The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-08-30
OFFICIAL FIGURES
|. SLIGHTLY INCREASE
POLLARD MAJORITY
Returns From Seventy-six
Counties and All Cities
Complete
| MESSAGES SENT TO !,
/ DELINQUENT PRECINCTS
Less Than Fifty Of More Than
Fifteen Hundred Precincts
in the State Are
Missing

Forty-seven precincts In twenty
four counties and one city--Freder-
thus far failed to re-
port the r.turns of the State pri-
mary election held August 5th to the
state central committee as required
by law.
Secretary Brenaman and his force
of co-workers yesterday afternoon at
7 o'clock completed the work of as
sorting ana tabuiating the returns
from the seventy-Sx counties and
eighteen cities. from which the re-
turns are complete. and these are
ready TO be canvassed by the State
committee.
Secretary Brenaman laid aside the
returns from all the twentyfour
counties tn which precincts are miss
ing, and will not attempt TO tabu-
late them until the missing precincts
are heard from.
ChaIrmcn Called Upon.
As rapidly as the derelictions de-
veioped Secretary Brenaman wired
the county chairman calling their at
tentIon to the missing precincts. and
instructing them to have their
returns forwarded at once by regis
tered mail These missing precincts
will doubtless begin to arrive Mon
day. and will be tabulated as they
come in, completing the counties. one
by one As soon as all are complete,
or valid reasons known for their in
completeness. the secretary will wire
Acting Chairman Echols TO call the
State committee together.
The opening and tabuiating Of the
returns has developed some rather In
teresting facts. For example, the
chairman of Wise county reports In
three precincts In his county no
primary was held. These were Roar
sr.sshar 3knss .ef~sffse vaIaas~
wfrks Ss4fiH smot Know that a primary
was to be pulled off on August 5th
or there are no Democrats In those
townships. or else they got their backs
up and refused TO hold one" said
Secretary Brenaman.
what can you do In case like
that. when the whole State Is sup
posed to vote" Secretary Brenaman
was asked.
Nothing" he replied. "You can't
make a man vote II he don't want to
vote All we can do Is TO go ahea5
and count the vote that was cast
There la no law compelling them to
hold n primary"
Some Complications
In the case Of the city OF Freder-
icksburg Ii is possible that the vote
Is all in Chairman Cole wired Sec
Rotary Rrenaman in response to his
inquiry. that IL had been forwarded
promptly. The tangle comes about
over the fact that formerly there
were two precincts in Fredericksburg
and only one has reached the sec
rotary, attested by two judges. Mr..
Brenaman thinks II possible that the
two precincts were consolidated In
the primary, and that the returns in
hand represent the whole city. If
that Is true then all the nineteen
cities have responded to the law. and
only the scattering forty-sevsn pre-
cincts from twenty-four counties are
missing 70 make the returns complete.
He wired Mr.. Cole again yesterday.
Secretary Rrenaman thinks 1t not i'm
probable that some other precincts
from the counties that are missing
followed the example of Wise coun-
ty, and held no primary at all, and
II this I've true II will tighten consid-
erahiy the work OF the State COM
mittee.
In a number OF instances there are
returns so iliegibly written that they
cannot be identified. These. and the