The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1909-10-29
unMARRANTEo osJEcTIoNs.


"A upou the decision OF Chancellor
Allison holding unconstitutional the
compulsory primary law. Some OF
lne ChaneeIIor's objections are Wen
founded, others are wholly without
merit and appear to Us 10 be merely
ayuOus criticism. In this class Is
Inc courts structure upon that proyis-
ION u tne Law regulating the election
y La sta,e Committee or party ma
chine.
Under the law rhe state Committee
If me Two great political parties IS 70
% composed OF Two members from
.,h Congressional district 70 be
.ec,eu by the delegates composing
ne STATE convention. Inoso deie-
-llss o. express provision Vi tae ia"'
.fe 40 be chosen Dy the people Oh the
ssye... counties d, tne same Clne that
,us governor ami Other Omcefa are
nominated It would be ulmcut TO
Iaesise a plan winch would more sure
~ restore TO tne people tl!e eontfoi
|of tLelr parry machinery. IL Is also
PROVIDED chat no candidate nor con-
,eution SHAH nave the power 70 add
10 OF take nom the membership Vi
this committee.
SUI Judge Allison objects because
under this system the members OF the
committee might be elected by vote
ol tue entire State convention, that is
members oil the committee might be
elected by the convention voting a.
whole who would no, have been eject
ed had the election been held by
the eiarate congressional districts.
III other words the Two members from
the seventh district might not be the
members mat the seventh district del
egadon would have chosen mad they
been left free to elect without regard
to the viii ana wishes OF majority
OF the party in convention assembled.
For this reason and for no other,
Judge Allison undertakes to make
comparison between the system that
the compulsory law would inaugurate
for the selection of the party machln'
er, ana the system at present 1oi-
owed, and the strange and ineXpllca-
bic part of it is that the eminent
,urist, by some strange process OF
reasoning not visible to the naked eye,
| finds that the old plan is the more
| Democratic and more certainly vests
| final authority in the people. IL Is
true that the congressional districts,
under the Patterson plan do elect ten
members of the committee, one from
| each district So far so good. But
! Judge Allison neglected to add that in
addition to the ten members so elect
ed eleven others are appointed by the
candidate for Governor. 1t matters
little to the people and is small source
Of consolation to them to know that
they have the privilege of electing ten
members of a committee where ma
ioritq is named by one man.
But is it a fact Judge that ten mem
bers of the present committee were
elected by the people or by delegates
elected by the pople? Is it not true
that there was not delegate in the
Hast state Democratic convention who
was elected by the people? Further
more is it not a fact that more than
ten per cent of the delegates to that
convention were actually appointed
Dy one man? Answer these questions
aad then say which provides the more
democratic system the compulsory
Law or the Patterson plan.
If Judge AlHson's opinion that the
law is unconstitutional because of this
effect be sustained thea the acts ere
ating the Railroad. Commission and
the Court of Civil Appeals must fail.
nv both of those acts the members Of
these tribunals are apportioned amons
the three grand divisions Of the State,
but the whole people participate IN
the election of all 1t is possible for
the neople of the state to elect a mem
Der from East Tennessee who would
not be elected by the people Of that
grand division. Not only is this pos
sibIe. it is the case For East Ten
nessee, electing as division, would
name Republicans to both tribunals
Then are these tribunals unconstitu-
tional because their members are not
chosen in manner harmonizing with
the spirit Of the constitution?