The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-10
Factory Is4o.

T say the voters of the Democratic Party are the supreme rulers Of that party. And this matter Is one we must meet and one, as l conceive It, Whlch may come before the next Governor. The voters nave at least the rignt,-a right given every citizen of America under the Constitution of the united States-to petition. if we put 1t in that light, we have at least the right to pe- tition the Governor. whoever he may be, to appoint the man or our choice. But we don't put 1t on the claim of pe- tition. We put 1t on the right we con ceive they have, and no man can suc- cessfuliy deny that they have, to in- struct their servant to carry out their wishes.
 An Impossible Suggestion.
 Tt has been suggested. and 1 allude to this In passing ti only desire to pre- sent this matter as 1t appeared to your subcommittee, to pr ,sent 1t to all the members as best l can), 1t has been suggested that this Committee could pass a resolution, or require, In the event of any vacancy in the United States Senate, the Governor of Alabama to pledge himself to request, or he should be made to call, a primary of the Democratic voters to vote upon the recommendation of candidates for the appointment to such vacancies.
 What would that lead to? It would simply mean that a second primary might be called, we know not when |. We trust 1t may never be called, but we know not when 1t may be called. It would be an enormous and tremend- ous expense to the candidates in such primary, and no one knows so well what the expense of a primary are in Alabama as the candidates who run, and take my information from them, because 1t Is true, and 1t is known to all men. that under our primary sys- tenn a poor man can't run for nomtna- tion in the Democratic primary: 1t is too expensive.
 But we say that plan would bring on more primaries when the people want peace and quiet and freedom from po- litical disturbances as much as possi- bIe. The issues would be practically the same, even at the end of four years, as now. In issues upon national ques- tions the candidates would be practi- cally the same as they would be now, and I say 1t Is reflection upon the dignity Of any man, however great and able he may be in the State of Ala bama, for him to say ! won't become a candidate for the United States Sem ate against John T. Morgan. or Edmund w. Pettus, but I do not pretend to say I would not at least ask the State of Alabama for their recommendation as his successor
 Now, MT. Chairman. that Is all we have done. We have done the best we knew how. We have made the condi- tions as they are to meet questions vii tally important to the people of the State of Alabama and we leave 1t to the people to choose their own officers by the plurality system. Personally l do not believe in plurality nominations. l am, however, ready to yield my opinion to the opinion of others who are doubt less wiser than myself. and more will ling to yield 1t as 1t stands today, be- cause in my judgment whatever candi- date may receive the nomination. the Democratic Party of the State of Ala bama and the people. when he Is elect ed. will be we'll and ably served"
 Mir. Thateh Wanted Time.
 Hon. R. H. Thatch said he was not ready to vote on the plan handed in by the committee. There were some things in 1t he said he would like to consider He had. of course heard the reading like other members of the com mittee but he was not sure that the members fully understood all that it contained. Mir. Whitson had, so MT. Thatch said, called the report an inno- vation. For one he wanted time to study it.
 He moved that the committee ad- journ until o'clock p. m. and that in the meanwhile each member of tho committee be furnished with a copy or the report .
 May 1t please the court,'' said MT. Stevens, of Mobile. in his most lawyer like tones, and the committee laugh ed Correcting himself Mir Stevens moved that the motion of MT. Thatch be tabled. And it was done by an overwhelming vote. The vote. like all other votes taken on the report was a viva voce vote. Only three or four nays were heard while the "nyes" on the Stevens motion came in a great volume of sound, That was the first of the overwhelming defeat admin istered to the opponents of the general primary plan. It was agreed that the plan should be read section by section and that each section should be adopted by the com mittee or amended as soon as read. In the first section the opposition at- tempted to make another feeble satnd, When the line in the first section re- ferring to the convention for the nomi- nation of Associate Justices of the Su- preme Court, and the nomination of United States Senators in the primary was read. Hon. J. F. Proctor, of Jack son. got up and offered an amendment which sought to nut the nomination of Associate Justices in the general prl- mary, and to eliminate the nom.na- tion of United States Senator from the primary.
 The general primary advocates look ed at it a moment and then killed II as dead as a door nail The same three