The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-05
COLLIER ISSUES
 GARD TO VOTERS

Tuscaloosa, SeptemDer 4.-tSpeclai.)- Daniel Collier, recently nominated for the position of judge of the Sixth judicial circuit but who will be compelled to make the race second time under an order from the state democratic executive committee, has issued the following:
 Tuscaloosa, September 8, 191o To the Democratic Voters of the Sixth
 Judicial Circuit:
 On May Is, 1910, was duly and legally declared by the democratic state executive committee as the nominee of the dem ocratic party for judge of the Sixth judi cial circuit.
 On May 27, 1s1O the certificate of my nomination was filed by the chairman and secretary of the state executive com mittee with the secretary of state as re- quired by law.
 On May 24, 1910, my opponent (Mr. Bernard Harwood) in the primary of May 2, filed with the state executive com mittee his statement contesting my nom nation, on the grounds, substantially, that the managers or officers of election at the Northport box, Tuscaloosa county, had been guilty of frau6 and malcon- duct, in counting votes for Collier, which had been cast or which should have been cast for Harwood, and that illegal votes had been cast for me in other boxes throughout the circuit; and that if said fraudulent an3 illegal votes should be deducted from my total vote, liar wood would have had a majority of the legal votes cast
 A subcommittee composed of Hon. John c. Pugh Of Birmingham Hon. H. C. Thach of Athens and Hon. Shelby Fletch- CT of Huntsville, all members of the state committee, was appointed by the state committee, to go to Tuscaloosa and in quire into and report to the full com mittee, as to the truth of my opponents charges. MT. Fletcher, for some reason, did not act but the other two members of the subcommittee made the inyestiga- tion as required by their instructions from the state committee. They exam ined 120 witnesses, and examined and counted the ballots cast in the North port box. After a session lasting from Friday morning, August 26, to Monday at midnight of August g, they duly reported their finding to the state committee, which in substance was to the effect that no illegal votes, 1. e.. votes of dis qualified persons had been cast; that 23 votes had been fraudulently cast for me in the Northport box; to which my op- ponent was entitled and that he was en- titled to 12 other votes which had not been counted for him and nine votes counted for me and should be deducted from my vote. Ten votes had been in nocently counted for Harwood in Will sons beat, Lamar county, which had not been cast at all The net result of this finding was to leave me with ma 1ority of seven votes in the whole cir cult, instead of a majority of 64 votes as shown by the previous returns. The majority was a clear cut, legal and de- eisive majority and entitled me to the nomination over Harwood, and the sub committee unanimously so reported. Thereupon the full committee, without disputing the truth or justice of this finding, without action on the sub-com- mittee's report, arbitrarily passed a reso- luction declarn gthat there had been no legal nomination., and ordering a new primary, by vote of 21 to 5, less than half of the whole membership of the committee voting affirmatively on the proposition.
 am advised by my attorneys and others of my friends. that the committee was without Jurisdiction or power to take the action they did, and that I am now the legal nominee for judge of the Sixth judicial circuit, and that on an ap- peal to the courts I would be so de- clared
 The issues made by Harwood's contest were clear cut and we'll defined. On these issues, either he was nominated or l was nominated in the primary of May S There was no issue before the com mittee which authorized thern to dec- clare that no one had been legally nom inated; and the committee had no statu- tory, or other lawful authority, of its motion and independently of the pending contest, before 1t, to vacate and annul the election of May 8, and to nulify your votes by which you had nominated me to this high office.
 Nevertheless, while am firm in the conviction that am your nominee that the committee has done me and you gross injustice that MT. Harwood has been arbitrarily given a second unearned and unmerited opportunity to receive your suffrages, yet 1t will be obvious to you on reflection that I am bound by circumstance. and by my sense of loyalty 10 my party, to bow to the command of the state committee, as there is no ap- peal except to you. I do therefore ap- peal to you as the highest court of ap- peal to confirm my nomination heretofore duly and legally accorded to me, and to ignore and rebuke the finding of the state committee that there has been no legal nomination, and by your vote in the coming primary to be held on October 8, 1910, to show that you have no sym pathy with the tactics of my opponent yho when conscious of defeat, by means