Evening star., 1952-07-08
Virginia. S Delegation
Divides Is 10 10 in
Supporting Taft
BY q Staff Correspondent Of The stor


of Virginia's delegation to the Re-
publican National Convention to-
day stands out for the first time as
IS for Senator Taft and. 10 for
Gen. Eisenhower.
If the nomination were to be
made now. that presumably would
be the Old Dominion's vote on the
two leading presidential candi-
dates. There could, of course. be
some shifts due to new factors by
the time the actual vote is taken
later this week.
The 13-to-10 split was clearly
defined in three issues which faced
the delegation yesterday.
l. That was the margin by
which majority Of the delegation
supported a Taft-Sponsored
amendment to 'fair play" rule
governing the seating of delegates
from contested States. But Vir-
ginia's minority was on the pre-
vailing side when the Eisenhower
faction in the convention defeated
the amendment, 658 to 548.
2. The delegates held a caucus
and voted Is to 10 to elect a
chairman. E. D. Hilten Of Roa-
noke County. Taft supporter,
won the post over former State
Republican Chairman Robert H.
Woods Of Pearisburg, who had
switched from Senator Taft to
Gen. Eisenhower about 10 days
ago.
3. Voted by the same margin
with the known Taft supporters tol
postpone a pending battle over
the election Of Virginia's national
committeewoman and, possibly, onI
the committeeman. Delegates
Harris T. Richards of Fairfax andI
Oren r. Lewis of Arlington, both
staunch supporters of the Ohio
Senator, were behind the move
to defer action on the two posts
until another caucus at the La
Sale Hotel tomorrow morning.
8 to 4 Division Earlier.
Until yesterday, virginia's
known division stood nine for Sem
ator Taft, four for Gen. Eisen-
hover and 10 uncommitted. The
vote on the "fair play" amend
ment saw the known delegates
line up as expected. But six of
the uncommitted delegates sided
with the Eisenhower forces and
the other four with Taft's hackers
in the showdown vote.
These delegates voted for the
Taft-backed amendment:
Fred McWane of Lynchburg;
James r. Moore and Richard c.
Poage+ both of Richmond; w. E..
Trusler Of Manassas; r. r. Har-
mon of Charlottesville; Eugene
Worrell Of Bristol; Mr.. Hilten, Mr..
Lewis and Mr.. Richards-all
known Taft supporters-plus A.
D. Smith Of Newport News; STAN
ley Adams of Colonial Beach, vot-
ing as alternate for Roland Som
erS: Harry H. Vaughan of Hope
well and Warren B. French of
Woodstock.
Opposing Amendment.
Voting against the amendment
and with the Eisenhower faction
were:
Mr.. Woods: Bentley Hite of
Christiansburg; Walter Hoffman,
and Lester S. Parsons, both of
Norfolk-the known Eisenhower
supporters-plus r. Kyle Poole of
Wytheville, alternate for State
Senator Ted Dalton of Radford;
C. P. Gillespie and ]. S. Gillespie,
both Of Tazewell; Russell H. Davis
of Rocky Mount; George w. Talia-
ferro Of Harrisonburg and DR.. E.
M. Goad of Hillsville.
The Virginia caucus was held
at a breakfast sponsored by Mrs.
Emily Logan of Woodstock, the
national committeewoman who
faces a contest for reelection
from Mrs. Wilma Macpherson,
wife of the Arlington County
treasurer. Indications are that
the 23-member delegation may be
split almost evenly in deciding |
between the two. Miss Phyllis
Otey of Richmond is seen by some
as q possible. compromise candi-
date If differences become too
bitter.
Mr.. Lewis, who has been back
ing Mrs. Macpherson, made a
motion to defer the election of
national committee members until
another caucus tomorrow.
Senator Dalton Nominated.
His motion came, however,
after Senator Dalton had been
nominated as committeeman to
succeed Curtis M. Dozier of Rich
mond. Senator Dalton is one of
a group of Virginia's uncommitted
delegates who plan to remain that
way until the actual nominating
vote is called for.
Mr.. McWane. who was elected
delegation secretary, is a candi-
date for committeeman. He said
he favored postponement of the
decision until after tomorrow. If
necessary. because the oJltcorne ofI
the presidential nomination would
have an important bearing on who
should hold the post.
In other business the caucus
elected Mr.. Harmon to the con-
vention's committee on permanent
organization and Mr.. Richards to
the committee on rules. MIR.
Trusler was named honorary
convention vice chairman.
Knfallvnr Tale Minnnen1.ne