Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1912-04-02
TOM WATSON
is RED HOT
Country Folk SwindIed Out Of
Their Constitutional Right
ISSUES CARD TO THE PUBLIC

"The Smith committee now abolish
es the county unit plan again, and
proves by doing so that they have
no politics convictions on the subject
but go from the one plan to the other
as the interests of their boss seem
to require. Such shifty attempts to
follow a winning policy are in line
with their conduct heretofore-con-
duct which makes the committee and
its boss afraid to give the people a
fair chance at them"
THOMAS &. WATSON.
Thomson, Ga-(Special.)- Thomas
E. Watson gave out strong statement
at his home here today, denouncing
the action of the state executive com
mittee in turning its back upon the
county unit plan of making nomina
tions, when it arranged for the presi
Dental convention of May 90.
Mr.. Watson, in his statement, which
follows, shows wherein the commit
tees action was direct blow at the
constitutional rights of the people of
Georgia:
If there is any lesson that expert
ence should have taught us, it is to
beware of the despotic power of I'M
shackled majorities.
Protecting the Minority.
Every bill of rights, every state
constitution, every system of parlia-
mentary practice, every section of our
national constitution, is an evidence
of the necessity of guarding the rights
of the minority. In fact, the govern
mental problem which has puzzled
craftsmanship for centuries is that of
fixing such bounds to liberty that it
will not degenerate into unbridled
license.
ut is difficult to determine which,
is the more to be dreaded, fhe des-
potic power of one man or that of the
impassioned, uncomfortable mob Our
forefathers thought themselves fortu-
nate in discovering a new system of
government in the. severance of SOW
ereign powers into three departments
executive, judicial and legislative.
They added a mixed system based
partly on the equality of territorial
units, and partly on population. Thus
the states are equal in the senate but
unequal in the house of representa-
tives Now, when our wisest men con-
vened to frame a constitution for Geor-
gia they patterned our legislature af-
ter the federal government The
small counties were protected from the
. large ones.
The smallest county unit was to
have one-third the legislative power
of the largest. At the first Democratic
convention afterwards our system of
making political nominations was pat
termed after the plan laid down in
the constitution. That plan was In
force uninterruptedly until the Smith
politicians swept it away in 1906. The
battle of 1908 was fought on that is
sue, and the people reversed the city
politicians
Faith Was Broken.
"In the campaign of 1910 we were
assured that our county unit system
would not be disturbed Faith was
broken, and the Smith convention of
1910 again abolished our constitution
al system, so necessary to the small
counties. Then, in 1911, the Smith
committee ignored it's own platform
and returned to the county unit plan.
We beat them. We carried more than
enough small counties, but in popua-
ton, they heavily outnumbered us,
mainly because of the big cities
THE Smith committee now abol
tshes the county unit plan again, and
proves by doing so that they have no
political convictions on the subject but
go from the one plan to the other
as the interests of their boss seem to
require. Such shifty attempts to fol
low winning policy are in line with
their conduct heretofore conduct
which makes the committee and it's
boss afraid to give the people a fair
chance at them.
But we beat them to their knees
last year, and we will finish them in
May of this year.
"THOS. E. WATSON"