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c H A p T E R N I N E THE 1913 LEGISLATURE: ONE LAST CHANCE "1 am more anxious now to lay down these responsibilities . .."1 A s THE DATE NEARED for the January convening of the 1913 legislature, Governor Glasscock worked on a number of bills that he hoped would ease the tension in the coalfields. First on the agenda, however, were the organization ofthe two houses and the election ofa new United States Senator, which together promised to be time-consuming. Since there were so many important measures to consider, Glasscock called the legislators in a special session on January 2, a week before the regular term began, in order to prepare for the heavy load ahead. A weary Glasscock knew the 1913 legislative session would be his last chance to pass reform programs. The progressives also recognized that the conservatives would attempt to maintain the status quo and protect business and development in the state. The reformers, however, felt momentum going into the session; they had rebounded from the severe 1910 defeat of the party, and they had reformed and reorganized the structure of the party itself. The voters of the state had also given most of their votes to Roosevelt and the Bull Moose Party in the 1912 presidential election. Progressivism with its impulse to action seemed to be in the air and the governor was determined to continue the march forward so that business could be regulated and fair elections would truly reflect the wishes ofthe people. The reformers did not desire to destroy the economic and political systems; they wanted to harness the energies ofboth and allow them to function in orderly, predictable, controlled processes. As the lawmakers arrived in Charleston, Governor Glasscock worried that he had made a mistake in appointing Davis Elkins, son of the late Senator Stephen B. Elkins, to continue his father's term of office. This gave the younger Elkins some advantage Charleston Daily Mail, March 4, 1913. 177 CHAPTER NINE as a successor to Democratic Senator Clarence Watson, whose term would expire in 1913. Actually, there was very little difference in the political philosophy of Elkins or Watson; both were conservative, and both were acceptable to the business community. But Glasscock felt that the people of the state wanted a more progressive leader. The governor, who now viewed Elkins as a "pronounced reactionarY;'2 confided to Judge John W Mason that the Elkins appointment was an error for which he was responsible "and if! am I know ofnothing I can do except to ask forgiveness for my past mistake and make sure that I do all that I can to see that there is no repetition of that mistake:'3 Of course, the best remedy was to support a Progressive candidate, which Glasscock did in the person of William S. Edwards. This would be the last time that legislators would elect a United States Senator, for soon it would be in the hands ofthe people exercising their choice through a primary election. The various political contenders arrived in Charleston and either directly announced their intention to seek the coveted position or very coyly devised subtle strategy with their supporters in the legislature and outside the marble halls. This was a spectacle with all the elements of a high drama-pathos, defeat, victory, and often bribery-and it was very much out of the hands of the voters. The reform Republicans felt they had good reason to insist that the majority ofthe voters of the state were in sympathy with the Bull Moose Party and deserved the right to choose the next United States Senator. They contended that the recent Roosevelt majority of 22,000 votes in West Virginia should be a mandate for the election of a Progressive senator. During the election of 1912, twenty-five counties had supported Roosevelt in contrast to seven for Taft. The same trend was also evident in the State Senate, where the Progressives carried twelve districts and the "regulars" only three. Of course, Edwards believed the honor should fall to him, since "I am the only candidate presented by the Progressive organization, for the senatorship:'4 In addition to Edwards, the reformers liked former Congressman W P. Hubbard, who was not very active in the early stage of political maneuvering. Each contender carefully made 2 Gerald Wayne Smith, "Nathan Goff, Jr.: A Biography" (Ph.D diss., West Virginia University, 1954),381. This would prove to be the last West Virginia...

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