Clarksville evening chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn) 1886-1890, 1888-10-20
PARTY CONVENTIONS AND COM.
MITTEEs.

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| by conventions regularly called by
the executive committee of tbs Ma
tional party. These conventions meet
and nominate candidates for Presi.
dent and Vice-President, and adopt
a platform for the party, and an eX-
ecutive committee is appointed who
conducts the canvass. So today in
National politics we have Cleveland
and Thurman as our candidates for
President and Vice President, and
Chairman Brice in New York with
his committee conducting the canvass.
So in our State Conventions the can
didate for Governor is nominated
and an executive committee appoint
ed to conduct the canvass. We have
now Governor Taylor, the candidate
of the Democratic party in Tennessee,
and Colonel Williams, the Chairman
of the Executive Committee, conduct
ing the canvass. The same rule APP
plies to every other party candidate
to the very lowest, and no man has
the right to declare himself candi-
date of the Democratic party until
the party has in its organic capacity
declared him its candidate, and has
no right to claim thesupport of Dem
ocrats as such without the endorse
ment of his party. So too in counties
we have executive committees whose
duties are the same in regard to the
canvass.
In this county regularly called
convention nominated Goodpasture
and COrban as the candidates of the
Democratic party for the Legislature,
and they are as much the candidates
of the Democratic party as are Cleve-
land, Thurman and Taylor, and Mr..
Leech is as much the Chairman of
the Democratic Executive Committee
of the county as is Chairman Brice of
the National Committee, or Chairman
Williams of the State Committee, the
Democrats deposition to the contrary
Notwithstanding. Much has been
said about the assumption of power
upon the part of the County Execu-
tive Committee and their arbitrary
methods. Their legal appointment
] has never been denied by any one
and cannot be. That they have been
appointed in the usual way always
adopted in this county, without a
single exception, is not denied. That
they are conducting the canvass as
laid down for them by the County
Convention is without question, and
yet it claims that they have exceeded
their power and been deposed.
Pray tell us by what authority the
twelve gentlemen named by them.
selves, of district No. u, claim to rep
resent the Democratic party of this
district? When were you elected, or
even appointed, as committeeman of
this district, except by yourselves?
Who gave you the right to speak for
all the Democratic voters of this dis
trict, and to make demands on the
Democratic candidates? The same
may be said of other districts, not one
third of those named as committee
men ever having heard Of your little
meeting at the library room in the
court house. 1t comes with poor
grace from you, gentlemen, to talk
about Others assuming powers not
delegated, and ruling as "autocrats."
No such bare-faced assumption of
power was ever before attempted in
this county We are only surprised
that you did not demand of Chair
man Williams and his committee
that primary should be held over
the whole state, and depose them if.
they should refuse to call it. If q
primary is proper in Montgomery, it
certainly ought to be extended over
the whole State, for the entire State
has q voice in the election of United
States senator. You, however, doubt
less remembered that in the conven-
ton mot in committce) in Shelby
and Maury counties you not only re-
fused a primary election for senator,
but went much further than the
Montgomery county convention, and
instructed the nominees to vote for
Harris. Why don't you call a prim-
airy and Instruct for secretary of state,
treasurer and comptroller? These are
offices of great importance to the
State, and, like the senator, are
elected under the constitution of the
State by the Legislature.
TWAS nice little dodge you adopt |
ed to write to the candidates and re-
quest each to "Say publicly whether,
if the vote for any person in this (un-
out bOriza1h urinary Sbnu1d ayaoad /