Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-30
COMMITTEEMAN WEAKLEY..
 -.7fEfte - sB "t.a 3f1 % .t)4. Accounts the History of the Ac- AHt ton of the State Committees sa..Y, i .z 1ol
 
 ROUND UNVARNISHED TALE
  MT. CIarke's Proposition for Joint Debate Strongly Deprecated Better
 Be Given to the Enemy.

| l democratic state executive committee from this county, was seen yesterday by | a State Herald reporter and accorded | him an interesting interview, as given | below: 4sta@
 Have you read the attacks upon the l recent action of the state executive com mittee, contained in some newspapers of the state?" was asked. | q read the comment of the Montgom- | cry Advertiser inits issue of the day fol- | lowing our meeting and have subsequent | ly seen extracts from that newspaper and | from others published in the State Her. | aid. The quotations from a paper pub- | lished al Roanoke, reproduced in an edi- | torial of the State Herald this morning.. l were exceedingly yirulent. Every one | who has had any experience in politics | expects objections and criticisms from those who do not favor the plan com | mittee may adopt and who imagine that | it will operate injuriously to their candi- | date for office. When divergent policies | are proposed 1t is impossible to please l everybody and if an executive commit | tee should act with that end in view, it would have the same success which usu- ally attends the efforts of judge who tries to decide case to please both sides
 nobody will be pleased and great wrong may be done.
 Knowing that the majority of the
 
 resolutions, were acting solely for the | good of the party-seeking the best l means in their judgment, to win success | in August-I have given but little heed | to the criticisms. referred to. When the committee met at Montgomery 1t was | found there was practically unanimous | demand upon the part of members from | the white counties of north Alabama for | a relaxation of the rules as to qualifca- | tions of participants in our primaries nd n1i ino oh n | adoption of exclusive or proscriptive | tests The same view was taken, as the | vote disclosed, by Messrs. Waller of, | Hale, Lemax of Montgomery. Mallory ofs | Dallas and Long of Butler all active democrats from south Alabama, whose | loyalty to the party has never been and l cannot be doubted or questioned. All | admitted we needed recruits, and the | majority did not see how they could be | obtained by prohibiting enlistments from | those without the ranks who might wish; | to join In supporting our party nominees. and principles. 3s 3tI Speaking for myself, I may say that, before going to the meeting of the com. mittee I sounded many democrats here-r both sound money and free silver men, | to use current phrases-in whose judg4 ment and discretion confidence may well l be reposed, and with very few exceptions they urged the adoption of liberal ana l conciiatory policy by the state commitrr
 
 | to join with us for continued democratic supremacy in Alabama. It is gratifying | to me epersonally to have recefyed' assuq@ sqt | rances that the democrats of this county and district whom I represented more
 particularly, with perhaps few dissent | ing voices, approve my vote. No doubt | the same approval from their constitu- ents has been accorded other members | of the committee. who voted for the pre- Vailing plan. Under these circumstances | we can well be indifferent to the unrea- | sonable criticism of those persons who | are displeased with our action.
 What do you think of the charge that | the majority of the committee acted as | partisans of Captain Johnston and for | the purpose of advancing his cause, with | out reference to the good of the party" Tt is very ridiculous; indeed, it is ab- | surd upon it's face. As I remember the | vote on the adoption of the report or the | subcommittee on resolutions was l6 to | IA A change of one vote would have de- l feated the resolution. MT. Mallory, who | voted with the majority, is, as l am ln- | formed, not supporter Of captain John- | ston in this campaign. If this be true
 it follows that the result was produced | by a vote of a member of the committee | who does not favor Captain Johnston at 1 all However this may be, 1t is certain
 that five of. those who constituted the | majority, ,%including Chairman Knox, are | what are called sound money men, nav | ing no motive to act unfairly toward | MT. Clarke who seems to be making his | race upon the financial issue alone.
 "If the sound money men, to whom MT. | Clarke's adherents can certainly not nm pute sympathy with populists, had voted | against what Is termed letting down the
 bars that policy would easily have been | defeated I believe that all the members | of the state committee wished to treat | Mr Clarke. who Is a most estimable man | and democrat, with the utmost fairness, | and that he can confidently rely upon | their doing so. While I favor Captain ! Johnsten's nomination, for reasons not
 necessary to be elaborated, two of whicn | are that he is a worthy Jefferson county | man and will in my judgment make
 stronger candidate before the people in | August than MT. Clarke. have carefully
 refrained from taking any active part Tn
 his campaign or becoming his partisan,
 and shah continue that course, since it
 may fall to my lot to pass upon contests
 between opposing delegations to the con | yention in which event I wish to act with
 the impartiality of an honest arbiter.
 "How was the adoption of the party | law, which the State Herald is now print
 ing at the head. of it's editorial columns, | brought about?"
 shortly after the opening of thedses-
 sion of the committee, and immediately
 after the election of the new chairman, | MT Knox, a resolution was adopted,
 upon my motion, without objection.- ypre-
 viding for, subcommittee of fiya, Jto
 which should be referred for considera-
 tion and report all resolutions that
 might be offered in full committee. The l chairman appointed Messrs. Waller of | Hale, Jones of Lauderdale. Lawson of
 Montgomery. Dent of Barbour and Tthe | mover of the resolution as members of
 this subcommittee When the time ar- | rived to perfect plans for holding thereon | vention, and to settle incidental matters | pertaining thereto, MT. Logan of Bibb. Cleveland administration democratoQt 1t
 be permissible to use prefixes in speaking | of democrats) offered resolution in the
 identical language Of the call of the na-
 tional committee, inviting, in short, all
 conservative citizens, irrespective of past
 differences or party affiliations, to unite
 with us in sending delegates to the con | vention. Hon. A. G. Smith of Jefferson,
 who opposes the free coinage of silver at
 Is to l, desiring to amend the proposition
 so as to require that persons proposing to
 participate in our primaries should also
 be, willing to support the nominee and
 principles of our party, offered another | resolution identical with that of MT. Lo-
 gan, except that 1t made the addition just