The Prohibition Party went into the convention divided into two factions, each unwilling to give ground or compromise with the other. The "Broad-Gauge" wing, led by Charles Bentley and former Kansas Governor John St. John, demanded the inclusion of planks endorsing the free coinage of silver at 16:1 and of women's suffrage, the former refusing to accept the nomination if such amendments to the party platform were not approved. The "Narrow-Gauge" wing, led by Samuel Dickie of Michigan and rallying around the candidacy of Joshua Levering, demanded that the party platform remain dedicated exclusively to the prohibition of alcohol. Conflict between the two sides soon broke out over the nomination of a permanent chairman, with a number of presented candidates for the position withdrawing before Oliver Stewart of Illinois, a "Broad-Gauger", was nominated. A minority report by St. John supported the free coinage of silver, government control of railroads and telegraphs, an income tax and referendums, and was prevented from being tabled, giving "Broad-Gaugers" confidence, but a number of those who voted for the report were merely undecided or against gagging the report. After a majority of 188 brought the report forward, "Narrow-Gaugers" campaigned among wavering delegates of the Northeast and Midwest to convince them of the electoral consequences should it be adopted: that Party gains in states like New York would reverse overnight in the face of free coinage and populism. When St. John's report was brought up to a formal vote the margins had largely reversed; it was rejected, 492 to 310. With the silver delegates still in shock and St. John attempting to move for a reconsideration, Illinois "Narrow-Gaugers" moved to offer as a substitute to both the minority and majority reports a single-plank platform centered on Prohibition. A rising vote was taken in lieu of a roll call, with the "Narrow-Gauge" Platform winning the vote and being adopted.
the prohibition party went into the convention divided into two factions each unwilling to give ground or compromise with the other the "broad-gauge" wing led by charles bentley and former kansas governor john st john demanded the inclusion of planks endorsing the free coinage of silver at 161 and of women's suffrage the former refusing to accept the nomination if such amendments to the party platform were not approved the "narrow-gauge" wing led by samuel dickie of michigan and rallying around the candidacy of joshua levering demanded that the party platform remain dedicated exclusively to the prohibition of alcohol conflict between the two sides soon broke out over the nomination of a permanent chairman with a number of presented candidates for the position withdrawing before oliver stewart of illinois a "broad-gauger" was nominated a minority report by st john supported the free coinage of silver government control of railroads and telegraphs an income tax and referendums and was prevented from being tabled giving "broad-gaugers" confidence but a number of those who voted for the report were merely undecided or against gagging the report after a majority of 188 brought the report forward "narrow-gaugers" campaigned among wavering delegates of the northeast and midwest to convince them of the electoral consequences should it be adopted that party gains in states like new york would reverse overnight in the face of free coinage and populism when st john's report was brought up to a formal vote the margins had largely reversed; it was rejected 492 to 310 with the silver delegates still in shock and st john attempting to move for a reconsideration illinois "narrow-gaugers" moved to offer as a substitute to both the minority and majority reports a single-plank platform centered on prohibition a rising vote was taken in lieu of a roll call with the "narrow-gauge" platform winning the vote and being adopted