OCR Text |
Show MR. TOWNE IN IDAHO. MR. DUBOIS IS USING HIM FOR A STALKING HORSE. But it Is Wasted Effort Something: About the Manitou Conspiracy ol 1896 and Its Effects Dubois a Democrat, Dem-ocrat, but National Commltte Wants Him to Pose as a Silver Republican. Re-publican. . . While Mr. Towne is an entertaining, speaker, his tonr of Idaho will hav no influence whatever on the result of the election. This is because of the conditions under which he appears. It he had been a Democrat and had come to the state as a Democratic speaker, he might have influenced some votes, but he has come as the agent of th fag end of a throttled conspiracy that had for its object the delivery of Silver Republicans to the Democratic party. The conditions in Idaho are peculiar. In 1806 there was a very numerous clement cle-ment in the Republican party that believed be-lieved in the theory of free coinage-and coinage-and that was ready to subordinate-other subordinate-other issues to the "paramount" issue-of issue-of that year. When Bryan -was nominated nom-inated at Chicago on a free silver platform plat-form this element stood ready to give him its hearty support. These looked, on ex-Senator Dubois as their leader in the contest, and they expected that a message would be Hashed from hint at once indorsing the nomination and urging the support of Bryan. But the message did not come; and there wa not a word for ten days or more. In the meantime it became known, that Mr. Dubois and others were ia conference with Democratic leaders at Manitou. This caused a feeling of disappointment dis-appointment and disgust, as it was-fully was-fully understood that some scheme was being arranged that was entirely foreign to the impulses and the wishes-of wishes-of the great mass of these Republican silver voters. As a result a considerable consider-able number of those who had beea prepared to follow Mr. Dubois in the contest quietly drew back and continued contin-ued in affiliation with the Republican party, while most of the others felt disappointed aud humiliated over the-plotting the-plotting that was in progress. It wa this mistake that lost to Mr. Dubois the opportunity to be re-elected to the Senate. The conspiracy set afoot at Manitou. has been promoted ever since, but the masse of the Silver Republicans in thi state were never in acoerd with those-who those-who are seeking to lead them into the Democratic camp. As time passed it became quite plain that the purpose of that conspiracy was to organize a third party to be delivered to the Democracy De-mocracy in due time. When the party met in the state convention in 1896 it declared that the Silver Republican were still Republicans excepting ot the one issue of free coinage. Iu 1898 it emphasized its opposition to the Democracy De-mocracy by the adoption of a platform, that indorsed the tariff policy of the Republican party and declared in the most emphatic terms in favor of expansion. ex-pansion. On the latter subject the platform said: The final disposition of the territory acquired by this -nat ion in the war from which we are now emerging of vital importance to the people of the United States. Therefore, voicing the sentiments of the Silver Republican of Idaho, we declare it to be our firm conviction that the territory over which the United States has acquired? sovereignty or control is ours, henceforth hence-forth to be owned, controlled and governed gov-erned as an inseparable part of tha territory of the United States. That platform was adopted without division. It was plain at that time that the Democracy would take a position po-sition in opopsition to the policy of the Republican administration with respect to the new territory, and the Silver Republicans made their position so plain that no one could misunderstand them. The platform did not suit Mr. Dubois. He had been proclaiming that the Republican party must be destroyed, destroy-ed, and this declaration of principles by his party was most distasteful to him. He continued his policy, and ia the campaign he took a position radically rad-ically opposite to the platform. It was perfectly understood by this-time this-time that Mr. Dubois was making the Silver Republican party a mere antechamber ante-chamber to the Democratic hall. The conspiracy in which he was engaged! was as well understood as though he had proclaimed it over his signature-A signature-A great many of the Silver Republicans Repub-licans left the party during that campaign, cam-paign, being too thoroughly disgusted1, to remain. When, later, it became plain that th Democrats would make anti-expansiom their paramount issue this year, tke return re-turn of the Silver Republicans to the parent party increased, and by the time the conventions were held this-year this-year practically none were left. A skeleton skel-eton was held together, but not to exceed ex-ceed ten per cent, of those who remained re-mained with the party in 1898 continued contin-ued in the organization, and it was-very was-very difficult to get men to serve a delegates to the conventions. The Silver Sil-ver Republican party had become a thing of the past, but this skeleton, was kept in the field for the purpose of aiding Mr. Dubois in securing the senatorial nomination from the Democrats. Demo-crats. In the Democratic state convention, when the question was asked why Mr. Dubois did not come out as a Democrat Demo-crat if he desired a Democratic nomination, nom-ination, Mr. Reid, one of the leaders, who had just returned from Kansas City, where he went as a delegate froor . this state, said Mr. Dubois was Democrat, but he had been advised by the Democratic national committee to. continue the Silver Republican organization organ-ization for political effect. Mr. Dubois got the nomination, bu he has landed very few of his former followers in the Democratic party an has not held enough in the Silver Republican Re-publican organization to be worth-counting. worth-counting. Through his instrumentality Mr. Towne has been brougk; into the state. He is still playing the stalking: horse game, and he brings the distinguished distin-guished Minnesota gentleman here as a beater of the brush. The former Silver Republicans of the state not only repudiate but resent . the policy pursued by Mr. Dubois; and: for this reason the efforts of Mn Towne will be entirely wasted. |