A straightaway poll of the commit
tee was taken behind closed doors at
the initial session at the Congress
hotel. Chairman Harry S. New of
Indiana said every man announced his
preference for Taft. The one missing
committeeman was David Mulvane of
Kansas, who is snowbound en route
to Chicago. He is credited by the oth
ers on the subcommittee as being ab
solutely pro-Taft.
Hayward Electee* Secretary.
The subcommittee completed its or
ganization, which was started immedi
ately after the adjournment of the na
tional committee meeting in Washing
ton, by electing William Hayward of
Nebraska, secretary of the national
committee, as secretary ot the sub
committee on arrangements. National
Committeeman Franklin Murphy of
New Jersey was elected treasurer of
the subcommittee.
Official working headquarters for
the subcommittee were established at
the Congress hotel, where twenty-five
rooms on the parlor floor will be used
by the subcommittee and the force of
stenographers and clerks who will di
rect the preliminaries for the conven
tion, which will begin June 18th.
Temporary Quarters Established.
Chairman New and Sergeant at
Arms William F. Stone will arrive in
Chicago about May 10 to open the
Congress hotel headquarters, and then
expect to remain on the job until the
sine die adjournment of the conven
tion. In the interim, the headquarters
of the subcommittee will be establish
ed at the office of Secretary Hayward
on the ninth floor of the First National
Bank building.
The first matter considered by the
subcommittee when it convened was
hotel rates. Representatives of all of
the leading hotels were summoned and
an agreement was reached between
them, which was approved subsequent
ly by the subcommittee, as to the max
imum rates to be charged during con
vention week.
Visitors Assured of Fairness.
