The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
ABANDONING THE
 CONVENTION PLAN
Primary System Discussed at Length by Frank Deedmeyer
THE QUESTION OF B0SSlSM
The Conditions Referred to and Flu ture Problems Considered in the Light of the Experience of
 Various States.

To the Editor of The Age-Herald.
 Alabama has abandoned forever the old system of making party nominations County after county is declaring in fa- vor of a primary system, modelled upon the one adopted by the state committee at It's last meeting. Already the gladiators have leaned Into the newly marked out arena, bidding for the favors of the masses. Not much longer and no man can be nominated in this state for any political office from governor to beat constable. except by the direct vote of the people. This is a radical departure. Well may we pause and try to look into the future.
 In the past, under the old system, party nominations were made by delegates chosen, or rather picked out, by the poli- tical leaders in each county. Represen- tation in the state convention was based on the census population, including the negroes. This gave the white voters of the black belt great advantage. They enjoyed long a political power greatly disproportionate to the actual voting pop ulation of their section. Intelligence and property qualification had to yield at last to more modern ideas of democracy. The house of Braganza has ceased to rule"
 Changes to Come.
 What changes, if any. will result under this new order of things? The present constitution provides that the judge of probate of each county shall file, on or before April 1, 1903, with the secretary of State list of the voters registered in his county Before that date 1t will not be possible to tell with absolute &C., racy the number of voters in each county, or the preponderance of registered voters in the northern part of the state over those in the black belt counties. The white vote of north Alabama. however, far out numbers that of the southern counties. North Alabama can heneeforth dictate all state nominations. The north ern counties are gaining very fast in population. particularly the industrial centers, Jefferson county alone has add ed at least %, GOO souls to the states pop ulation since the taking of the last cen sus. A few sharp political contests will see practically the whole white citizen ship registered.
 The electorate of Alabama has been singularly pure In the past. The white voter of our state, proud of his title of freeman, jealous of his political rights, stands out in most enviable contrast to the venal and purchasable elements in many of the other states. The white man of Alabama acknowledges a political leader but not a boss. He is open to con viction, but can not be reached through corrupting influences. Hitherto his lead CTS ever found him ready to support any policy which promised to avert the mem ace of negro domination. But with the adoption of the new constitution the ne- gro has been eliminated from politics. White supremacy is assured. With the new constitution came the primaries, and new order Of things has been estab- lished.
 Will Effect Electorate.
 What effect will all this have on the electorate? Will tho party boss make his appearance In Alabama? It is predicted by many that the party boss will soon be factor in our state and local poll tics. What is a party boss, and who clothes him with his pernieious powers Whence IS the source of his influence? There are two sources of the power of the party boss. The one Is the primary, the other Is the corporate wealth of the state Under the primary system organ ization Is a necessity. It Is the founda- tion of all political success. There can be no effective organization without ac- knowledged leadership. Local, county and state bosses are to a great extent the product of the primary system, When contest gets close, when each vote counts, each beat will be organized and every faction will maintain a local organization. The local boss looks for aid and assis- tance to the county boss; the county boss is under the direction of the state boss. Political organizations cannot be kept up without money. The faithful fol- lower of the boss belongs 10 one of tw classes. He is either an aspirant for po- litical preferment himself. or he is a boodler. The boss must. to maintain his position, be able to satisfy the demands of his lieutenants. To do this he needs money.
 Source of the Money.
 W ho furnishes the boss with the money to keep his machine in smooth running order? For answer to this we must point to those states where bossism has reach ed its highest stage of development. Let us take as an example, the state of Pennsylvania, ruled absolutely for whole generation by Boss Quay. As that state developed It's great mineral re- sources and corporations and transpor- tation companies became powerful, the people demanded laws to protect them against the encroachment of corporate walth. The result was a lobby at the state capitol, consisting of the represen- tatiyes of the various moneyed interests In time the corporations found this inn practicable. They discovered that it was more convenient and effective to unite their interests and appoint common agent They selected Quay. He has ever since levied campaign contributions rom them at will and held the political iestnies of that commonwealth in the lololw of has hand. He nominates and elects not only the state ticket of his party, but every county official whose tets could in any way effect the inter- ssts of his clientage, is set up by this modern Warwick. His real source of power Is the large corruption fund ever 1t his disposal and furnished by the cor porate wealth of his state. Pennsylva- lia is not an isolated instance. Platt Uielda the same mower in the atata of