Mock GOP Convention Fails to Select Nominee

Rockefeller forces used a variety of delaying tactics to prevent a Goldwater victory at the New England mock Republican national convention at Wellesley Saturday. The convention ended without endorsing anyone.

After the first and only ballot, Goldwater was culy 30 votes below a majority--323--and more than 100 votes ahead of the New York governor. Rockefeller organizers were reportedly worried that if a second or third ballot were held. Goldwater might pick up the few voted he seeded to win.

Wellesley College officials had forbidden the meeting the use of the Convention Hall after 5 p.m. At exactly 5:02 p.m. campus police shut off the lights and public address system. The convention's chairman, Howard J. Phillips '62, who had repeatedly warned the delegates of the deadline, had to announce the first unofficial results by yelling.

Various Stalling Techniques Used

Various stalling techniques were used by the Rockefeller forces: During the first ballot, delegates frequently asked that an entire state delegation be polled in lieu of accepting the state chairman's tabulation. And as the 5 p.m. limit approached, many pro-Rockefeller delegates made last minute changes in their votes, to consume time.

Goldwaterites Feverish

Highly organized Goldwater delegates worked feverishly throughout. Under the direction of James Dobbes, Georgetown University senior and a paid representative of the National Youth for Goldwater movement, the partisans of the Arizona senator staged the day's largest floor demonstration.

Campus police arrested and Goldwaterite who dumped confetti from a hole in the hall's ceiling. The confetti originally belonged to the Rockefeller group. According to one rumor, a Rockefeller floor leader, knowing what the police would do, tricked him into using it.

Rockefeller Men Jam Walkie-Talkie

The Goldwater organizers also tried to use walkie-talkies for their operation on the floor, Rockefeller workers, however, thwarted this tactic by jamming the two-way radios.

"I hear all they could get was the Celtics basketball game," a Rockefeller partisan said yesterday.

Both Goldwater and Rockefeller groups spent more than 400 dollars to drum up support for their respective candidates.

There were cries from each side that the other had tried to "pack" the convention. One Goldwater partisan said yesterday, "There's no question that they [the pro-Rockefeller members of the Harvard Young Republican Club] signed up about 100 people for the fairly specific purpose of the convention."

Rockefeller people charged that James I.K. Knapp, chairman of the credentials committee, abused his position by refusing to accept last minute delegation lists on the deadline night, and by writing letters favoring Goldwater to Connecticut Young Republican clubs.