The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-05-20

Haven.
 Temporarily, at least, they will direct the party's affairs, while Vice Chairman Miss Katherine Byrne, Putnam, will be the active head of the committee. She also is national committeeWoman.
 Roraback's term was to have eX- pired in September, 1888. Although the central committee was not scheduled to meet until August of that year to arrange dates for cau- cuses to name delegates to the state convention, it had been reported a meeting was considered for August this year for the purpose of acting on the leaders resignation.
 It remained for Miss Byrne today to call special meeting of the committee to fill the leadership va- cancy.
 The pre-convention situation in 1886 presented some parallels to the situation in 1928, with the "Old Guard" of such leaders as MT. Rora- back, Charles D. Hillies of New York and Daniel E. Pomeroy of New Jersey silent on the Landon candidacy as they had been aloof from the Hoover movement of eight years before. A week before the convention, however, MT. Roraback announced that Connecticut would support Landon, and that this state would be among the SeconderS of the KanSan.
 Aided Landon Nomination
 The statement of the Connecticut leader gave the Lapdon movement a powerful impetus, and was fol- lowed by the swing of several of the uninstructed states to the Lan- don column. The momentum gath cred with the national publication of the Roraback statement main tained through the first and only ballot which gave the Kansan the nomination virtually without op- position and bore out the predic- ton of MT. Roraback that Landon would be nominated on the first bal lot.
 His companion prediction that James w. Wadsworth of New York would be nominated for the Vice. Presidency was not borne out, for, while MT. Roraback continued to express confidence that the former New York senator could be and would be nominated, MT. WadSWorth saw the picture differently and took himself out of the field
 Instead of the new national com- mittee, elected at the convention, organizating immediately after the convention, the procedure in 1886 was to leave the selection of officers to Governor Landon and his lmme- diate aides. MT. Roraback, however, was continued in his vice-chairman- ship.
 In Mid-July of last year, MT Roraback entertained Na tion ] Chairman John D. M. Hamilton and party leaders in the state at the Harwinton farm which was the scene of his death Wednesday. The only other speaker at that meet ing was State Attorney Arthur M, Brown, a fact construed by many of those present as the party leaders indorsement of Brown for the gubernatorial nomination, which he won in the fall convention after contest.
 Encourage Young COP.
 MT. Roraback was interested in and actively supported the Young Republican movement, the organlz- ation of the younger members of the party. To members of the older organization who came to him for advice on their treatment of the junior members of the party, he gave his own opinion. "The young sters are doing good job and there is nothing the matter with them that years will not remedy"
 It was upon. the recommendation of MT. Roraback to the then chair man of the republican national com- mittee, Henry P. Fletcher, that State Senator J. Kenneth Bradley of Westport was selected early in the campaign as the national leader of Young Republican activities.
 AS "J. Henry" the political "boss" he was one of the best known fig- ures in the life of the state, but also on, of the least known personalities, for he summed publicity and seldom revealed his thought and hopes, even among the members of that