The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-02
ELECTION FOR SHERIFF.
COMMISSIONING WILL DECIDE To-
DAY WHES 1T WILL BE HELD.

Predicted That the Commissioners
WIN settIe Upon a Day on or About
Dec. 2i-Tbey Are Only Required
to Give Twenty Days Notice. hut
There Arc Complications in the
Inv and II Has Been Thought
wiser to Delay the Election Be-
vond the Fear of Coutest-Indica-
lions Point to WaIk-Over for
sheriff sueeny. Though There Is n
Possibility of a Change.
the County Commissioners viii moot
this morning TO decide upon a date for
holding che special election to fill the TN
expired term Of sheriff John r. Roman.
Though TO official announcement OF the
intention Of the commissioners has been
made. it is surmised that The election viii
be ordered he'd on or about Dec. 81.
The law requires that The commission
ers shall give twenty days notice Of the
tme of holding such an election. but this
plain and direct provision is complicated
by the effect that other laws Of The stale
have upon it. and the county attorney has
been puzzled 10 say just what IT is that
the law. taken as a whole, requires. To
be on the perfectly safe side, ii is said,
it has been determined to place the date
OF the election far enough in the future to
prevent even the possibility of contest or
dissatisfaction, end to give every man in
the county, who feels that he would os-
pecially adorn the position, a chance to
rally his supporters and get in the race.
It is not thought, though, that there will
be any formidable opposition to the pres
ent incumbent OF the Office Thomas j.
Sweeny, who was appointed by the com
missioners. continuing in office until the
end OF Sheriff Romans term Maj John
Schwarz and Col. J. f. Brooks, who have
been most prominently mentioned as the
candidates of the rival political factions
of the county, have announced that they
would not oppose Mr.. Sweeny on the plat
form upon which he has stood since the
death of his uncle, or as soon thereafter
as the question was publicly discussed.
MIR. Sweeny then said that II was his in
tention to stand for election for the uneX-
pired term of his uncle, and that should
he be chosen he would permit Mrs. Roman
to occupy the sherds residence and 10
share the revenues of the office The fac
lions listened to this announcement with
alarm, and IL required but little time for
them 10 become convinced tNdI, StinuiuE
upon IL, IL would be impossible for them to
defeat Mr. Sweeny. The sentiment of the
county was that the widow of the late
sheriff should be permitted to enjoy the
emoluments of the Office of her husband
until the expiration of the term for which
he was elected. This sentiment was very
evident
1t was announced by the friends Of Col
Brooks that he would not offer for the
Office in opposition TO Mr.. Sweeny, provid-
ed that The other faction would not put up
a candidate After some consideration
and some conferences with his friends
Mai SWarz made a similar announcement.
The latter gentleman stated SIS that he
would be a candidate for the Nv term, at
the election for county officers that would
be held in 1900 This is the way that mat
tiers stand al present.
The Indications are that Mr.. Sweeny will
have no opposition. but 1t is very possible
that between now and the day of the
election there may be some very material
changes in the political atmosphere and
that the skies will present a different APP
pearauce than they do at present. MIR.
Edward j. Leonard has been prominently
mentioned as a candidate for the short
term, and has never said publicly that he
would not enter the race. 1t may be
that he will or that other entries viii be
made, and that the contest viii be changed
from stupid and comparatively uninler-
esting event, to one that will be ablaZe
with excitement. Stranger things than
this have happened in the political MIS-
tory of the county, and on many occa-
sions. on the very eve Of an election,
there have been enough dark horses driven
into the ring to furnish the teams for a
funeral. Sometimes there was a political
funeral
Should another candidate appear in the
field in opposition to Sheriff Sweeny, there
will doubtless be a large increase in the
number of registrations per day. Even as
ID is they have lately very perceptibly in-
creased, aud the average number has been
run up from four or five to seven or eight
times as many. The exact reason foe this
political activity, unless IL be that the
candidates for judge and solicitor general
of the Superior courts are 20 be chose n
at primary elections by the people of their
circuits. is difficult to surmise. That this
viii be the case is rather indicated by the
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