Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1914-04-24
Washington Letter

w oohiu eNli -. ~. -APi' ~
Political experts in Washington are
decidedly amused by a letter writ
ten by Mr.. Pembroke Petit of
palmyra Virginia, and published in
one or two state papers, attacking
the methods followed by the Tenth
Virginia District Committee in ar
ranging for the nomination of a
Democratic candidate for Congress
from that District which resulted
in the denomination of Hon. Henry
D. Flood without opposition.
Mr.. Pettit's objections to the
procedure were that only thirty
days notice of candidacy was
permitted, and that deposit of
1915. by each candidate for the
nomination was required, and that
the Primary was to be held in June
instead of later.
This remarkable statement of
grievance, Virginians in Washing
ton say, is all the more absurd
because it is based on an utter
ignorance of the primary law of the
state. His complaint of the short
ness of notice of candidacy care
fully omits to mention that the
notice given in Mr.. Floods dis
trict was longer than that in any
other district in Virginia, except
Representative Hays. the Seventh,
where it was the same as in Mr..
Floods, thirty days.
1t is interesting to compare the
time allowed in the Tenth District
with that in other districts. In Mr..
Montague's it was sixteen days. In
Mr.. Jones' it was seventeen days.
In Mr.. Glass district, it was twenty
one days.
The Virginia Primary law now in
effect, under which Mr.. Flood was
renominated, but about which Mr..
Petit apparently knows nothing,
specifically requires that any can
didate for election to the National
House Of Representatives must
deposit with the State Treasurer a
5 per cent assessment of the first
years salary. Five per cent of
$500. Mr.. Petit must be told, is
exactly 1915, the sum about which
he complains. The new primary
law, which goes in effect at the be-
ginning of next year, requires an
assessment of only 3 per cent. But
it also provides that candidate
must have a petition signed by 25O
vualifed voters.
Friends of the Virginia delegation
here point out that their state has
been, as a rule, singularly freefrom
the mountebank in politics; the
man who breaches destruction with
out having either the method or
the means for constructive work.
Consequently, while they are
amused by the misinformation Mr..
Petit has shown, they congratulate
themselves on the advices5receivet.
here that nobody in the Tenth
District takes him seriously.
AS a matter of fact, the Virginia
delegation and the many Virginians
in Washington hailed with en-
thusiam the announcement that
Mr.. Flood had been given the
nomination in his district for the
eighth consecutive time. He is a
man who affects at this time the
peace and welfare not only of this
country but all countries because,
as Chairman of the powerful Com
mittee on Foreign Affairs, he must
be the responsible man in the House
regarding all legislation touching
the relations of the United States
with every nation of the civilized
world. He stands out now as the
man upon whom devolves directly
the task of holding up the Pres
ident's hands in the House.
Mr.. Floods influence in his
party's counsels is tremendous,
both because of his unusual ability
and also on account of his long
service as treasurer of the Demo
craic Congressional Campaign Com
mittee. This national and inter-
national prominence accords well,
his trends point out, with the
faithfulness with which he attends
to the needs of his district, and the
suggestion by Mr.. Petit that Mr..
Flood would have to resort to any
thing questionable in obtaining a
denomination comes at a peculiarly
inappropriate time.