The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-04-08
REPUBLICANS
WILL DECREASE
REPRESENTATION
CHAIRMAN HILLES GIVES OUT
DETAILS OF PROPOSED PLAN
Will Decrease Southern and Terri.
torial Representation in Repub-
lican National Convention
(By Associated Press. }

| NeW Iolh April c.-OudFleS -.
Hilles, chairman of the Republican
national committee, today made
public the proposed plan to decrease
the percentage of the southern and
territorial representation in the Re-
publican national convention in
1916, and thereafter from approx
mately 80 per cent of the total vot-
ing strength to less than 16 per cent
as provided in resolutions adopted
by the committee at its meeting last
December.
The plan is addressed to the Re-
publican conventions of the several
States, which are asked to ratfy the
action of the national body before
Jan. 1915. A special committee.
composed of Charles b. Warren, of
Michigan, Senator William E. Bo-
Cah of Idaho, and former governor
Henry d. Hatfield of West Virginia,
drafted the report of the action TAX
en- in December which embodies 9TH
er resolutions adopted by the ma
tiOnal committee. These guarantee:
Recognition. in the call to be is
sued for the next national cOnven-
tion, Of the right of any State to
provide for the election of delegates
in direct primaries.
The right of any State to elect all
delegates from the State at large, or
part from the State at large. and
part from congressional districts.
These provisions were adopted
with view to eliminating contests
before the national body such as in
the past have produced discord and
dissension
Some members of the national
committee, spurred on by the insis
tent demands of large body of vot-
ers sought to have the committee
call a special convention for the
purpose of adopting a new basis of
representation, but the opinion pre-
vailed of those who maintained that
inasmuch as no methods were pro-
vided by the existing laws of the
various States for the election of
delegates to such convention in d.
rect promary elections, the special
convention might not represent the
sentiments and desires of a major
ity of the party.
1t was resolved that the national
committee consider the question,
formulate it's conclusions and submit
the result of it's deliberations for
ratification by State conventions. In
reciting the views that actuated the
naional body he special committee
fof three says:
"The committee believed that
should conventions of delegated rep
resentatives of the party, convened
in the number of States entitled to
cast a majority of the votes in ma
tional convention ratify the action
taken by the national committee in
this respect, its action could be as
sumed to fairly express the senti-
ment of the great majority of the
lparty, for obviously such State con-
ventions when taken together would
consist of more representatives of
the party than would be assembled
in national convention.
''The plan adopted and recon-
mended for ratification provides that
the Republican voters in each State
tshall hereafter be represented in
national convention of the party by
four delegates at large; two dele
gates for each representative at
large in Congress; one delegate from
each congressional district. and an
additional delegate from each con-
gressional district in which the vote
of 1908 for any Republican elector
or for the Republican nominee for
Congress in 1914 shall not have been
less than seven thousand five hun
dred.
alaska and the District of CO.