The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-07-07
The Primary Election Question.

be satisfied.
The Primary Election Question.
Editors Of The DiSpotch:
The Lending editorial i'll your issue Of yes
tcrdav, on the subject OF clrcing delegates
TO a congressional nominating convention,
contains the following language:
awe have so plainly stated the nature Of
the plan that to this time prevails in COM
rniree that q leStatcment Of our views
would be regarded suparerogatory. The plan
is well understood, we tclieye. 1t is one Of.
feusivc TO the country. The counties expect
to be met Il, they propose to meet Us. They
90 not come rs units; they come with diff
iprcnt hvoritcs; and expect so to be met by
delegates from Richmond. II they are not
il they come with divided delegations and
meet Richmond with solid body casting its
vote for one mani hey will ri oEcc conclude
that they have encountered a concerted
scheme for their cnthralment and defeat by
the voice of the city. 1t will at once incense
them and inspire such feeling OF discomfort
that 1t caunot possibly be conciliated. Defeat
follows as a matter Of course"
Now, McsSrS. Editors, think I can de-
monStrate TO you and 10 your readers that
you assume Il position which does injustice
to a majority of the City Committee, and
which is unwarrantcd b. the circumstances
of the case. The language of the above cX-
tract is calculated to make the impression
upon the minds of the people residing in the
rural portions OF our Congressional district
that by the plan OF voting in the primary
election as adopted by tic City Committee,
Richmond city must necessarily send del
egatlon to the convention pledged or in
siruclcd TO vote for only one Candidate.
But, sirs. nothing can be further from being
correct than this conclusion. This | will
proceed to demonstrate. Richmond city is
divided into six wards. Each ward has
voting precinct. According to the plan
adopted by the committee, the candidate re-
c,iving the highest number OF votes in each
ward is declared the choice of the ward and
is entitled To the number OF votes which the
ward gave in the last general cleo
ton. suppose there were six cand.
datcs-not an Improbable hypothesis
uray not according TO the commit
tees plan) each Of The six candidates carry
"A ward, aud hence. would not the vote
of the city be Gicided among oil sir candi
dates. BY the existing plan one particular
candidate must, Of course, carry one Edrd,
but hc does not necessarily carry all six, or
u
not DENY it--then let me ask wh hat becomes
of the charge that Richmord city must oil
necessity, by the plan adopted, go into the
convention a "solid body, casting it's vote
for one man." Don't you see that you have
made Il mistake and that the articles con-
tanned in your paper on this point are calcu-
lated TO excite I'm unjust prejudice in the
counties embraced in this district against the
committees plan, and thereby to throw
tire.braud into the Con ScntiOn which may
result in serious injury to the party? This,
| am sure, has grown out of want OF
nroper consideration Of this question upon
your part. You have now, however, tine
opportunity to do the committee justice and
To lisabuse the minds of the people of the
rural districts OF any erroneous and lDluri-
Gus impressions which you may have unln-
tentionally made upon them.
The CITY Committee have, after free and
full discussion of the question, adopted a
plan of primary election, which they be.
iieve to be fair and just aud proper, and
which they believe will best determine the
will of the people as regards the candidate OF
their choice. Our Conservative friends re-
siding in the counties will bold their town.
Shin meetings, and will select their delegates
| to the Convention according to mode that
NAV seem TO them best, and this right we
| fully accord to them. They will doubtless
send delegates pledged primarily to some
particular candidate. This, l believe, has
been almost universally the case, aud no one
heretofore has ever raised any objections
| against it. The object in voting directly for
| a candidate is that the will OF the people
may be expressed at the polls and be carried
ON in the convention.
| In this city the almost universal complaint
| has been that by our system Of ward meet.
ings the will Of the people has been de-
feated, and hence the camorouS demand for
primary election, by which their choice
could be infalibly expressed. In obedience
| to this desire, every where and by every body
expressed in the most decided terms, the
| CITY Committee adopted plan, which they
! believe to be the one Of all presented fol-
their consideration the best calculated to sc.
cure the true and legitimate objects of q
primary election; and the committee fee
every day more strongly fortified in theil
position by the increasing weight of test
mony that they are constantly receiving thai
a large majority of the people approve o.
their action.
1t would have been extremely gratifying
to the committee if they could have adopted
q plan which would have been entirely salts
factory to every body concerned; but wher
it is considered that great variety of plan:
have been presented and discussed in the
committeeman and on the streets, it Il
hardly reasonable to suppose any plan that
might have been adopted would have met
| with universal acceptance.
a MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE.
The above needs no answer. In order
that the choice Of the people might be fairly
and correctly ascertained, it was proposed in
the City Committee that each candidate for
Congress should have one delegate to the
Convention for every one hundred votes
that he might receive at the primary elec.
ton. This proposition was rejected. The
public will never be convinced that pro.
position so manifesty fair ought to have been
voted down. The committee can secure
unani,nity within its own body and in the
city and in the country by simply agreeing
to this fair proposition-th that it Wise gets