The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1899-03-17

Editor Of III lEgiS 0nd L"feiligeEcer: The fol-
lowing is suEDliu'1d in res .unse 10 your invita-
lion !or an exuharg. OF views upon The subject
of Il representative convention.
The officers 30 be nominated are to be elected
to serve for the whole county and not for u
particua dis riot, aad II would seem no more
than tair that the RI personalities OF the whole
county should have yoise in their selection,
and should ha e all the available me terial to
choose frCm instead OF being restricted to
those who had carried a district. 1t is very
possible for man. through political manipu-
Iatiop, 10 carry his dtstrl over competitor
who might be better suited for the eXigencies
of the occasion or more popular in the county
at large. 1t also sometimes happens in the
convention system. as at present prscticed,
that voters are unable to register tn, ir choice
Tor men in the same district running for differ
ent Cffices because each candidate runs a sepa-
rate set of delegates, desiring a delegation
representa- q his sole interests i'll order TO swap
with the leaders of various districts. thus,
under the present system, four men, who have
carried their respective distr cts, can absolute
ly name the whole ticket.
Suppose, then, that the Executive Committee
enlarge the representation from te" to, say.
seventeen. ninett en- or TWEEN y-one delegates
from each district. Then let any Democrat
who wishes - serve the people of his coun-
ty send his name and the title of the petition
he desires. together with a proper sum to cover
the expenses, on or before certain day, say
one week before the meeting of the conven-
ton, to the secretary OF the c0mmtte and let the
nominations be mace by him to the conven-
ton. Thus no one would be shut out by his
tallure 10 carry MS district, or MS unWllhB0esS
to make an active personal canvass and we
would have, pra ctically, the Crawford county
system but upon representative basis.
The main objection III Yed 10 the Crawford
county system was the necessity under it FOR
candidates to make contests i'll the primaries
which often resulted in bad feeling afterwards
an0 q consequent loss of votes at the general
election. The present system has not changed
this for the better, but. naturally. has made the
fights more bitter, as the ground to be fought
over is move contracted. The plan detailed
here would certainly obviatc this to u large
extent.
A cash fee 10 be paid by candidates would be
proper and necessary. Prop r. because it
would prevent tritiers from confusing the pro-
ceedngs with n long list of names of persons
who were not bona fide candidates, and neces-
sary to cover the legitimate costs of holding the
primaries and the convention. The fees to be
paid by candidates for the various offices should
b. left to the wise discretion of the Executive
Committee, and the surplus, if any, should be
turned over to the campaign committee to be
used in the legitimate and inevitable expenses
of the fight against the common enemy.
This plan is advanced to further no scheme
or plot in the interest of any individual or indi-
but simply with sincere desire to see
the best possible nominations made and back
ed up by united and harmonious party. fit
is not proper nor feasible, let some of the many
good and earnest Democrats who read The
fgis point out its detect'. TT.