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Show I Claims Insolent Attempt Made By' Wood Backers to Buy Up Nomination. PARTY FORCED TO DEFEAT GENERAL Republicans Foresaw Defeat and Crushing Dishonor if Bank Accounts Ruied. NEW YORK, June U. Charges that "a motley group of stock gamblers, gam-blers, oil and mining promotors, munition mu-nition makers and other like persons seized on so good a man as General Wood, and with reckless audacity started out to buy for him tho presidential presi-dential nomination," were made in a statement given out tonight by Nlcho- lus Murray Butler, and unsuccessful i Republican candidate. ( "Jt was the cause of genuine sorrow- to mo as to many others of General Wood's pcrsosnal friends," ho said, 'to see him put in this unnappy position. posi-tion. There was nothing to uo to save the Republican party but to aefeat the f band of men behind him with their 1 bank accounts. This meant we had to I' dcieat General wood. I Attempt to Buy Up Votes. "Tho forces defeated m thou insolent inso-lent attempt to buy the nomination represent all that is worst in American Ameri-can business and American political lite. It Is really too bad they hit upon General Wood as their choice. They should have found some one to support sup-port for whom the country has less i espoct and less regard. "The chief task of the convention was to prevent tho sale of presidential nominations at auction to the highest bidder. Had this not been cone, the party faced not only detoat, but f l rushing dishonor. Tne sucty-elght jj Now York delegates who voted for mo ' on the first ballot were the cniof fac- f lor in stopping the Ilindenburg drive 1 to overwhelm tho convention by the f power of unlimited money and by j strong arm -methods in preferential i primaries. I The story of New York's sixty-eight I votes for Butler shows, tne statement said, how General Wood was defeated. It points out that the first ballot gave General Wood a substantial lead, and-that and-that "the first task, thoretore, was to bring tho Yote ot his nearest rival, Governor Lowden, at least up to J Woods' vote.' I Owing to local and state compllca- I tlons, the statement oxplains, there I were few sources from which tne new i Lowden strength could bo drawn fo early. Pennsylvania, Massacnusetts, .Michigan and Ohio could not help, it added, because the release of ablegates able-gates in those states probably would give Wood more votos than j-rowden. New York Becomes Belgium. "It was clearly necessary, tnere-fore," tnere-fore," tho statement continues, "ior New York to become the Belgium of tho war, and I cheerttilly gave my ap-I ap-I proval of the plan to turn i'ew iorK's vote to Lowden in increasing volume on the second, third, fourth, titth.J sixth and seventh ballots, i sent woruj Ito me xnow -xotk aeicgauon tnut witn : me party sucess and party honor came first. 1 also said no personal inteicMC. should bo considered until party success suc-cess and party honor had ueen protected, pro-tected, "It was this New York vote for Lowden Low-den taken from the slxty-oight votes: cast for me that gave Lowden his laud' in the fifth ballot, and that enubieci him substantially to equal the Wooui vote on the ballot following. When after the seventh ballot It was clear Lowden could not be nominated, we helped the drift toward i-iarding, and on the ninth ballot became the decisive de-cisive psychological factor by giving Harding sixty-six votes. "The Now York votes that continued contin-ued to support me were ca.'st in pursuance pursu-ance of earnest request's irom delegates dele-gates in Connecticut, Jscw Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota. Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, California, Washington, Texas and Kentucky, so' that If the effort to nominate Senator Harding should fail, my name mignt still remain upon tho list of candidates. candi-dates. Purty Should Rejoice. "The New Yorkers whu care for tho Republican party and for the success of its principles, and who are Jealous of the honor, should rejoice and take satisfaction that their representatives in the Republican national convention, although by no means unified In sentiment sen-timent or m organization, were both yet able to exert so commanding an influence in a great emergency. "Harding and Coolldgo are first of all patriotic Americans and noxt Republicans. Re-publicans. We are to have the satis-ractlon satis-ractlon of supporting and electing a real Republican ticket, Wo may now look forward with complete confidence confi-dence to the restoration of the national na-tional government to us old foundations, founda-tions, which are love and roverenco for the constitution." |
