The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1922-12-13
CHAPTER XIX

Marian had suggested to her
mother that they visit Mrs. owen in
town before settling at Waupegan for
the summer, and it was Marian's plan
ming that made this excursion syn.
chrontZe with the State convention.
Mr.. Bassett was not consulted in the
matter; in fact, since his wife's re-
turn from Connecticut he had been
unusually occupied. and almost con
staEtly away from Fraserviue. Mrs.
Bassett and her daughter arrived at
the capital the day after Mrs. Owen
reached home from Wellesley with
Sylvia, and the Bassetts listened per.
force to their kinswoman's enthusA
astic account of the commencement
exercises. Mrs. owen had, II ap-
peared, looked upon Smith and Mount
Holyoke also on this eastward fight,
and these inspections. mentioned in
the most casual manner, did not con-
. tribute. to Mrs. Bassett's happiness.
Finding that her father was mac
cessible by telephone, Marian sum
moned HARDWOOD and demanded tickets
for the convention; she would make
an occasion Of it, and Mrs. Owen and
Sylvia should go with them
Mrs. Bassett's presence at the con.
ventlOn did not pass unremarked by
many gentlemen upon the floor. or by
the newspapers. The following item
appeared in the Advertiser:
While the State chairman strug-
gled to bring the delegates to order,
Miss Marian Bassett, daughter Of the
Hon. Morton Bassett of Fraser Coun-
~ was j charming and vivacious fig
ure in the balcony. At a moment
when it seemed that the band would
never cease from troubling the air
with the strains Of Dixie Miss Bas-
sett tossed q carnation into the Ma
rion County delegation. The flower
was deftly caught by MIR. Daniel Har-
wood, who wore in his butonhole
throughout the strenuous events of
the day"
The experience and sensations of a
delegate to a large convention are
quite different from those Of a re-
porter at the press table, as Dan Har-
wood realized; and it must be con.
fessed that he was keyed to a proper
pitch Of excitement by the days pros
poets. In spite of Bassett's promise
that he need not trouble & help elect
himself a delegate, Harwood had
been drawn sharply into the prelimi-
nary skirfnish at the primaries. He
had thought 1t wise to cultivate abe
acquaintance OF the men who ruled
his own county even though his name
had been written large upon the Bas-
sett slate.
In the weeks that interviewed be
tween his interview with Harwood in
the upper room Of the Whitcomb and
the primaries, Bassett had quietly
visited every congressional district,
holding conferences and perfecting
his plans. Never before" said the
Advertiser, had Morton Bassett's
perniciOus activity been so marked"
The belief had grown that the Sena-
tor from Fraser was in imminent
peril; in the Republican camp it was
thought that while Thatcher might
not control the convention he would
prove himself strong enough to shake
the faith Of many OF Bassett's follow.
ers in the power of their chief. There
had been, apparently, a hot contest at
the primaries. In the northern part
OF the State, in a region long recog-
nized as Bassett's stronghold, Thatch-
er had won easily; at the capital the
contestants had broken even, a result
attributable to Thatcher's residence in
the county. The word had passed
among the faithful that Thatcher
money was plentiful, and that 1t was
not only available in this preliminary
skirnish. but that those who attached
themselves to Thatcher early were to
enjoy his bounty throughout his cam
paign-which might be protracted-
for the senatorship. Bassett was not
scattering 'argess; 1t was whispered
that the money he had used previously
in politics had come out of Thatcher's
pocket and that he would have less to
spend in future.
Bassett, in keeping with his fore
cast TO Harwood, had made a point
OF having many new men. whose
faces were unfamiliar in State con-
ventions, chosen at the primaries he
controlled, so that in a superficial
view of the convention the complex
ion OF a considerable body of the
| delegates was neutral. Here and
there among the delegations sat mem
who knew precisely Bassett's plans