Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1875-08-27
The New Departure.

| Mr. Editor THE time -bonored custom OF
| the Democratic Conservative party, ms well ms
that of the old Wing and Democratic parties,
| is by the advertisement Of the Central Com
mittee Of the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS party
| for this county, contained in the last issue of
the SENTINEL. given up and departed from, and
that without public notice or Authority, or
! action from the State Convention, or from The
| people so far as have seen, heard or believe.
| The old practice has been for the Central
Committee to invite the people, upon desig-
mated day, to assemble at their respective
| places of voting and select twenty-five persons
| To represent them in county convention to
nominate candidates to be voted for ut the No
| vember election. The usual mode of proceed
ure was to call some leading and intelligent
man of the party TO the chair A motion was
made for the chairman to appoint retiring
committee OF live, seven or nine to nominate
TO the meeting for its confirmation or rejec-
| ton, twenty-five representative men Casually
taken from every section and neighborhood OF
the district, SO rs to represent the feeling and
wishes OF every part of the county, to repre-
sent the district in the county convention.
Could anything in the absence Of the assem-
bling of the whole people, or all the members
of the party together, which in large districts
like ours, is impossible, be more Democratic
and Republican than this mode of procedure?
Why, then, depart from it2 And, in man
ner SO well calculated to mislead the people,
aud expose them 10 imposition and fraud?
The usual words of the call was to invite the
members of the party TO assemble and select
twenty five men 10 represent each district in
county convention, thus preserving in primary
meetings the representative character Of our
government. But the honorable Central Com
mittee, OF their own motion, and without mo-
lice or authority have undertaken to change
this time-honored custom, and TO expose the
people OF Montgomery TO the same imposition,
fraud and corruption that is openly charged
upon the same practice elsewhere. BY substi.
tuiing by the committee the little word elect
for select, the control and management OF these
primary meetings is thrown into the hands of
the most active and INSCRIPTIONS men of the
party, and their representative character
changed, and the will aud wishes of the people
imperiled, il not defeated
II it be said as a Justification for this invcn-
tion-and can think Of no other that prima>
ry meetings upon the old plan are sometimes
abused-thata partisan chairman selects par
tisan retiring committee, and that twenty-five
partisan delegates sent TO Rockville in the
interest of one particular candidate or set of
candidates is there any guarantee under the
new system that less partisan chairman will
be selected TO preside, or that two judges of
election, acting without the control of law or
the obligations of an oath (and thus exposed
to suspicious OF unairnesS, II not OF actual
fraud, or ballot-stuffing, as has been charged
elsewhere) will be less partisan than the usual
retiring committee of five, seuen or nine,
whose nominations, as above stated, are al
ways subject to the confirmation or rejection
OF the meeting2 The answer is plain accord
ing to the old Jeffersonian rule, that it is al
ways safer to trust to the integrity of the
many than the few.
Another obvious objection TO the change is
that the people are not notified and warned Of
tina change. The two little words, elect and
select, so closely resemble each pther that not
one in twenty, even if they see the oaper, will
notice the change The districts in this coun-
ty are very large, much larger than in most of
our sister counties. Many of the voters reside
six eight, and ten miles from the places at
which these primary meetings are called. They
are not in the habit of riding so far except up
on election days, once year. They are con-
tent, under the old representative system to
be represented by their mere active neighbors
who attend The hour of ten, too, is an
unusual hour to be called from their homes
and their busneSs-to many a mechanic
and lahoring man, it involves the loss of a
hole day, which is the loss of the wages of
day IL plays into the hand of the
active, designing and sometimes unscrup-
ulous politician and is sure to beget "a dozen
''rings'' in the county with their corrupting
an demoralzng tendencies and results. For
these and other reasons which might be sug-
gested, protest against this unnecessary and
unwarrantable change adopted so ingenously
by the Democratic and Conservative Central
Committee for Montgomery County.
FAIR PLAY.