Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-07-22


material-a convention whose endorseincnt
will be tower Of strength behind the can;
didate. And. IN my judgment no plan VIII
achieve these ends as well AS the waru-
meeting plan. As 20 the plan OF hoiding
precinct meetings ii has MANY dlsadVah,
tages II Will largely increase the cost OF
the nomination, and cause much con-
fusion. "a my experience a. Democra.lc
challenger has taught me that very many
intelligent men are uncertain as 10 Wha'
precinct they live in. Besides these rea-
sons. IL has been demonstrated that there
will be some difficulty IN properly ana Jnsty
determining the number of delegates whicn
each precinct is entitled to. But the
stronger reason against precinct meetings,
in my opinion. is that il affords sPiendia
chance toa dark horse" TO organize III q
few precincts. rush his slate through, ana
control enough delegates To hold the
balance of power in the convention. mere
are other reasons that might urge against
the precinct-meeting plan, but these which
have given are the salient ones"
Mr. PowHATAS Z. DUPUY
! am not politician now. and | am
averse 10 appearing in print IN such dls-
cussion, but heartily favor nominations
by primaries, said MIR. Dupuy.
AN Ex-cHAIRMAN.
Mr.. Charles T.. Wingo, who was chairman
of the City Committee few wears ago ana
served with distinguished ability through
some exciting campaigns. salc hside
from anv personal preference that NAV
have as to the candidates, ! am heartily IN
favor of selecting delegates by plan ina,
will make our nominee represent the real
choice of the people. l am therefore 0i
the opinion that at this juncture we should
have n primary. The City Committee
should raise enough money to defray the
expenses without imposing that tax upon
the candidates We should choose the
strongest candidate available, and ! think
the primary is the best way TO settle who
that person is."
HON. C. +. TAYLOR.
I'm local elections" responded CAPTAIN
Charles +. Taylor who has now retired
from tho field of politics. though he was
once the sagacious leader and chairman OF
the City Committee for several years.
am IN favor OF primary elections, out IN
general elections, as for congressman, 1
think conventions with the delegates
chosen by ward-meetings are the best.
speak from experience, having served as
chairman through several exciting cam,
paigns when conventions were held and
worked very satisfactorily
HIS BROTHER DIFFERS.
CAPTAIN Richard NJ. Taylor said he had
not retired from politics, and added %
am heartily in favor of primary, II is the
only honest way and is preferable both to
ward and precinct-meetings or the two
latter | prefer the precinct-meetlngs. In
primaries YOU not only get more votes, but
they represent the intelligence and the
better class of our people"
MAJOR J. D. PATTON.
q am in favor OF ward-meetings," said
Major James ID. Patton, prominent
Democrat and ex-member of the House
of Delegates. Il like primaries under
some conditions. but not IN elections like
this" he continued. If there should lie
a candidate from the city and one from the
country the latter would stand much
better chance to come here and get enough
scattering votes TO give him one or two
delegates than the former would to do the
same thing in county. | think our ac-
customed plan OF ward-meetings here and
district ones in the counties is the best that
we can do"
MAJOR y. II. NASH.
IF was in the City Democratic Com
mittee.n replied Major Benjamin III. Nash,
Il think | would vote for primary: |
have given the subject much thought, but
rather think the primary Is more represen-
tative and gives better expression 10 the
wishes OF the people"
DIR. A. s. M'EAE.
Remarked DR.. A. S. McRae: | prefer
the plan of electing delegates at precinct
meetings. Az there are twenty-four pre-
cincts in the city everybody Will be able To
attend them without much Inconvenience
OF crowding. These meetings cannot DE
vulnerable 70 the objections heretofore
urged against ward-meetings, as they will
be comparatively small and cannot be
packed or used IN favor OF any particular
candidate. The primary-electlon plan is
necessarily cumbrous and expensive.
DEPUTY's VIEWS.
MIR. Paul p. Winston. who for more than
thirty wears rendered the city efficient ser
wee either as Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff. IL
not a friend of primaries. He SAID: L
am out-and-out opposed to them; The
principles on which they are conducted
are no less fair than those which charac-
terize ward-meetings. In primaries you
naturally expect merit and worth to be
recognized, and IN ward-meetlngs you ex-
pect sharp political work to be done. In
he former YOU are deceived. IN the latter
you are not. There is the difference"
THE PEOPLES WISHES.
CAPTAIN Carleton Mccarthy, who never
ventures an opinion without showing
what he is talking about. struck the key
note when he said he wanted TO see the
method adopted under which the selection
made will best represent the real cholce OF
the people OF the city and district. eadded
that he considered the primary the iairest
plan ard the one most likely 10 accom-
plish the result named, which Is TO be
most deyoutly wished for by all.
MR.. FRANK INQUIRE.
This gentleman expressed his preference
for primary, which he thinks would not
only be fair to all the candidates. but also
would best arrive at the peoples choice.
The cost, he thought. would not be very
great and the candidates might stand 1t,
thought be thought it would be better II
the CITY and County Committees could
arrange to defray this expense.
DIR. GEORGE b. STEEL.
One of the most faithful representatives
in the CITY Council is DR.. George b. Steel.
He is an ardent Democrat, but not poll
tician in the usual acceptance OF the word
He heartily favors the primary as the fair
est and best method Of selecting delegates.
1t works well in city elections. ana ne
thinks it will do just as well IN tins instance
FIVE CAUGHT AT oNCR.
When the DISPATCH man entered Skaters
building and walked M 10 the door Oh MI;
l.. o. Weudenburs's office on the second
door he found present with Mr.. Wenden'
burg Messrs. W. ". Cosby. Jr. r. L. Mon
tague. William Turpin, and 5. Proskauer,-
all LAWYERS and enthusiastic members OF tn.
Young Democracy. All of the five agreed
that there is no other plan so far as the
primary. but they differed as to the expe-
diency of its application at present.
Mr.. Cosby favored ward-meetings. as
they are much cheaper than a primary
and the latter. he thinks. canno, be ope.
rated so well in the counties. Another
objection be raised is that the successiu
candidate will have to make two complete
canvasses and that it will amount, to twc
elections in few weeks of each other. II
however. the primary plan can be usec
uniformly throughout the district he has
no particular objection toit.
Mr.. Montague's position was very slmi'
lar TO that Of Slr. Cosby lie likes prima
ries. but fears one at this juncture might
create discord and hard feelings.
MIR. Wendenburg prefers the prlmar!
plan because neither ward nor precinct