Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-16
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OPPOSED TO HARMONY.


 Speaking of the violent action of Dr. Grove in levying war against the con stituted authorities of the state. for which he stands in imminent peril of be- ing hung before twelve months are over the Mobile Register observes:
 'Dr. Grove and his men are those who are to be permitted to come into the democratic primaries and control them The democratic party will never have enough votes to win, unless 1t cajoles these revolutionary spirits and gives them charge of the party's management That is the kind of talk given us by the Birmingham State Herald and it's able coadjutor, the Birmingham News. Let us harmonize, they say, but all the har- mony we see offered us is harmony at the muzzle of the shotgun, and the Win chester rife. Harmony under such cir cumstances is equivalent to surrender. Are democrats ready for such action? Do they want harmony on such terms?'
 Was ever such an unjust deduction drawn by a reputable paper? The Reg ister~had already said:
 ''The point deserving attention is that Dr. Grove was thoroughly in earnest, as were, doubtless, the 200 or 300 populists who were at his back Had they had determined leader in Kolb there would have been bloodshed on the occasion of the inauguration"
 70 It Is all very well to denounce Dr. Grove and his 200 or 300 followers as political incendiares, but it is simply iu- famous to say that it Is the wish to gain over that handful of men, whom no party wants. that Is at the bottom of the de- mand of large majority of the press and white people of Alabama for such a policy of harmony as will invite into our primaries those tens of thousands of democrats who voted for Kolb as a lief fersonian democrat and who refused to vote for him when he ran as a populo- republican,. It Is matter of history that large body of good democrats believed that Kolb was entitled to the nomina- ton and that he had been wrongcd by parliamentary devices These men held that Kolb was the rghtful nominee and they supported him as a democrat. Of course there was large body of enemies Of democracy who took advantage of the split and sought shelter with the Kolb forces, but it Is unjust and shameful to say that the great mass of democrats who followed his banner are represented by the handful of '200 or 300" who fol- low Dr. Grove, or by the 30,0OO republi- cans who swelled his forces for their own selfish purposes. The men whom the harmony" advocates wish to invite back are those democrats who are Just as good and true as the Jersey cattle" party of Mobile who voted against and defeated the regular democratic county ticket a few years ago, and whose delegates were excluded from the legislative caucus up- til the regulars extended them the olive branch. One of that Jersey cattle" party that kicked over the democratic pail is one of the present members of the state executive committee, who is said to be now opposed to letting into the primaries men who, like himself, for conscientious reasons have opposed reg ular conventional nominees. People that live in glass houses ought not to throw stones.
 The Register knows also thai at inc primaries held in Mobile no voter is ex- cluded because at the preceding election he had voted against the regular ticket. If the attempt were made the shrinkage of the party would be a thing fearful to contemplate. If. after MT. Bromberg had carried that county almost unani- mously against the republican nominee for congress, or after Mir. Shelton had carried it for sheriff. or Mr Brainerd had had carried 1t for sheriff by almost over whelmtns majorities against the regu- lar nominees, the democrats who sup- ported those gentlemen had been exclud. ed from the next primaries there would not today be q handful of democrats in Mobile. The Register knows all this and still it would Impose upon other counties rule which it rejects at nearly every election when applied to it's own county. Is this honest dealing with the people of Alabama? Are the fortunes of MT. Clarke dearer than a reunion of the de- mocracy of this great state, whose name stands first upon the roll? We are ashamed of the Register; We thought it capable of better things.
 The Register is not only inconsistent; it is impolitic. It is the honest. conscienti- ous democrat who would be excluded bv the closed bars. Thesdishonest democrat would be certain to get his vote in at the primaries despite Shy rule. IL is a com mon practise st Mobile, as the Register well knows. for the enemies of democ- rary 10 go to the primaries and fasten an uhieciiona hle nominee upon the party for the purpose of having him defeated The policy which-the Register now advocates cannot keep out those who would ruin the party. and is operative only to keep out those who would strengthen and aid it 10 victory.
 We have but one more word to say to our friend. The State Herald advocates