Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1905-09-13
A Lee As A Bad Leader?

- " - ." avn VI uldu udnleO
Lee. The popular feeling, amount
ing almost to a conviction. is that
no man of that name and family
can be guilty of any very serious
wrong. Therefore it will be a
shock to the people of the State to
see that Captain Dan Lee, of Stat
ford county, brother of General
tltzhugh Lee, is announced as an
Independent candidate for the legis-
lature. At this writing we are not
fully informed of the facts. Before
the recent general primary Sena-
tor Martins friends announced
boastfully that Captain Lee intend
ed To vote for the senator for re-
election. If Captain Lee voted in
the primary it would be interest
ing To know how he squares an in
dependent candidacy with the
pledge taken by each voter to
abide the result OF the primary and
to support the nominees. If there
Is grievance, an allegation of
fraud or error, it should have been
brought to the Democratic State
committee, which is the regular
and lawful supreme court of the
party. If Mr.. Moncure, the regu-
lar Democratic nominee, is an I'M
TIT man, he should have been fought
in the primary and his unftness
should have been exposed in the
preliminary campaign. That was
the duty of every citizen and es-
pecially of every man of Captain
Lees prominence and power.
Ii will be fearfully unfortunate
if boiling and independent candi-
dacies are made respectable or en-
during in Virginia by the aid of
the honored name of Lee. If Cap
tain Lee voted in the primary and
now feels free to be an independent
candidate for the legislature.
Judge Mann or Captain Willard
could sustain themselves by pre-
cisely the same course of reasoning
in going over to the Republicans
and calling ON their followers to
help elect Judge Lewis and defeat
Mr.. Swanson. and Governor Mon
taguc in forcing a new fight for
the senatorship in the election for
members of the legislature. Ii he
did not vote in the primary and in
tends to withdraw entirely from
the Democratic party, he owes it to
the public, he being a public can
didate for 4 public Office and one of
the few surviving representatives
of his generation of the name most
reverenced in Virginia, to define
his position and purposes and his
place in our politics.
Every man has the right to be
independent in politics, to hold
himself aloof from all parties and
free to vote at the general election
for the candidates and platforms
most in accord with his ideas. No
man has the right to call himself a
member of party, To participate
in its primaries and then To repudi-
ate or oppose the decision of the
majority as given at those primar-
les. If primaries and conventions
are not binding they are farces,
meaning nothing. We sincerely
hope that Captain Lee does not
occupy this position. Assuming
that he did not take part in the
primaries we must assume further
that he will urge persistently that
all who did participate are bound
TO their obligation to vote and work
for Mr.. MOncure, the regular NOM
inee, and that he will expect sup
port only from those who did not
go into the primary and from the
Republicans.
In our country and under our
system of government, party or
carnations are necessary. With
out them confusion would be ineyi-
table. As we see it, the interests
of the masses of the people of this
country, and especially of the
South, demand that the Democratic
organization shall be kept alive
and strong as a conservative and
protective force against the revO-
lutionary and centralizing tenden-
cies of the Republicans. We do
not quarrel with any man, how
ever, for declining To accept our
view. Our contention is that when
man decides to become Repub-
lican or an Independent, especial
~ when he is man of prom-
incnce and candidate for office
- ,Go,ll ,,,olyo bic DNcition on.