Republicans Drum a Populist Out of the Nest

Populists cannot remain in the Republican camp. If by any mischance they find themselves there and won't get out, they will be drummed out, and there will be the smallest ceremony possible about carrying the sentence into effect. The last act of the new Republican county committee last evening, after electing officers, was to dispose of the case of M. Churchill, of Star Lake, who, through a mistake that no one seems able to explain, succeeded in being named as a delegate to the state convention in Spokane.

The case was brought to the attention of the central committee by E. C. Hughes, who gave Mr. Churchill a good turning over. Then Harry Gordon and other committeemen paid their respects to the cuckoo, and on motion of Dal Roberts he was turned out of the nest. Churchill will not go to the Republican state convention, and the men who have prevented him are not at all backward about saying so. They don't propose to compromise with Populism or to deal leniently with a Populist. The vote by which Churchill was turned out was unanimous, and the action of the committee was vigorously applauded.

Churchill is the man who came down to the Republican county convention in September along with E. W. Reed, and contested the seats from Star Lake with T. Rhoades and James Sloan. Churchill and Sloan were seated, although Rhoades and Reed fought as hard as they could for the seats. The question upon which the contest hinged was the validity of an election under a call of the precinct committee or an election under a call of the county central committee. Rhoades and Sloan were elected in the latter way, and thus were defeated in the contest.

At the meeting of the county committee last evening John Arthur was chosen chairman, and the committee then proceeded to the election of officers. The new chairman made a brief speech, saying that he did not believe so much in inaugurating a campaign in good hard work as in good hard sense.