The Savannah morning news., 1902-08-18
THEY DIDN'T CARE FOR DAY.
rRUE EXPLANATION OF VOTERS,
BALLOTS FOR BROWNE.

so says Leading Florida Politician
of Result of Second Primary-Peo-
uIe Were Dissatisfied With Rail-
road Com missiOn-Abandonm of
primary System, Which Has shown
itself Vulnerable to Fraud, Is Pre-
dicted-StOcktOn May BE in Race
for L. $. Senator-Frank Adams to
Be President of State Senate.
Tallahassee, Fla, Aug. 1.-THE sec
ond primary is over and those inter-
ested in politics are not yet done dis
cussing the defeat of Chairman Day
for reelection to the Railroad Commits
sion. The result proved a landslide for
Mr.. Browne, and among the various
causes assigned for the revolution, the
following observations from the lips of
a veteran political expert may especial
" be commended:
II see that many of our friends
throughout the state attribute Mr..
Days crushing defeat to his opponents
superior political adroitness. to Com
missioner Morgan's letter. and, in fact,
to every reason but that which ap-
pears to me the true one Mr.. Browne
is really an unknown quantity to the
great majority of voters in
Florida, and no personal pop
ularity-no political astuteness-
could possibly go far enough to ac-
count for his tremendous vote Back
of it all. in my opinion, was a deep
seated discomfort with the work of the
railroad commission, and desire for
a change. People seem to feel that
the present commission has not half
exhausted the means at its command
and the opinion seems to be general
that the new board will go it's limit
In the meantime, the thick and thin
primary enthusiasts have nothing but
praise for the new system; and from
one end of the state to the other the
papers stand ready to accuse those
who venture to find flaw here and
there, of being corporation men" In
spite of all this the closest political
observers in the state predict a popu-
lar reaction in the next few
years, and among these critics the
opinion is general that the next pri-
mary will be the last in Florida for
many years.
Two years hence every official in the
state, from United States Senator and
governor down to constables, must run
the gauntlet of the primary; and,
judging from the experience of the
state thus far, such a free-for-all con-
test, with the loose methods of count
ing, canvassing and general manage
ment now in vogue will bring the en-
tire system into disrepute. 1t is already
evident that the primary can be man
ipulated not so easily perhaps as a
convention, but quite as effectively;
and that one of its worst
features is the opportunity it
offers to blatant demagogues to
mislead and hoodwink the people, All
this is not yet said openly. and those
who do say it, render themselves LA
Die to rebuke. Nevertheless, what a
few men now think will be generally
said before many years have passed
away unless the present primary law
be radically amended.
1t seems to be the general opinion
that John N. C. Stockton, the Jack
sonville politician, will run
against Senator Taliaferro two years
from now. True, Mr. Stockton does
not say So but his friends are
busily saying it for him; and he does
not, at all events, deny 1t. Should Gov.
Jennings enter the race, the contest
would be an. exciting one. but the rec
ord made by the Jacksonville senator
is so thoroughly creditable that his
friends believe he would win out, even
in a primary. Hitherto the guberna-
torial chair in Florida has proven a
graveyard to the, political aspirations
of its incumbent. and no governor of
the state has ever yet succeeded in
making that position a stepping-stone
to further political preferment. But
Gov. Jennings is still a comparatively
young man-alert, active and ambi-
tious. He has the confidence of the
people and strong personal
following; and those who do not take
him into account in making their lit
tie political predictions reckon with
out their host.
Gov. Jennings is still in California,
September.
In spite of the manner in which
Hamilton county rebelled against the
authority of the State Executive Com
mittee, no attempt has yet been made
to read Senator Frank Adams out of
the Democratic Party. Mr.. Adams will
probably be the president of the State
Senate next spring, and the mantle of
responsibility could hardly fall on wor-
thier or broader shoulders. DR.. E. S.
Grill the Palatka banker, is also men,
toned for the position. He was at one
time state treasurer, and has, on sew
eral occasions, served in the state Sen
ate. He is man of marked ability
and of remarkable force of chara Ater
AS practical politician" he has few
equals in Florida, and his statesman
like qualities are also of high order.
In spite of all this, DIR. Grill is COM
paratively an unknown quantity in the
state at large, and has no such per-
sonal following as that which the bril-
liant and magnetic Adams has attract