The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-16
Developments Are Expected
to Start the Political Pot
Boiling Vigorously in
Birmingham
SOME FORMALITIES
TO BE CONSIDERED
Committee Is Expected to Consider
Preferential Plan But It's AdOp-
tion for Primary Is Thought
To Be Unlikely

The official call for the meeting
executive committee was issued yester-
day by O. S. Finch. chairman of that
body The call follows:
May Is, 1918.
Birmingham Democratic City Execu-
tive Committee, Birmin CHAM. Ala.
observation-disclosures for call for a
meeting of the committee having been
duly presented to me as chairman.
signed by nine of your members, l
hereby call you to convene at the
courthouse Monday night, May 19. at
500 o'clock, for the purpose of calling
primary election to nominate a city
commissioner to be elected at the gem
eral election in September next. Also
to consider other business which may
properly come before the committee.
Respectfully, o. S. FINCH,
Chairman Birmingham City Democratic
Executive Committee"
Following the meeting Monday night
there will perhaps start a general boil
ing of the political pot in this COM
munity. Candidates for commissioner
are expected to become exceptionally
n numer and the city's summer is ex-
pected to be enlivened with unusual
political activity.
FOrmalities Necessary
AS generally understood the primary
will be held on the last Monday of next
month or the first Monday in July.
That being the time generally accepted
as the best, there Is a very short time
intervening for the candidates to get
busy. Under the commission law there
are many formalities to be complied
with before anyone is declared in the
race The law as drafted by Walker
Percy provides that a candidate shall
file with the Judge of probate at least
p days before the election a sworn
statement that he is a candidate for
the office and is duly qualified to hold
it, In addition each candidate must file
a petition signed by 500 qualified voters
that the said candidate is duly quail
fed to hold the position as commits
sioner according to their best infor-
nation and belief.
The formalities and provisions that
are a part of the commission law were
designed 1t is said to restrain many
candidates from announcing simply by
paying the nominal fee exacted by the
city authorities
Consider Preferential Plan
Chairman Finch of the executive com
mittee said, yesterday that the general
belief was that the committee would
at least consider the preferential plan
of voting as adopted in several west
ern states, that Is to say that each
voter has a right to voice his first, sec
ond and third choice. In this way, by a
majority rule, the second elections
which are as a general rule unsatis-
factory will be avoided However, as
the commission law expressly provides
the majority plan and the holding OF
second elections one week after the
first election in case no one is elected
there is said to be some doubt as to
whether the time-tried majority plan
will be discarded.
The meeting Monday night of the
committee will be of wide interest. The
meetings are always developers of
political hopes that for a time spread
comment and speculation in the city.
All the "old guard" is expected to be
on hand when at s o'clock in the court
house the meeting is called to order
And incidentlly this Is the first time
the democratic committee has met since
the commission superseded the alder
manic form of municipal government.