Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-05-14
STICK TO THE PRIMARY RULES


primary should be represented by Wilson delegates
in the forthcoming state convention. Such conten
ton. however worthy the motives behind it, is Un-
warranted by the rules that governed the primary
and those rules were eminently just.
The state executive committee held, and rightly
So that in presidential primary the state itself is
the unit that each ctizenss ballot should count for
just what it is worth and that the candidate receiv
ing the largest number of such votes should thereby
become Georgia's choice for the Democratic nomina
ton, and be accorded its unit vote
Mr.. Underwood received the most votes. We
may well question the methods by which this result
obtained but the result itself is fixed and is not
open to further question The object of the primary
was ascertain the peoples preference The object
of the convention will be simply to formulate the
popular will as already expressed and TO name ac
cordingly delegates to the national convention.
Every citizen of every county had his opportunity at
the polls. It remains only for the state convention
to attest the result and a purely ministerial
body to award the states unit vote to the winner,
Congressman Underwood.
OF what use then could Wilson delegates be in
such a convention? The nominee has already been
chosen. Under the rules of the primary, he is
titled to the states unit vote at Baltimore. divided
convention would simply mean a renewal of issues
that were decided by the electorate itself May the
is merely ministerial 1t should therefore, be har
monious and given a clear right of way to do its
particular work in accordance with the popular
mandate. Hence, only Underwood delegates are due
seats.
To be sure, Chatham county and Floyd county
went for Governor Wilson and did Fulton county,
by a tremendous majority. But the state as a whole
and in presidential primary it is with the state
a whole that must deal-went for Congress
Underwood Clearly, therefore, it is the will
of the state and not that of county that the
vention should express
This is a matter of principle, Independent partic-
ular candidates contests 1t would have been
true had Governor Wilson won. 1t is none the
less true since Mr. Underwood has won. In the re-
cent primary The Journal zealously supported Gov
ernor Wilson and we believe now, as earnestly as
ever, in the rightness of The fact that
he lost, however, in degree blinds us to the
truth that the rules under which the primary was
conducted logical and fair and should be
sustained.
AS we have previously shown, these rules are
indeed the simplest, the squarest and the most ex-
pedtious that have been devised for presidential
primaries in any state. They provided that the
candidates for the nomination should be voted upon
directly. There not, in Florida, bewider-
ing array of delegates among whom the voter had
to choose in order to record his preference between
the real candidates. There was not, as in Massa-
chusetts the confusion incident to voting at the same
time for nominee and for delegates Under the
Georgia plan, the main candidates themselves were
placed directly before the people, the one who
received the greater number of votes became the
winner and, in accordance with that result dele
cation to the Baltimore convention will be named
The means by which the Underwood victory was
comprised, we repeat, are indeed questionable But
that is no fault of the primary rules They are the
best yet contrived anywhere in the union. They
were just Las been proved, to all factions They
are complete answer to the committees partisan
and unreasoning critics