The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-04-19
.FORNEY JOHNSTON
 Is OUT AGAINST
 CAPSULE PLAN Wants His Name to Go on the Ticket As Convention Can
 didate Alphabetically
WILL VOTE FOR O'NEAL
 MAY 2 AND NOT MAY 17
MT. Johnston Points Out What He Regards as Objections to the .sExcessive Development of
 the Primary Idea"


 flied as a candidate for the state con vention on the Mallory ticket, has writ ten Chairman E. N. Bell of the county committee a warm letter, in which ne protests against the capsule" plan, and asks that his name be printed alphabet ically. Here it is:
 Birmingham, Ala, April IS, 1910. Hon. Robert N Bell, Chairman,
 City.
 Dear Sir: The Age-Herald or sunday included my name in the list purportlng to be the Mallory ticket for delegate to the state convention. This was mis- take understood, when handing Tn my application, that the names were to go on the ticket alphabetically and without arbitrary grouping.
 I hope, some day, to see the party re- turn to the practice Of hoiolhs cohVeh- tions for the nomination of judges ana all subordinate state officers, and for the renewal of party declarations and loy- alty. I consider that the meeting of rep resentative citizens from all parts of Ala bama tends to harmonize conditions throughout the state. to avoid secuonai selflshness, to increase state pride and to the discovery of the strong men of the state. The excessive development of the primary idea eliminates from the party government the necessary feature or rep resentation and deprives the state Of the services of many men of ability who de- test the exploitation of general primary It is certain that the voter. however ln- telligent, is better qualified to select a delegate from his beat or county, than to vote for a judge or minor state of- ficer whose qualifications for office must be judged by the activity of his press agent and his handshake. Certain changes are desirable, and for the pur- pose of aiding in bringing them about and with the hope that l might be or assistance in securing political rest In Alabama for the next few years, l filed my application.
 believe that the county will be better represented if the people vote for indi- vidual delegates from personal knowledge of the men, than if they swallow a cap suIe of strange elements compounded by a. caucus whose ultimate intentions on the patient are not disclosed. I intend to vote for a candidate for governor in the primary on May 2-not in the convention of May IT. After much hesitation, am inclined to vote for Emmet O'Neal for governor. but I look to the deliberations of the state convention and the legisla- ture with considerably more interest than the result of the race for governor. desire to see the question of prohibition eliminated from partisan politics at that convention. It is false issue on which to select public servants, a dangerous is sue on which to select representatives, and will never be solved until dispassionately considered, in the light of its actual op- eration and of the temper of the people by whom it must be observed. We want serious reflection on that question, and not the flare of interest or passion, and I believe that the people of Alabama will be in a better frame of mind to consider it calmly if they will elect MT. O'Neal, who was in no wise responsible for the effort to cut off reflection over the mat ter by forcing a police measure into the constitution. I consider that MT ONeal Is under a solemn obligation to respect the plea on which the amendment was defeated-that constitutional prohibition forced judgment without trial, whereas we desired & fair test for prohibition. It is upon the assumption that he will re- spect this obligation that I will vote for him. But to secure nop-partisan action in convention and legislature, I think that the people should select for repre- sentatives and delegates to this important convention men whose ultimate purposes can be trusted and who are not con- scious of obligations to any faction for their announced candidacy.
 therefore respectfully request that, in accordance with the chairman's call for applications published in the daily press of last week. which contemplated indi- yidual applications and not "conscript- squad," you place my name on the ticket in its alphabetical order in the list of those who have not signifed their de- sire to be capsuled. If the committee is of tho opinion that the Cowart resolution requires the voluntary, or planetary. can didate to select an emblem, you may place over my name a red flag, or a black flag, or a skull and cross-bones any one of which would be as timely and appro- priate a talisman as "ONear' or "Mal- lory'' for delegation that should be sent to Montgomery for the primary purpose of securing temperance fin politics in Alabama.
 Yours very truly,
 FORNEY JOHNSTON.