The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-13
Is Opposed to State Primary.
Livingston, April 19, l!


 To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 Your lettef requesting an opinion from me regarding State and County primaries has just been received. I am opposed to the State Committee ordering a. State primary. The Democratic State Commit tee was created and elected By the Dem- ocrats of Alabama in convention assem- bled. and I do not think it would be right for them to destroy the power that created them. Let them cau conven- tion of the Democrats of Alabama. as they have always done in the past, and as they have a right, and as 1t is their officers and to transact all other business of the party. Then let that Convention adopt primary or any other method the Democrats of Alabama may desire.
 I know of no evidence showing that the Democrats of Alabama desire to change our present convention system into State primary. True, several great and prominent men and newspapers have ex- pressed themselves as favoring such change. but that is not evidence; when the Democrats of Alabama vote upon question. that is evidence of their de- sires. and. they have never voted for State primary. and if they want 1t. they will surely. have it. If State primary is a better way to get what the people want. surely a State convention com posed of delegates selected by the Dem- very question was being agitated and discussed, would be a much better ex- pression of what the party wants. than the opinion of newspapers and men lected by State convention two years before when no such question had been raised.
 I am opposed to a State primary for many reasons;/ one is it would practical ly dlsfranchise the people living in the thinly settled parts of the State, and put all of the political power and offices of the State in the hands of the large cities and the few rich men that would be able to make a thorough canvass of the state Most people will generally vote for their home man. the man they happen to know, whether he is the most competent mar. or not. The people in the various scatter their votes on their various local candidates while the cities will do the same thing. and will elect their men, while a very large majority of the people of the State might much prefer any oth- CT man in the race, but they would be so scattered, and divided that the most unpopular, and maybe the least compe- tent man would succeed because some particular section or fraction would stand solidly for him.
 It seems to me there is great danger of a bad form of sectionalism arising out of the Site primary plan and also a great opportunity for shrewd. ambi- tious and interruptions demagogues and agitators to get control or the State. think counties ought to be allowed 10
  they like best, and the State ought never to interfere unless absolutely necessary.
 There is a very great difference be- tween a county and State primary; me counties. as a rule, are so small in this State and the people know each other so well it is impossible for sectionalism to amount to much. Knowing all the candidates, they will generally vote for the men they like best or consider the most competent. The people of the counties see each other so often and understand each other so well. and have so many meetings of other Kinds, that it Is not near so necessary TOT them 10 meet In convention as it is the people from the various parts of the State who rarely ever meet on any other occasion. It is the rarest thing that delegate to Democratic State Convention or Ala. bama ever violates his instructions; if he does,. the whole world knows it and the delegate is disgraced; while great frauds can be perpetrated in the primary1 and nothing known about 1t; It seems to me that the people in the various counties of the State are just as compe- tent to select their own delegates from among themselves, that they know well, and know who to trust, as they are can- didates all about over the State, many of whom they could not know and never saw. It has been my experience that the people always send the delegates to con ventf0ns that the majority want, and l do not see how 1t could be prevented un- less they elected them by primary in the beats and counties and were swindled in the count, and that certain ly would not be in favor of primaries.
 In a convention every man has to show his hand and vote open and above board. while in primaries there might be great frauds never detected. There can be just as stringent laws enacted for conventions there can be for pri- maries, and the proof of their violation much easier. R. L. Scale.