Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-16

| together before the election The split III
| tho party had its inception on Jure ~, the
| day of the primary to select delegates TO
| the State Convention who in turn were to
| choose the delegates to the Republican
| National Convention Trouble has been
| brewing for some time between the two
| factors and those looking on the troubled
waters could forctcll that it WIS but
question of time before il would reach the
climax.
The Layton faction, of which ID. j.
| LAYTON. a son of tho Congressman and
| then the Republican State chairman, was
| orc of the active leaders, seized upon OPP
| position 10 the School Code as 8 noar $ OF
gaining political prestige in the county for
| himself and his father. There was rousirg
| howl from the rural sections OF the county
against the code and young Layton assum-
| cd the role of a leader of the opposition to
| the code. which unuucstionably was step
| toward better educational facilities IN tho
county. A series of meetings wore hold m
| different parts of the county, during wmch
| abuse was heaped upon Pierre , du font'
| through whose generosity the Statewas TO
receive S2,000,000 for the educational
| hctterment, as we'll as Governor Townsend
| because he was an active participant III
| putting il across.
LAYTON AND SON GET LEFT
AT that time Daniel J. Layton. IS
! State chairman and recognized leader. OF
the Alfred |. du Pont wing of tho Rcpubli-
| can party, was looked upon by sussex
| county Republicans as holding the key to
any situation that might arise IN the l,cla-
ware Legislature His failure 10 whip INTO
| lire a sufficient number of Republicans 10
| prevent the passage Of the code is matter
! Itz tpj pjfffSTRnf npSl-
| ton on the question Of equal suffrage, as
we'll as that Of his father placed them IN an
! awkward position and as direct antago-
/ lists TO the Republican State machir e
| headed by General T. Coleman du Pont.
Then there came what appeared TO be a
reconciliation in the House Of du Port,
| Alfred du Pont joining hands with the
/ others and burying the hatchet, Suddenly
| there came change IN the editorial attl-
! tudc of the Morning News, recognized rs
being owrod by Alfred |. du Port, IN
! which its stand on the School Code was re-
versed from bitter opposition TO ore OF
| friendliress This placed the laytors IN an
awkward position and II was not lorg be-
| fore anti-code demon stratiOrs became .
| thing Of the past. The sudden char &c OF
| Alfred l. du Pont from aEti-code 70 code
/ left the Iaytors without political refuge
and siuco that time, so far as state poiiucs
Is concerned. they have been sallirg on
dark political sea.
In the meantime. however, they have
endcavored to dumirate the situation IN
Sussex county, ard because Of the TACT
that Governor Towr send was allied with
! the Organizatioa wing OF the party. they
have directed their attacks against HIM
! with the result that the governor and hls
I friends have rctaliatcd The friction ard
/ severance Of political REALTORS can he
traced 10 the time when oTgresSman
I LAYTON faced the governor ard told the
latter that he should not go as delegate
! IL the National Convention, The primary
election, on Jure 70. proved that the
Iaytoa faction had sufficient power TO
control the Sussex delegation ard thus
pr event Governor Townsend becoming
/ the caucus choice as national delegate
+ The fight that followed in the state Con
vcntion and the willingness Of the other
/ State delegates 20 override the wishes oi
+ the Sussex delegates Is history orly tew
+ weeks old From that time the two lac
/ tlons have been arraved against each
/ other and the second battle took place Tor
! delegates 10 the CONVENTION 10 nominate
the State ticket The Townsend faction
succeeded in winning a majority OF the
/ delegates. and il WAS up TO the governor
! whether or not Congressman Layton
! should be the caucus nominee for re-
nomination.
GOVERNOR KIND TO CoSGREssaAS
Treating Cor gresham Layton like
unto the small boy who was about 10 step
/ upon the grasshopper and crush out us
/ life. but out of his terder heaTtedness had
I cornpassion on IT. Governor Townsend,
{ L ! -, far4fcr,
/ sufficient spanking WAS wiling, for
! the sake ~ party harmony, to let by
| cones bc by-gores lie therefore eorsented
/ 10 the rc-nomr alton OF Cor gresham
/ LAYTON While no doubt IT was bitter
| Dill for the governor TO accede to the wish
es Of the State LADDERS. hls many trends
concede that he acted the part Of good
/ Republican. The Lavton faction, while
I claimlr they had majority OF the dele
/ gates in the State Convention, evidently
/ feared showdown and since the governor
/ consented to the nomination OF Congress
man LAYTON are acting the Betsy and
/ Bear" stunt.
That feeling between the two factions
still runs high IS well known to all who
keep UP with the political trend m
/ Sussex county Last Saturday week, when
1 the primaries were held TO nominate q
! county ticket, evidence was IuItliSiic0 IA
/ every election district that the old feud
/ still existed Both factions had candidates
/ for the county Offices, and both branches
Of the Legislature The Townsend faction
/ however slipped cog IN their primary
organization machinery by having too
many candidates. which meant division Of
/ their vote and this helped the Layton fac
! tion TO dominate the situation. The result
was that the Lavtons succeeded IN nom
/ mating men Of their choice for the several
/ Offices but the Townsend followers now
say the next thing for the Laytons to do
IS to elect them, which they are not going
+ to DO because the Townsend faction does
not propose to support them.
The county ticket IS looked upon rs a
-Layton-hand- picked ore from beginning
/ to end, and Is distasteful to the better
element of the Republican party It's
! the poorest ticket tho Republicans Of
I Sussex county have nominated for years
Is the way many Of the voters express it.
and there is every Indication at this time
j that many Republicans do not intend to
support il.
Sussex Countians Here.
Sussex countiaEs who visited Whining