The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-15


mary. He urged that a general primary at
I the court house be held, with an exception
{ in favor of the Eighth district for which
Z he thought 90 well 10 establish voting
/ place at Pooler.
The following letter from Mr.. Willink,
I addressed TO the executive committee,
/ was then read 10y the secretary;
+ Savannah. Ca. Sept. a, ls95.-TO the
! Democratic executive Committee OF
{ Chatham County. Gentlemen-J nder-
( standing that you are 10 have a meeting
+ this afternoon for the purpose Of c0nsid-
cring an application made by Messrs.
/ Hartrdee and Travis. through a joint
committee. 20 change the existing rule
made 10y you. establishing a voting place
iu each militia district, for the primary
next Tuesday. ] beg leave 10 say that ]
I have no preference or suggestion to make
I in the matter. If you should see proper
I TO make change. or if you should con-
clude TO adhere TO your past action, in
either event I VIII cheerfuuy submit my
claims 10 the primary ordered by you.
Very respectfully. Harry WIllink
Mr.. j. S. Collins replied to the argu-
ments OF Messrs. Charlton and kellogg,
and defended the district primaries and
The action Of the executive committee in
speech of some length. He said that
In The first place he was confident the
people wanted district primaries, and that
the executive committee had acted with
taat idea In view n ordering a primary
by districts. He ala not believe a pri-
mary held az the court house would be
satisfactory TO the majority of the voters
and he did not believe it would be Civ
ing fair treatment TO the people living in
other districts TO compel them to come
ont of their districts TO cast their votes.
This would be especially unfair to the
people IN the country districts, he said.
Il voted in the district primary of 1892,
ia
eral or the precincts and / witnessed no
such fraud OF disorder as Mr.. Charlton
speaks OF. 1 think the time has come
when the executive committee ought to
control these elections The committee
must have some power or else IL is Of no
further use and might as well disband. !
do not think the committee should be die
tated to. In almost every instance where
a faction Is defeated the cry of fraud is
raised. whether there are any grounds for
il or not. That is about the size Of the
charges against the district primary of
1892. ] have no unkind feeling towards
Mr. Hartrdge or his supporters, but on
the contrary l like them all personally. L
am satisfied there is no disposition on the
part of the executive committee to treat
any candidate or faction with unfairness.
]. for one, am in favor of giving all candi-
dates representation and allowing each an
equal chance to win in a fair and honest
election"
Mr. Dixon differed with Mr.. Collins as
to the fairness of the district primary
in 1892 He was a manager and presided
at box In that primary and while he was
assured that every thing was honestly
managed at his boz there was a great
deal Of disorder outside.
I'VE never succeeded in keeping the
polls clear" said Mr.. Dixon. There We're
heelers in line all the time VINO blocked
rtff lo xtr0u tfH n Npt Va q
a gang of men who voted in the fourth
district and then rushed over to the Sec
ond district and voted Indictments were
found against some of these people, which
remained on the books untried until they
were mol pressed by the solicitor general
no later than one week ago. Mr. Sulli-
van there was one of the managers with
me at the fourth district"
Secretary Sullivan was sitting with his
back to the speaker, but at the mention
of his name he whirled around suddenly
in his chair.
Look at him now. all perked up like
a little game chicken, ready TO fight" said
Mr. Dixon.
Mr. Sullivan turned red and looked hot
in the collar. while the other members
looked on, rather startled at this sudden
diversion.
Mr. Sullivan made some reply, which
those around him could not catch and
Mr. Dixon laughed and went on with his
argument
Mr.. Dixon commented on the fact that
while three of the four justices Offices in
the city had been selected as voting places
the Office of Justice Sam Reynolds had
been overlooked, which looked very
strange on the part of such a fair minded
committee. 1t was certainly not to the
convenience of the citizens to have the
voting places located in the justices Of
Esac ha a. A al rhFiF nv at "a
court house, he urged, was the only sat
isfactory and unquestioned means Of as
pertaining the party choice. He was will
ing to make an exception, however, in
favor of POoler.
Mr.. Collins said it would not be fair to
the people in the other districts to give
Poolerra voting place and compel every
body else to walk to the court house. 1t
is wrong he said, to compel the masses
OF the voters to come out OF their dis
tricts I'm order that the merchant may
drop in and cast his vote as he walks out
Bull street to his dinner.
Mr.. Christian said that Pooler wanted
no different treatment from the other dis
/ tricts. II a court house primary were or
! dered the people of Pooler would come to
the city and cast their votes, like everyone
else, he said.
/ Mr.. Dixon attacked Mr.. Collins on his
/ remark about the merchant He intima-
1 ted very broadly that Mr.. Collins slap at
/ the merchants was intended to catch
4 votes in another direction. Il was asso-
/ ciated with Mr.. Collins on executives COM
/ mittees and in political work during the
! last campaign" said Mr. Dixon, land
/ everytime he made a speech he declared
/ he was not a candidate for any office in
! the gift of the people. Now when / hear
/ him allude TO the merchants as he has
/ just done, 1t looks very much as If he had
! something in view and was making bid
4 for support"
/ Mr.. Collins warmly resented this impu-
/ taton on the part of Mr.. Dixon as un-
/ called for and unjust Mr.. Dixon is
/ doubtless referring TO the report of my
4 being a candidate for the city court clerk
ship" he said. II declared frequently
during the last campaign, and still de-
/ clare, that 1 am not a candidate for any
/ office. l have had friends come to me and
/ urge me to allow the use of my name for
various positions, but I have not asked
| one single man for his support and do moi
expect to. AS to the merchants they are
not entitled TO any more consideration
! than any other class of people. There are
| a lot of them who don't take enough in.
| terest to register or even pay their taxes
I have had some experience with mer-