The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1946-04-25
DUE RELY
/ Official
By BALLOT BOX

AS exclusively predicted In this
column on April II, Earle Cobey,
prominent Cumberland attorney
and veteran of World War II, has
Joined the official ''Tawes Family"
the ticket, as announced on Monday
from the Tawes Baltimore head
quarters in the Lord Baltimore
Hotel, being: j. Willard Tawes for
Governor; Charles Robson, Jr, for
Comptroller, and Earle Cobey for
Attorney General.
And speaking of the Cobey an
nouncement, my friend Harvey the
Rabbit" who hasn't missed a trick
so far, tells me that Brooke Lee,
who has taken over the Preston
Lane headquarters in Baltimore
since James Lacy has entered the
race for Comptroller, spent two
hours at the last minute, trying to
persuade Cobey to get out of the
race - no dice.
But the big story of the week is
the kangaroo Court" held at the
Hamilton Hotel, right here in Ha-
gerstown, on Friday night, by the
Washington County Democratic
Central Committee.
All Washington County Dem
ocratic candidates for Office, from
State Senator on down, were asked
to be present at what they thought
would be a harmony meeting"
But much to their surprise, when
those that attended arrived, they
found that instead of a harmony
meeting" a Kangaroo Court was
in session, with each candidate for
Office being ushered separately be-
fore the court" (the incumbent
members of the Central Committee)
to hear his fate - and the court,
was really ready for business, with
plenty of withdrawal forms on
hand for those who failed to get
the official blessing.
AS each candidate appeared be-
fore the court" he was told
whether or not he was going to be
endorsed in the primary, with those
who failed to get the endorsement
being handed Withdrawals forms,
which they were asked to sign then
and there.
This fragrant attempt to defeat the
very purpose of a primary - the
right of voters to select their own
candidates within the party - not
only failed miserably, but also
stirred up plenty of ill feeling, some
of it openly expressed at the meet
ing.
When it was all over, it was found
that only three candidates had with
drawn - Robert B. Snyder, ST., the
seventh man on the ticket for State
Central Committee; Emmanuel M,
Burns, candidate for County Com
missioner, and Joseph 7. Hartle,
candidate for County Clerk One
of these gentlemen, when asked to
sign the withdrawal form, replied
that he had been able to walk into
the courthouse to file and was still
able to make his own way there to
withdraw!
But the real fireworks came when
the court" called upon Brewer
Stouffer to withdraw from the State
Senate race in favor of Roy Weag-
ley, the last-minute candidate who
has received the official blessing of
the County Democratic Central
Committee. (''Doc" Sullivan didn't
even bother to attend, as he had a
pretty shrewd suspicion of what was
in the wind and wanted no part of
it.)
Brewer not only told the mem
bers of the court what he thought
of them, but also sprang an unex-
,pected counter proposal, by suggest
ing that Stuart Bushong, Richard
Sweeney and DR.. Wade withdraw
from the State Central Committee
in the interest of the success of the
Democratic Party. Needless to say,
the three gentlemen declined the
invitation.
Now am wondering, since the
members of the State Central Com
mittee must be uncomfortably aware
of the antagonism their action has
stirred up, whether they will take
leaf from the book of Brooke Lee,
the principal hacker of Preston
Lane for the Gubernatorial nomina-
ton, and set up policing commit
tee" to try and keep the party in
line. Lee, as / reported in this column
two weeks ago, has such a commit
tee organized and operating in Mont
gomery County.
And now &C fhe ctookhroIxnrc cav