gates was called, resulting: Lowden, 6; Deneen, 5; Hamlin, i;
Yates, I ; Warner, i.

W. J. Lynch challenged the vote of Madison county. Sen-
ator Lours Walter, of Alton, inquired whether, under the rule
governing vacancies in delegations, a majority could fill the
vacancy.

Before a ruling could be made, another delegate said there
was no vacancy, as the alternate for the absent delegate was
present.

Chairman Cannon : Then there is no basis for the inquiry.
Is the delegation full?

Senator Walter : There is an alternate here.

Chairman Cannon: Then the delegation is full. [Laughter.]

The Madison delegation was polled, the alternate voting for
Yates.

The first ballot was announced as follows :

Yates, 507^ : Lowden, 354^ ; Deneen, 386^ ; Hamlin,
121 ; Warner, 45; Sherman, 87. Total vote cast, 1,502. Neces-
sary to a choice, 752,

" No candidate having received a majority," said Chairman
Cannon, " there is no choice, and the clerk will again call the
roll."

The roll was then called for the second ballot. The vote of
Boone county was challenged, and the delegation was polled.
This resulted in a gain of one vote for Yates, and the loss of
one for Warner.

There were cheers when Rock Island county, which had voted
for Sherman on the first roll-call, cast its vote solidly for Lowden
on the second.

The second ballot resulted :

Y'ates, S^AYi \ Lowden, 390 53-66 ; Deneen, 383 35-66 ; Ham-
lin, 117^; Warner, 42 1-6; Sherman, 63 1-6.

The third ballot brought further changes by the entry of
John H. Pierce, of Henry county, in the list of candidates. His
name had not been formally presented to the convention, but
now Henry and Stark counties gave him twenty-one votes, and
Pulaski added a half vote.



PART TWO: THE CONVENTION.



225



As the ballots and the totals thereof are given in detail in
another part of this volume, their repetition here will not be
necessary. The balloting continued without extensive changes.
The Yates vote gradually receded ; the Lowden vote all the while
was climbing up. On the fourth ballot, Alexander county, which
had voted solidly for Yates, divided ita vote, giving Yates four
and Lowden three. The vote was challenged, and on a poll it
was found that the Lowden votes were cast by John Aisthorpe,
W. H. Fields and Richard Taylor. Ford county, which had been
dividing its vote between Deneen, Sherman and Warner, now
voted solidly for Deneen. and was rewarded with cheers from
the Deneen delegates.




COL. W. T. COXZELMAN.

(PEKIX.)
CANDIDATE FOR THE NOMINATION FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR.

Born in St. Louis, where his father was a physician of considerable prominence.
Mr. Conzelman moved to Pekin in 1891 and in the fall of that year was united in
marriage to Miss Bertha Herget of that city. He is prominent as a stockholder and
director in a large number of business enterprises, both in Pekin and Peoria. He is
also a Colonel on the military staff of Governor Vates. In May, 1891, he was elected
Mayor of Pekin and was reelected in 1903 by .an increased majority.

15



226



THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.



After the last county had been called on each ballot, the secre-
taries required from ten to fifteen minutes to make the footings.
The totals were not given to the chairman until they were agreed
upon by Secretary Hoy and those of his assistants who had
made roll-calls — each of the several candidates having a repre-
sentative among the assistant secretaries. In this way accuracy
was secured — though there were occasionally slight errors in the
fractions, to which no attention was paid — and all chance for dis-
pute w^as obviated.




From a photograph by J. Ellsworth Hare, staff photographer Chicago Inter Ocean.

JUDGE HAMLIN ABOUT TO ENTER CONVENTION HALL.



After the completion of the seventh roll-call, a full half-
hour elapsed before the announcement of the result. Chairman
Cannon turned his gavel over to Major James A. Connolly, of
Springfield, for a few minutes, while he had a conference with
Judge W. C. Johns, of Decatur, and others. The chairman
began to see faintly the deadlock that was just beginning, and
was anxious that it should be averted. Rumors flew thick and



PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 227

fast through the hall. It was reported that the chairman had
suggested to the delegates of his own county, Vermihon, that
they open the way by dividing their vote among several of
the candidates. The same suggestion, it w^as understood, had
been made to the Macon and Douglas county delegations. It
was reported also that Mr. Deneen had sent a messenger to
Governor Yates, and that both of them, with Judge Hamlin, had
gone into a conference. For some days, in the talk of a possible
entry of a " dark horse " in the list of candidates, the name of
E. J. ]\Iurphy, warden of the Joliet penitentiary, and the Gov-
ernor's campaign manager, had been freely used. Mr. Murphy
evidently had some friends in the convention, and there were
now shouts of "Murphy!" "Murphy!" The impression that
a break was about to come, and that unexpected combinations
were about to be made, took possession of many in the conven-
tion — not so much of the delegates themselves as of those who
looked on.

During the long wait the convention became boisterous. The
pictures, banners and placards of candidates were kept waving
all over the hall. The air was filled with a bedlam of cheers.

It was 4 o'clock when the result of the seventh ballot was
announced. The Yates vote had fallen to 494, while Low^den
had risen to 407 ; Deneen had dropped to 377 ; Sherman to 52 ;
Hamlin, Warner and Pierce were practically stationary.

The eighth ballot developed no extensive changes. The roll-
call was interrupted by Fred A. Busse, w^ho demanded that Mr.
Deneen have a representative at the secretary's desk to keep
tally of the votes. Chairman Cannon, with some asperity, replied :

" The Chair understands that there is a gentleman here who
has the confidence of Mr. Deneen ; and whether there is or not,
it is the duty of the Chair to see that the vote is counted as
announced, and the Chair will do it."

Rival attempts at stampede w^ere made on the ninth ballot,
by the supporters of Yates, Lowden and Deneen, who sent up
deafening shouts as the votes of the counties were announced ;
but no effect whatever was apparent.

CONVENTION BECOMES A MOB.
The convention became a mob during the long wait for the
announcement of the tenth ballot. There was a deafening din



228



THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.



of yells for all of the candidates — more particularly for Hamlin,
Yates and Lowden. Finally a dozen men with banners, seeking
the highest vantage, climbed upon the press platform, some
upon the secretary's table, and finally one mounted Chairman
Cannon's table, swinging a Warner banner. A squad of police-
men in uniforms leaped to the platform and, after a struggle, suc-
ceeded in removing the disturbers, but to do it required force




COL. ISAAC L. ELLWOOD.
(de kalb.)

important factor in state convention prominent in politics and in business

world member state railroad and warehouse commission.



and threats and pienacing motions of policemen's clubs. A
serious riot was imminent for several minutes. " Uncle Joe "
Cannon, with characteristic coolness and good humor, lifted his
megaphone and shouted to the press representatives on his left:
'■ The newspaper boys will please sit down."

At length the convention settled down to some semblance of



PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 229

order and delegates were able to hear the megaphone announce-
ment of the tenth ballot. This showed almost no changes from
the previous ballots.

About the only important variation on the eleventh ballot
was the transfer of the six votes of Washington county to Con-
gressman W. A. Rodenberg. This was Mr. Rodenberg's first and
final appearance in the list of candidates for governor.

It was now nearly 7 :^o in the evening. The convention had
been in session continuously since 10 o'clock. There had been
no intermission for lunch or for dinner, and delegates and specta-
tors were weary and hungry, sandwiches secured from the near-
est lunch rooms and carried to convention hall by messengers
being all that they had been able to get in the way of food.
There was a general desire for a recess, but nobody was willing
to make the first move in that direction, fearing it might be con-
strued as a confession of weakness. Chairman Cannon inti-
mated that a recess would be desirable when he remarked that
" in the absence of any privileged motion the clerk will call the
roll." The delegates only laughed at the chairman's humor
and none offered the *' privileged motion " which he hoped might
be forthcoming.

The calling of the roll for the twelfth ballot was then com-
menced. Chairman Cannon called Major James A. Connolly,
of Springfield, to the chair, and left the platform with Senator
Cullom and Congressman Lorimer. It was currently reported
that they were proposing a conference between the candidates
for Governor. If any such proposition was made, it received
no encouragement. In a few minutes ]\Ir. Cannon was back
in the chair.

" Uncle Joe " was thoroughly impressed with the futility of
any further balloting that day. The footings had been ready
for half an hour, but he sat complacently in his chair, smiling at
those about him.

" Do you think," he inquired, '" I am in any hurry to announce
this ballot?''

In the convention hall there was a continuous din of shouts,
mingled with the boisterous music of a half-dozen bands and the
clatter of a cowbell in the hands of an enthusiastic delegate in
the center of the hall. The Yates men apparently had the greater
lung power, and, with a bass drum keeping time, they kept up a



230



THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.



continuous shout of *' YATES ! YATES ! YATES ! YATES !"
It was at this juncture that some of the Deneen men wanted to
try a stampede for their candidate. Mr. Deneen was over at
the Leland hotel, nearly a half-mile away. Clyde A. Morrison,
of Chicago, one of his active lieutenants, jumped into a carriage
and drove post-haste to the hotel, expecting to bring the candi-
date back with him to the convention hall, where his personal
appearance at this critical moment would cause an outburst of
enthusiasm and possibly a break in the opposing forces. But Mr.
Deneen only smiled and shook his head. " No," said he, " I will




HON. JOHN R. DAVIS.

(JACKSONVILLE.)

PLACED GOVERNOR YATES IN NOMINATION IN THE STATE CONVENTION PROMINENT IN

governor's CAMPAIGN.

Born in Jacksonville in 1864 of Scotch-Irish descent. His first political position was
that of alderman in the Jacksonville City Council, and at the end of his term he was
nominated for mayor of that city, being elected by a large majority. His reelection
followed two years later, at which time he received the largest majority ever given a
candidate for the office. Mr. Davis is a director in the Ayers National Bank, a director
of ihe White Hall Sewer Pipe and Stone Company and secretary of the Odd Fellows'
Orphans' home at Lincoln. He has always been prominent in the Republican political
councils in Morgan county.



PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 231

Stay here. Some other day for my stampede." And Mr. Morri-
son, disappointed, returned to the convention alone.

TROUBLE BREAKS LOOSE.

Suddenly there was excitement on the east side of the hall,
not far from the chairman's platform, and there was a general
rush in that direction. In one of the endless processions of men
carrying banners that had been marching up and down the aisles,
a burly negro resisted PoHce Officer George Brightman when
the latter attempted to stop him. The officer used his club and the
negro attacked him, drawing a revolver. Mrs. Yates, wife of the
Governor, was sitting a few feet away inside a reserved space
protected by a rope. In the scuffle, the negro pushed another
policeman, who had come to the rescue of Officer Brightman,
over the rope and upon Mrs. Yates. B. M. Chiperfield, of Can-
ton, a candidate for Attorney-General, was standing near, and
came to the rescue of the officers. Others joined him and the
negro was finally overpowered and placed under arrest. Mrs.
Yates was uninjured.

At length the result of the twelfth ballot was announced,
showing but slight changes from the previous ballot. The thir-
teenth roll-call was commenced at 8 :20. While the result of the
ballot was awaited, representatives of the candidates went to the
platform and discussed with Chairman Cannon the question of
adjournment. Mr. Cannon was anxious to adjourn. " It is an
outrage," he said to ex-Congressman Walter Reeves, " to pun-
ish men for their loyalty." But opposition to adjournment was
too strong to be overcome. It was 9:16 when the result of the
thirteenth ballot was given to the convention, although the foot-
ings had been ready for forty minutes.

Governor Yates and members of his Advisory Committee had
been meeting in his room in the south end of the building, in con-
ference on the question of adjournment. They now came in and
made their way down the aisle to the front, with the Governor
at their head. The Governor announced to those about him : " I
am against adjournment."

Chairman Cannon said he desired to make a statement. " It
is now half-past nine o'clock," said he. " It is for the conven-
tion, after a continuous session of about twelve hours, to say



232



THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.



whether it shall proceed in regular order, or take a recess. It is
in the power of the convention to do either. The Chair has
suggested to friends of all the candidates that perchance, under
the existing conditions, a recess would be wise ; but having made
the suggestion, he has met with no favorable response. If no
motion is made — and that is in order at this time — the Chair
will order another roll-call ; but the Chair desires to state to
the whole convention of 1,500 delegates what the parliamentary
situation is."

" Call the roll — call the roll," was the instant response from
a dozen voices.




From a photograph by Alderman Frank L. Race, Chicago.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: GOV. YATES, L. A. POOL, OF QUINCV, AND W. L. SACKETT, OF MORRIS,

IN FRONT OF CONVENTION HALL.



" The clerk will call the roll," said the chairman, " and gentle-
men will be in order, because it will greatly facilitate the calling
of the roll ; and the Chair states that the roll-calls from this
time on will be speedily disposed of." [Applause.]



PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 233

The calling of the roll then proceeded. The fourteenth ballot
showed no substantial changes, and the fifteenth roll-call was com-
menced. While it was in progress the candidates had a confer-
ence and agreed upon a recess until lo o'clock the following
morning. . State Senator O. F. Berry communicated the fact of
the agreement to Chairman Cannon. Then the footings of the
fifteenth ballot were announced. . The Yates vote, which had
gone down as low as 482 on the previous ballot, rose again to
495, a result that was greeted with cheers by his followers. The
footings of this ballot were as follows : Yates, 495 ; Lowden,
4059-66; Deneen. 38157-66; Hamlin, iii; Warner, 36: Sher-
man, 51 ; Pierce, 21.

During the day the sergeants-at-arms and the police had
been totally unable to cope wnth the immense crowd that had
pushed its way into the convention hall. The result had been
that the greatest disorder had prevailed throughout the day.
Chairman Cannon was thoroughly aroused as he made the follow-
ing announcement to the convention :

The Chair desires to announce to the convention that on to-morrow,
with the consent and authority of the State Central Committee, there will
be a sufficient number of sergeants-at-arms and a detail of sufficient and
efficient police force to police all the doors entering the building, and that
no man will be permitted to enter upon the floor of the building unless he
has a delegate's or alternate's ticket. Admitted to this platform will be
people with platform tickets and fnembers of the press only. To the gal-
leries admission will be given to those holding gallery tickets. And I want
to say that with this aid it will be done according to this announcement,
unless this convention now prohibits it, and the Chair hears no objections.

The day's w^ork was over and the delegates were on their
feet in anticipation of a motion to adjourn. At 10:28 Senator
Berry moved that the convention take a recess until 10 o'clock
the following morning. The motion was declared carried and
the delegates, weary under the strain of the long session, made
their way to the hotels and boarding houses. -



THE DEADLOCK — HOW TO BREAK IT.

The day w^as far from being over for the candidates for
Governor and those closely associated with their fortunes in the
contest. By this time the one fact that was clear to every-
body was that the convention was in a deadlock. The situation
was one that had not been anticipated by anybody. Instead of



234 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.

a break in the ranks of any of the candidates, the delegates seemed
to have settled down to the determination to stand by the candi-
dates of their original choice. It was obvious that so long as
they maintained this attitude a nomination was impossible.

It seemed evident that the only possible solution of the prob-
lem was to bring about a combination between two of the lead-
ing candidates, or between one of the leading candidates and all
of the minor ones. In the latter class were included Hamlin,
Sherman, Warner and Pierce. All told, the minor candidates,
as shown by the last ballot, had 219 votes. This number, of
course, added to w^hat either Yates, Lowden or Deneen already
had, was still insufficient to nominate ; but the theory was that
if any candidate could secure as many as seven hundred votes
the remaining fifty-two necessary to nominate would be forth-
coming without much difficulty or delay. Word was brought
to the Yates leaders late that night that plans had been practically
consummated for the nomination of Judge Hamlin next day ;
that he would get the Low^den vote solid, as well as the Sherman
and Pierce votes, and that enough Deneen men would join to
nominate him. Investigation, however, failed to show that
such a proposition Vv'as being seriously considered by any of
the parties to the reported combination.

The most feasible combination seemed to be between two of
the three leading candidates ; and the one most discussed by the
leaders as they gathered in little groups here and there through
the hotel at midnight and later that night was a combination of
the forces back of Yates and Lowden. Together, these two candi-
dates had a total of nine hundred votes. It was admitted that
neither could deliver absolutely all of his votes to the other ;
but it was the common belief that a successful alliance could be
made between them,

THE "ORGANIZATION."

" The organization ought to control this nomination," was
the expression of opinion uttered by scores of men who were
allied with one or the other of the two candidates who were
ranked as " organization " men. There was, of course, more or
less ambiguity in the use of the term " organization." The word
in a general way was understood to include the Cook county forces



PART TWO: THE CONVENTION.



235



controlled by Congressman Lorimer and his associates — forces
that were now backing Colonel Lowden — and the forces
in the country that were supporting Governor Yates, Colonel
Warner, also, was generally looked upon as an " organi-
zation " candidate. Deneen, Hamlin and Sherman were ranked
as " anti-organization," These terms- were not altogether accu-
rate ; Mr. Deneen, for instance, had back of him what had recently
become the " organization " in Cook county ; but those who




From a photograph by F. H. Wagner, staff photographer Chicago Record-Herald.
MR. DENEEN AND JUDGE SHERMAN EXCHANGE JOKES.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT OF PICTURE: HOMER J. TICE, OF GREENVIEW; REPRESENTATIVE WM.
SCHLAGENHAUF, OF QUINCY ; L. Y. SHERMAN; C. W. VAIL, OF CHICAGO;

CHARLES S. DENEEN.



made the plea that the " organization " should get together and
agree upon the nominee referred generally to the forces sup-
porting Yates and Lowden.

Mr. Lorimer late that night was quoted as proposing a general
" organization " caucus. But there was no chance to accomplish



236 THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.

anything by that means. There was one obstacle in the way of
an agreement between the so-called organization candidates that
it was impossible to overcome. This was to be found in the
fact that such an agreement involved a surrender on the part
of either Yates or Lowden. The Governor would not consider
any suggestion of a combination, either with Lowden or with
any other candidate, that did not contemplate his own nomina-
tion.

" Of all the candidates in this contest," he argued, " I am the
last who should be expected to withdraw. I have gone into
this convention with more votes than any other candidate. I
have practically one-half of the votes outside of Cook county.
I have made my campaign before the people of Illinois, and the
five hundred delegates I have are the response of the people
to my appeal. It would be unjust to those who have supported
me for me to retire now from this contest in favor of any
other candidate whose support in the convention is far less than
my own. It has been demonstrated that my delegates will stand
by me. I feel every confidence that they will support me to
the end. Under these circumstances, why should I be asked to
withdraw ?"

Colonel Lowden was quite as firm, unyielding and confident.
The day's balloting certainly had been encouraging to him. He
was the only one of the candidates who had ended the day with
more votes than he had at its beginning. His vote on the first
ballot was 354 ; it had gone up to 420 on the fourteenth ballot,
and stood at 405 at the close. Yates had suffered a net loss
of 12 votes; Deneen a loss of 5 votes; Hamlin, 10 votes; War-
ner, 9 votes; Sherman, 31 votes. There was no one in the Low-
den camp who would listen for a moment that night to any
suggestion of going to Yates. While it was admitted that
Lowden had fewer votes than Yates, and, therefore, a slightly
better reason for retiring in favor of him, yet his rising vote
through the balloting of the day, and the probability that it
would rise higher next day, furnished a sufiticient answer to
every suggestion of withdrawal or of entering a combination to
nominate the Governor.

The delegates — the rank and file who were not to be classed
as " leaders " or as the " lieutenants " of the candidates — thus
showed no signs of weakening. They were indififerent to the talk



PART TWO: THE CONVENTION. 237

of compromise or combinations. Already they had developed a
pride in sticking to their respective candidates, and their watch-
word had become, " Stand pat." No such loyalty to individuals
had ever before been displayed in a State convention in Illinois.
All talk of a " break-up " — a condition of things that twenty-
four hours before had been anticipated as likely to bring the
contest to a close after four or five ballots — was abandoned.
" You could not break this deadlock with a gatling gun," Mr.
Lorimer had commented as he stood watching the convention
during the closing ballot that night. The result of the first
day of balloting had given the leaders a different line to work
upon. They had discovered that they could not expect to nomi-
nate a candidate through a stampede or through the disintegra-
tion of the forces of any of the candidates. The candidates
themselves, it was clear, were masters of their delegates, and so
in a sense were masters of the situation. It was. therefore,
for two or more of the candidates to say when and under what
circumstances and on what conditions they should join hands
and end the deadlock, w^hich already had surpassed all previous
State convention contests.

But the candidates were not ready to join hands. Each
found his own inclination and judgment against combination
or compromise, and each was supported in his view by the
advice of those in whom he had the greatest confidence. The
early hours of the morning found the candidates each making
his way to his private apartments in the hotel, in the hope of
securing a few short hours of rest before the renewal of the
battle in the convention.



238



THE BREAKING OF THE DEADLOCK.



AT THE CONVENTION.



— KDB —

Wis.