The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1910-09-08

i GCOIBlh AlCu 81 SAuAtdhb III buClk VAC'
tory that they were intolerant Of their
defeated foeman, impatient OF any.
thing but celebration Of victory and
laudation OF their chosen candidate.
| This was demonstrated early In the
convention when Joe Hill Hall, Of
Bib county, endeavored for ten min
utes to put before the convention a
request for representation on the
i platform COMMITTEE for the minority
faction; it was shown more conclu-
sively when at the close Of the con-
vention Senator e. d. Griffith, of
HARRISON, tried, as the rignt of the
minority which brought 100 votes to
the convention, to place in omination
Joseph M Brown, the choice of a
representative body Of Georgia Dem
ocrats.
Again and again Senator Griffith
was booted and jeered by men on the
floor until his voice was drowned in
the uproar Twice and thrice did
courteous Smith leaders on the plat
form plead with their followers for a
square deal for fellow Democrat"
but to no avail. Senator Griffith
tried in vain to speak against the up
roar, and at last Mr.. Lawrence, Of
Chatham, a Brown supporter and a
Savannah delegate, approached the
speaker and drew him from the foot
lights through the door at the rear.
The name OF Joseph M. Brown had
never been placed before the conven.
ton.
Though the county delegates came
to Atlanta with a convention vote Of
2SS for Smith and 1870 for Brown (the
figures are Reuben Arnold's, and in
clude the settled contests), the Smith
men making up the delegations out
numbered the Brown delegates by
ten to one, the jubiIant Smith coun-
ties sending big delegations and the
Brown counties intrusting their con-
vention vote to but handful Of dele
gates. 1t was Smith convention all
the way. The county vote plan was
forgotten from the start and never
a roll Of the counties was called until
the actual nomination for governor
The one.sided makeup of the meeting
rendered roll call unnecessary, and
action on every motion was taken by
acclamation and with hardly a dis
senting voice raised against the ma
jority. The platform, the rules of the
convention, the election Of officers
and secretaries and choice Of commit.
tees-all went through as If CREASED.
1t was cut and dried, framed by lead
ers who had the confidence of their
supporters and who were not him
dered in their work. There was not
an amendment to the platform
drafted by Chairman James r. Gray,
except supplementary resolution
which urged upon the national
party the consideration of Hoke
Smith as the next nominee for presi-
dent. The convention steam roller
moved without hitch and the minor
fly delegates who travelled to Atlanta
had only the privilege of seeing it
roll
The platform OF the convention,
drafted and read by James r. Gray,
editor of the Atlanta Journal was a
lengthy document. 1t was in many
ways a Federation Of the memorable
Macon platform of four years ago,
but toward the end it grew bitter in
its denunciation of the Brown admin
istration, criticising the governor for
the Durham mine affair, for failing to
purchase the Chattanooga terminals
and for other official sins Of omission
or commission. Following it Mr.,
Gray read resolution offered the
committee by a delegate from Spald-
ing county declaring Hoke Smith the
choice of Georgia Democracy for the
next president Of the United States.
Hooper Alexander, Of DeKalb,
chosen to place Hoke Smith in formal
nomination for governor, delivered
eloquent address. His demand that
Georgia claim a right to affairs of
national Democracy was received
with cheers, and the name of Hoke
Smith as Georgia's choice for presi-
dent brought forth another outburst.
Henry c. Cohen, chairman of the
Richmond county delegation, in a
brief speech fitting to the occasion,
seconded the nomination Of Hoke
Smith for governor He praised
Richmond county sent a delegation
of about 40 TO cast its votes for
Smith, with Henry Cohen as the
chairman. The Richmond men held
a caucus before coming to Atlanta
and decided on the county unit vote,
Grant Perry, the chairman of the
( Morgan county crowd, was proclaim
ing in the Kimball lobby his pride in
old Morgan, the original Hoke Smith
county 1t was Morgan Democrats
VINO first urged Hoke Smith to make
the race for governor five years ago
when he defeated Clarke Howell
Dick Russell ct al