SECRETARY LAMONT'S MAIDEN SPEECH AND REPUBLICAN CAUCUS DRAMA

Daniel Lamont.

Cortland Standard Semi-Weekly Edition, Tuesday, August 27, 1895.

HIS MAIDEN SPEECH.

Secretary Lamont to Enter the Oratorical Arena.

   New York, Aug. 26.—A Washington special to The Herald says: Secretary of War Lamont is going to make a speech. It is the secretary’s maiden effort in public and that is what makes the coming event so noteworthy. He has always been of a modest, retiring disposition, and has declined up to the present to give the public an idea of his oratorical ability. He has waived his golden silence, however, and will be present at the opening of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National park, and those who know anything about the program prepared for this event are looking forward with a great deal of interest to that feature which introduces Secretary Lamont to the world as an orator.

   The suggestion has been made that the secretary does not know he is slated for a speech and that when he learns of it he may delegate the duty of making the opening address to some one else. The program was prepared, however, by the park commissioners who are subordinate to the secretary of war, and it does not seem likely they would have put him down for a speech unless he had indicated his willingness to make it.

   It has been suggested by some of the political gossips here that the secretary is paving the way by this speech to an entrance into the oratorical arena, with a view to possible contingencies in the coming gubernatorial contest in New York state.

AN ELEGANT CARRIAGE.

Just Made by The H. M. Whitney Co. for W. H. Newton.

   The H. M. Whitney Co. have just completed an elegant coupe rockaway for Mr. W. H. Newton. The wagon is an exact counterpart of one recently built by S. C. Reese & Sons of Merrimack, Mass., for the Sultan of Turkey. The body is black, the panels are Quaker green and the running gear which is also black is striped with carmine. The gear was painted by Henry Miller and the body by Wm. J. Irving. The windows are of French-plate glass and the trimmings are of silver. The upholstering which was done by C. N. Hardy is covered with blue American broadcloth with silk linings and laces. The driver’s seat and the footman’s seat are each of fine morocco leather. The monogram “W. H. N.” on each door in carmine is the work of B. R. Carpenter. This is one of the finest pieces of work ever put out by this company.

AN ADDITION OF CURIOS

To Police Justice C. S. Bull’s Interesting Collection.

   Police Justice C. S. Bull has from time to time added to the collection of curios at his office articles both valuable and interesting on account of their historical connection. The latest addition is a hickory cane presented by Frank P. Hakes. The cane has carved upon it the following inscriptions: Polk-Dallas, Pierce-King, Wright-Gardner and Spartan, Texas, showing that it did service in the presidential campaigns of 1844 and 1852 and in the state campaign in 1844.

   Recently Mr. Volney Carpenter presented a pair of snowshoes worn by the Indian, Black Hawk, during the Indian wars in Wisconsin, also a wooden bottle or canteen holding one gallon. On the bottle is a card with the following reading matter which explains its history:

   “This gallon bottle was used in the battle of Bunker Hill in the Revolutionary war. General Warren drank cold water out of it the day he was killed; it was owned by Adjutant Thomas Farmer of Boston, Mass., and carried by Orderly Sergeant John Palmer who was both in the said battle [sic].”

THE HOOKS’ TEAM.

A New Arrangement Which it is Hoped Will Avoid Delay.

   Arrangements have been made with Oll Delevan to furnish a team for the hook and ladder truck in case of fire. Mr. Delevan has four teams and at night one of them will be kept at Gillett’s livery stable on Orchard-st. In case of fire in the day time all of the teams are to start for the truck and the one arriving first will be hitched on. It is hoped that by this arrangement the experience of Tuesday night will not be repeated. It was just forty minutes from the time the fire bell struck until a team could be secured to haul the truck to the fire.

The First Spike.

   Owing to the heavy rain Saturday afternoon on the work of putting in the frog connection of the E. & C. N. Y. R. R. with the E., C. & N. R. R., was interrupted and could not be finished yesterday. Consequently the driving of the first spike was postponed from 1 o’clock Monday to the same time to-day. The Otselic Construction Co., of which Mr. N. A. Bundy is president, will celebrate the driving of the first spike by an informal supper at the Messenger House at 8:30 o’clock this evening.

People’s Party Convention.

   The People’s party county convention was held at Good Templars’ hall Saturday afternoon. The following delegates were admitted to the convention: S. D. Deyoe of Virgil, L. L. Schellinger of Truxton, Wm. Petrie, A. F. Campbell and A. Pudney of Cuyler, George Tillotson and Fred Kinney of Hartford.

   S. D. Deyoe was elected chairman and L. L. Schellinger, clerk. The ticket is nominated as follows:

   County Judge—S. D. Deyoe.

   Member of Assembly—William Petrie.

   Coroner—George Tillotson.

   Delegates to State Convention—Wm. Petrie and S. D. Deyoe.

   Alternates—L. L. Schellinger and Fred Kinney.

Judge A. P. Smith.

PAGE FOUR—EDITORIALS.

The Caucus.

   The Republican caucus last Saturday afternoon at the league rooms was one of the largest ever held in this village. We wish we could say that it is also generally regarded as one of the fairest and most orderly, and that its result is accepted by the defeated party as expressing the will of the majority of the Republican voters of the town. Unfortunately this is not the case. The indignation roused at the very opening of the caucus, and which grew hotter and hotter during its progress, has reached a fever heat, and for the first time in the political history of this village since the “spring-bottom hat caucus,” a contesting delegation will ask the county convention to pass upon its claims—and it will require all the wisdom, justice and moderation of the convention which meets Sept. 6 to heal the breach.

   The STANDARD is authorized and requested to say that the claims of the delegation headed by Mr. Wickwire will be urged in the strongest manner upon the convention, and that it will be insisted that the delegation be recognized as the duly elected representatives of the districts holding the caucus—and we regret to say that the manner in which the caucus was conducted will make a strong case for the contestants.

   With a view to securing a perfectly fair and impartial caucus, a committee was appointed at the meeting which nominated the delegate ticket headed by Mr. Wickwire to wait upon the chairman of the town committee, Mr. H. A. Dickinson, and propose to him the following names, from which to select a chairman for the caucus: Hon. A. A. Carley, M. F. Cleary, S. N. Holden, E. Keator, H. M. Kellogg, C. L. Kinney, A. Mahan, F. D. Smith, Hon. W. D. Tisdale, D. F. Wallace, H. Wells, F. E. Whitmore. The gentlemen named in this list are too well known to need endorsement. Some of them voted one ticket and some the other at the recent caucus, but any one of them would have made an impartial presiding officer.  This list was held till Saturday morning, Mr. Dickinson meanwhile professing a desire to have everything fair and satisfactory, and then he announced that the committee would not name any one of the gentlemen proposed.

   No objection was made to any of them, but they were deliberately and without any just cause or reason turned down. When the hour for the caucus to organize arrived Mr. Dickinson appeared and announced that the committee had named ex-Judge A. P. Smith (his law partner) as chairman. He put the question on Judge Smith’s election, and before the chorus of “Noes” had fairly died out declared him elected, and the judge, who stood at Dickinson’s elbow, seized the chairmanship and proceeded to run the caucus. No chance was given for protest, amendment or count, and the only answer given by the chair to the shouts of opposition was, “O, I’ve heard you fellows shout before. If you want a fight you can have it.” Then a motion was made that Messrs. T. Harry Dowd and F. G. Dibble be chosen secretaries. An amendment was offered by Mr. Crombie that Mr. E. M. Seacord act as secretary in place of Mr. Dibble, but the chair ignored the amendment and put the original motion which he declared carried.

   The room was in an uproar at once and loud demands were made for a count, for the amendment, etc. Judge Smith’s only answer was, “The chair has declared them elected and I guess they’ll stay so.”

   But it soon became evident that no business was going to be done till the friends of the ticket headed by Mr. Wickwire were allowed a count on their amendment to give them Mr. Seacord as one of the secretaries—both Mr. Dowd and Mr. Dibble being understood to favor the opposing ticket. The decision of the chair was appealed from and a count demanded, with threats of a fight or withdrawal from the caucus if the count was refused. The storm of indignation was so furious that Judge Smith at last yielded to the demand for a count on the appeal from his decision, and named Hon. R. T. Peck and Prof. Banta as tellers, and the house was divided.

   Before the count was made it became very evident who were in the majority. A count at this juncture would have been very uncomfortable had it shown Mr. Wickwire’s friends in a majority, for it would have proven positively what was freely charged that Judge Smith had been illegally declared chairman. This was too much of a risk, and Mr. Peck said he would again move the choice of Mr. Seacord. The appeal was withdrawn and Mr. Seacord chosen. While Mr. Peck was making this motion the question was addressed to him so loudly that several persons heard it clearly, whether he was “going to weaken on tellers also.” The plan had evidently been to seize both of the secretaries and both of the tellers and then carry things with a high hand, but the opposition was too large, too determined and too full of fight, and the scheme had to be abandoned.

   The voting then began, with an active worker for the ticket headed by Mr. Brewer on each side of the ballot box, at the front of the table, in a position where every voter had to pass between them and they could tell by the shape of his ballot how he voted, and argue, bulldoze, open ballots or take them from the hands of the voters and substitute others if they saw fit. Protest on the part of the friends of the other ticket had no effect and so the voting went on.

   The supporters of the ticket headed by Mr. Wickwire propose to contest the result of the caucus on the foregoing as well as the following grounds:

   1. That Democrats, Prohibitionists and other unauthorized persons were allowed to vote.

   2. That the chairman did not enforce the resolutions adopted as to the qualifications of voters, but allowed persons holding in their hands the long ticket of the side which he favored to vote on simply declaring that they intended to vote the Republican ticket, while he severely cross-examined and applied unauthorized tests to voters holding in their hands the short tickets of the opposite side.

   3. That the following offences, which are by statute declared misdemeanors, were committed by various persons in behalf of the ticket which was declared to have a majority of the votes cast:

   A. Voting or attempting to vote without being entitled to do so.

   B. By bribery, menace, or other corrupt means, directly or indirectly attempting to influence the vote of any person entitled to vote at such caucus or convention, or obstructing such person from voting, or preventing him from voting thereat.

   C. Fraudulently or wrongfully doing any act tending to affect the result of the caucus.

   D. Being an officer, teller or canvasser thereof and willfully refusing or neglecting to do any act required by the election law.

   E. Directly or indirectly paying or receiving by himself or through any other person any money or valuable thing for voting or refraining from voting, or inducing/others to vote or refrain from voting for any particular person or persons.

   4. That the chairman kept a tally of long and short tickets cast, inquiring how various persons voted and frequently declaring which tickets were voted.

   5. That by the foregoing means the freedom and fairness of the caucus were interfered with and the result changed from what it would otherwise have been.

   The worst of the situation is that it is so totally unnecessary. Fairness was all that was asked for and all that was required to make the result of the caucus cheerfully accepted by every one. The refusal of the town committee to select an impartial chairman, and their action in selecting Judge A. P. Smith and seating him in the way they did, was a notice served that tactics familiar to those of the “spring-bottom hat caucus” of which Judge Smith was at the time a strenuous defender—were to be repeated if possible. After the “spring-bottom caucus,” and Judge Smith’s failure to get a renomination for county judge or a nomination for senator or supreme court judge, and his retirement from active politics, our caucuses were for a time fair and their results unquestioned. Last year he appeared as a candidate for the Republican nomination for member of assembly and was beaten, but not till after a snap caucus had been called in this village in his interest, notice being published Thursday afternoon, and the caucus called for Saturday, the debate between Messrs. Harter and Horr at Tully taking place on Friday—a debate which it was known that a large number of Republicans from this village expected to attend.

   The STANDARD’S denunciation of this snap resulted in a reasonable notice being this year given, This year Judge Smith again appears on the scene, and the proceedings at Saturday’s caucus speak for themselves.

   The charges made against The STANDARD in the circular issued last Saturday morning were pretty effectually disposed of in our Saturday’s issue. As to the numberless falsehoods circulated concerning the delegates on the ticket headed by Mr. Wickwire, their intentions, pledges, etc., it is only necessary to say that no pledges of any kind were asked or required of the delegates, and we believe that every one of them would make affidavit that no pledges were made. The ticket was the result of an honest effort to send a delegation of high character and thorough independence to the county convention. The character of this ticket forced the other side in the contest to make up a ticket similar in the character of its members, though not in their absolute freedom from pledges, and the result was two tickets such as for strength and high standing have never before been presented in a Cortland caucus.

   We feel in justice bound to say that we believe that neither the delegates on the successful ticket, nor Mr. Saunders whom they are supposed specially to represent for member of assembly, endorse or approve of the caucus methods which are so bitterly complained of, and that they were not parties to them and will regret as much as any one the unfortunate breach which is developing as a result.

BREVITIES.

   —Comments on caucus on fourth page.

   —The Mission band of the Congregational church will hold a pumpkin pie festival in the church parlors Friday evening.

   —Several members of Vesta lodge, I. O. O. F., expect to visit the lodge at Skaneateles to-night. They drive to Glen Haven and go to Skaneateles by boat.

   —The classes in the Homer-ave. Sunday-school taught by Miss Nina Harrington, Miss Julia Nichols and Mr. Hiram Ingalls visited the Fresh Air camp at Freeville Saturday.

   —About two hundred people took advantage of the excursion rates to Tully Lake park Friday morning under the auspices of the Republican league to hear Hon. R. G. Horr. They were accompanied by the league drum corps.

   —Nearly every one who passes the City drug store stops a moment to look at the four ferrets which are in the south window. They are the property of Mr. Jas. A. Wood and are tame and full of frolic. They have a little house there and run in and out and are almost constantly in motion.

   —Weeds along the railroad tracks are now killed by the “electric weed killer.” It consists of a car carrying a dynamo, which sends a heavy current into a sort of rake of five wires ragging among the weeds on either side of the track. As the wires touch them the weeds are “electrocuted” down to their smallest roots. It is proposed to introduce the same system into farming.—Oneonta Star.

   —The Syracuse Herald says: Instead of sending a young man who has been foolish enough to imbibe too much liquor to jail for thirty days or sixty days, to be supported in idleness by the taxpayers, why would it not be well to sentence such a one to hard work at tilling the soil on a municipal garden or farm whose products should be used for the support of prisoners who are really guilty of crimes against society? Two or three days of genuinely hard work at hoeing or ploughing or other manual labor would be quite as effective a punishment and it would save the country a big expenses.