The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-07-16
THE coMMrrrrr,s ACTION.

There never was q committee meeting
held in Alabama In which the veal or
woe OF the Democratic Party was more
! at stake than was the meeting in this
Icit5 last week. Since the new constitu-
| ton had been adopted. II was understood
to be the desire and the purpose Of the
| people to bring about a new order Of
things and inaugurate new method Of
Party action all along the line. and.
above ALL TO have absolutely fair eiec-
! tons in the future. in both primary end
general elections. The people had de-
cided in their own minds that the best
means to the accomplishment of this re-
suit was to begin with change in the
mode Of making nominations for State
officers and to have general primary
election for that purpose. such thing
as State primary mad never before
been even considered. much less propcged,
and being such radical departure from
the time-honored customs of the Party. 1t
was not known how 1t would rnswer In
making the nomination Of candidates;
but the people had determined {, try that
plan. and had taken the trouble to ac-
quaint their representatives on the Com
mittee with their wishes in the prem
Uses. -
IL Is generally conceded thta ma
jority of the Committee were person
ally In favor of a convention for nom
mating, not only from the etan5peirs of
1 ...st... h,,& %. A. r,.~k ;~knr.a.s. rf sv,a
Party organization, and yet as matter
OF expediency. in answer t. tn. demands
of their people, many Of them put aside
their personal views ana Judgment in
difference TO what they rega :ded as a
duty. An analysis of the v,te OF the
Committee win show that this wss the
motive that actuated the Committee-to
preserve the integrity and secure the flu
ture success Of the organization in the
State. as the people had outlined 4. The
people were restless under the old order
of things ana unless a change was made,
"a revolt might come. and then NO enc
could foretslI the result. 1t may be
surprise TO many to learn mat major
ity of those who voted for convention
were from the white counties. and only
five from the black counties, while 1--WE
members from the Black Belt voted for
primaries.
Now. let us see Just how the Commit
tee was divided according to the relative
situation of the members as 70 the white
and black counties--that Is, as to the
counties where whites or blacks ore in
the majority. as the case may ,e. OF
those who voted for convention. Mtssrs.
Lowe Of Jefferson. Stevens of Mobile,
Mullins of Chiffon. Merrill OF cleburne.
Jones of st. Clair. Sanders Of Limestone,
Kumpe of Lauderdaie. are fr,r1 white
counties, and nearly all Of them from
what are known as North Aitbann coun-
ties: while from the Black Heit, those
voting for convention are Messrs. Smith
Of Sumter, Miller OF Wilcox. Mallory of
Dallas. Smith OF Greene and Scale of
Sumter.
Those who voted for primary finni the
white counties are Messrs. o'Neal of I1Hu-
derdale, Hehin of Chambers. pnnn OF
Clarke, Sanford Of Pike. Arlington Of
Coffee. whitson of Taiiadsga, Mitchell
OF Etowah. HARRISON of DeKaib. Given
of Madison, Hall Of Blount. while those
who voted from the black counties are
Messrs Tunstall of Hale. Graves OF Mont
gomery. Fraser OF Bullock. Brightman
of Lowndes and Smith of Hale.
1t isNvery gratifying to note the senti-
ment Of harmony and patriotism prevail
ing among the individual members Of
the Committee. and is an omen Of Party
SUCCESS sure sign that the Democrats
Of Alabama are united and that the new
Constitution will be upheld and fully
sustained in the primaries