The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-08-15

When his attention was called to =
story appearing in the Pensacola
( News of yesterday, in which he is
quoted as favoring a primary election
to be held a week from next Tuesday,
Tor the purpose Of nominating candi-
dates to run in the recall election
against Commissioners Greenhut and
Pou, Chairman w. Chipley Jones' OF
the City Democratic Executive Com
mlttee' authorized the following state
ment:
In this afternoons News the fol-
lowing paragraph appears as introduc-
tory to story with reference to the
| holding of a primary election for the
| nomination of candidates to oppose
| Commissioners Greenhut and pou. i'm
| the recall election, which now seems
! imminent:
a white Democratic primary is to
| be held TO nominate candidates to
oppose Mayor Adolph Greenhut and
Commissioner Frank r. Pou i'm the
recall election which is to be called
| by the city commissioners next Mon
| day. w. Chipley Jonas. chairman OF
the City Democratic Executive Com
mittee has stated that he favors call
ing the primary next Tuesday. to be
held in about a week. very probably
week from next Tuesday
In thus quoting me. the News has
imputed to me a statement Of which I
was utterly ignorant until | read il in
print; in other words, / am absolutely
misquoted in the foregoing para graph
i nave never said to any person
that "A primery election would be call
ed on a week from next Tuesday or
any other date as / am alleged in the
foregoing paragraph to have said.
In telephone interview with the
editor of the News at about one o'clodz
yesterday afternoon, when he inquired
of me whether not the city commit
tee had determined upon any course
in the matter Of calling a primary
election for the nomination Of can
didateS to oppose Commissioners Pou
and Greenhut. 1 stated to him very
specifically that the committee had
taken no action whatever; that I had
given the matter no serious thought
myself; that ! had never discussed
the matter with but one member OF the
committee, and then only in a casual
way; that as chairman of the commit
tee ] had decided upon the course OF
not referring the matter in any way
to the committee until recall cleo
ton had been officially announced bv
the city commissioners and that IL
upon the calling of a recall election.
the committee should take the matter
of calling a primary up for considera-
ton. nothing would be done without
consultation with the presently an
nOunced and prosp ective candidates
who will oppose Commissioners Green
hut and Pou, and the two commission
erS themselves.
81 know OF no present reason to AL
ter this course upon my part, except
to add that in addition to consulting
the wishes Of the candidates who will
oppose the commissioners, and the
commissioners themselves, ! shall in
sist upon the wishes of the great BODY
Of the democratic people Of the citv
being consulted before any definite
action is taken toward calling prt-
mary.
a'pHTCnnaIIEr ha oil
the plan Of holding white democratic
primaries for the purpose of nominal
ing candidates for all offices, and par
ticularly for city offices. Indeed T.
during my lncumpency Of the secre-
taryship Of the County Democratic
Committee, more than ten years ago,
introduced the resolution which crys-
talized into the city democratic Dri-
mary elections which have been in
vogue ever since; hence, with pardon
able pride, take some credit TO my
self FOR the fatherhood of the primary
plan of nominating candidates for city
offices.
In the present case, however, it
must be manifest to every fairminded
citizen that considerable thought must
be expended in evolving a plan for a
primary election that will be fair to
everyone concerned.
Both Mayor Greenhut and Commits
sioner Pou, are democrats who hold
their present positions through and by
virtue of nominations received in
democratic primary elections. There
fore, neither of them could be debar-
red from running in any primary
election that might be ca/ed for the
nomination of candidates to oppose
them in a recall election. And since
they, by virtue OF the recall petitions
filed against them, are the objects OF
the recall election their names MUST
appear on the ballot in the recall cleo
tlon.
Assuming that they should avail
themse of their inalienable right
as democrats by insisting upon being