft. The, Colone1's idea is
that only a dead one is safe, since
. live ones usually have vigorous
enemies to contend with in a con
test.
There is another Elizabeth City
man back from the convention
this week who doesn't seem sc
e'attd. That man is C. Royder
PUGh, National Committeeman
Ap~ehcad's understudy in thi
district. When the District Re
pt1licans refused to send Pagl
Il t he National Convention
@-2rehead rugged up a scheme b,
Which he hoped to make a plac
1cr Pugh. He named Pugh as al
tcrnate with E. Carl Duncan, MI
duncan being in a hospital an
not likely to attend the conven
ton. But Duncan upset thei
plans, He did go to the conven
ton and insisted on naming hi
own proxy from day to day Will
the convention was in session
hat left Mr.. .Pugh out of it.