Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-19
JUMPING OVER THE BARS.

The Mobile independents bolted only one party ticket-that in the county Advertiser.
 The Mobile democrats in large num- bers have bolted more than one party ticket, and they have not confined their bolting to the county ticket. They bolted the county democratic ticket for sheriff and other county officers on two recent occasions, electng Independents over the regular democratic nominees. When that noble man and splendid lawyer, Gaylord B. Clark, was the regular nominee for the state senate they defeated him with the Jersey cattle" candidate, MT. Dan Smith, who subsequently, voted in caucus for Kolb for the United States senate. Before that they voted for an independ- ent candidate, MT. Bromberg, for con gross against the formal democratic nominee, Hon. James Taylor Jones' and carried the county of Mobile for him by an overwhelming majority.
 The only comment the State Herald has made on these facts is that the dem- oerats who voted against the regular nominees at those various elections were not excluded from voting at the succeed ing primaries. It would have been fatal to the democratic party of Mobile to have made an effort to exclude them.
 And so we say now that the democrats who followed Kolb and who still claim that they are good and true democrats, and who wish to return to the regular or ganization should be permitted to do so If the practice of permitting bolters to return is good for the home county of Hon. R. H. Clarke it ought to be good for every other county in the state A Mobile gentleman now member of the state executive committee, who claimed for himself the privilege to vote the "Jer- sey cattle" ticket against his party nom- inees and then to present himself as good and true democrat at the next dem ocratic primaries without question, ab- solution or rejection. has no moral right to say to democrats of other counties who stand precisely in his attitude that they must be put on probation and con- signed to purgatory until their sins are expiated.
 Governor Jones In August, 1892, re- ceived 126,950 democratic votes. He made good fight and the result os the clearing skies was that at the November election three months later MT. Cleveland re- ceived 13S, ,13S majority. Here was an in- crease in the democratic majority of nearly 12,000. Then came the fire brand in congress over the money question and the vote for Oates in 1894 fell to 11oS65 There were 2S,0O0 democrats who voted for MT. Cleveland who failed to vote for Governor Oates Shall we exclude them from our primaries? If so can we ex- pect the democratic vote to be larger than that boiled for Governor Oates, namely, 110,S65; or rather may we not ex- pect the opposition vote to run up to that received by Kolb in 1892 namely, 115,52 |?
 We wish the gentlemen of the execu- tive committee to study these figures The State Herald is appealing for har- mony. conciliation and generosity, not on Captain Johnston's account, but be- cause we see absolute ruin before us un- less our old comrades are cordially in- vted to renew their allegiance to the democratic party. If we wish to secure their cooperation 1t is not good policy to keep them out in the cold and bid them show their repentance by voting a ticket made without their assistance.