The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-05-27
rxxY WILL TOT unDnnsrAnD.

t1
 The Montgomery Advertiser. . paper
 which In circulation .infiuen~e and whose
 character of patronage Is second to no
 paper In the State, while admitting the
 business of the demand for primary
 has hedged in its demand by so many
 proviscs and such an inordinate desire
 for peace" that, 1t is really doubtful as
 to whether its influence will advance
 either the cause of primary, or Party
 peace.-Vernon Courier.
 The Courier seems to be another of
 those Alabama papers which are unable
 to understand plain newspaper English.
 When The Advertiser argued in favor of
 q State Democratic primary it meant that
 and nothing else. There has been no un-
 certainty about it's position and no excuse
 for failing to understand 1t. We meant
 and mean-a Democratic primary com
 ducted under such rules and regulations
 as the State Committee will adopt to en-
 sure an absolutely fair expression of the
 Party will. We are willing that the vote
 for Sanford shall be taken as the>test. If the Committee shah % decide. ss that
 was a State election and the Party lines
 were closely drawn What We insist on and contend for. in case such primary
 shall be decided on. is that it shall be strictly confined to Denocrats and that it shall be absolutely fair to all csudi- dates who are voted for. Certainly this is plain enough. and simple enough. How any one can say or believe that this is '.hedged in by so many previsos" as to A-s s~;t ;. ar,A ynrp are not fully understood we shall despair of being able to write the English lan- guage intellfgently or intelligibly. Now. as to the peace" proposittcn. about which The Courier seems to be dis
 turbed The Advertiser in an editorial
 about the great benefit it would bs to
 Alabama in a nupber of ways if we could get through this year without any
 bitter political fight. This, of course.
 referred to peace in our own Party. In
 order to lay the foundation for that peace
 we took the position that Governor Jelks
 should not have Democratic opposition.
 and we adhere to that view and each day confirms it. That there may be Republican ticket, or a fusion ticket put out in opposition to the Democratic nomi- nee for Governor is possible. and We have no argument to make against it. The Republicans certainly have a perfect right to select ticket of their own and to support it. and if they choose to do so no one ought to object. We may ! fngnratively. welcome them with bloody hands to hospitable graves" but we certainly shall not even by implication. deny their right to have and support their own ticket.
 We admit that Governor Jelks has no legal or political mortgage on the 'omce for another term. Any Democrat who desires to do so has a right to contend
 for the nomination. and there are plenty
 of good Democrats in Alabama who are qualified for the position. All that Is freely admitted, and still we contend that 1t will be best for the Party. best for the State and best for the people if he should be given the nomination without any l unseemly scramble and without any factional fight or disturbance in our ranks. Laying aside all question of Party precedent-though that applies as foreibiy in his case as 1t has in the case of any other Governor who has been renomi- nated-but leaving that entirely out of consideration, he deserves the endorse
 ment of the Democrats of Alabama. He
 is giving us an excellent administration;
 he is conducting his responsible ofice in
 safe. prudent and conservative manner. and he has so comported himself thus far as to win the respect and confidence of the people. And so we favor his re- nomination with no opposition from Democrats partly because it is the custom of the Party. partly because he deserves 1t and partly because such a nomination
 would give peace and quiet and union among the Democrats of Alabama, and would save the State and the people of the State from the bitterness and turmoil of factional fight.
 eW hope we have made our position plain this time. To sum up. we want a fair, honest Democratic primary and we
 want to see Jelks nominated without op- position.