The De Soto County news. [volume] (Arcadia, Fla.) 1898-1924, 1916-01-20

addition to those required ny lhe sc"
eral primary election law.
First. That he is a white man.
Second. That he believes in the
principles Of the democratic party.
Third. That he intends In good
faith to support and vote at the next
general election for all candidates, ma
tional. state and county, nominated
by the democratic party.
Fourth. That he will not be infu'
ened in voting for or against any can
didate by any religious test or on ac-
count Of religious belief, denomina-
ton or sect with which the candidate
is affiliated.
Fifth. That he is not member OF
any secret organization which at
tcmpts in any way to influence polit-
ical action or results; or the obliga-
tons and purposes Of which organi-
cation will justify him in refusing to
support any nominee Of the party
The Free Press I'm discussing these
resolutions under the caption party
Suicide" says in part:
"whom the gods would destroy
they first make mad"
"Mr. Lifelong Democrat, when you
20 to register or to vote in the June
primary for your choice to be the
nominees Of the democratic patry,
you will first have to take this oath:
! That you will not be influenced In
voting for or against any candidate
! by any religious test or on account
Of religious belief, denomination or
sect with which the candidate is af-
filiated.' That Is one Of the tests laid
down for voting in the democratic
primary by the state democratic COM
4 nittec ut the meeting held In Jack
sonvile, January @. 1916.
"What does It mean? Let's see. It
means that a candidates religion or
lack Of religion will not influence you
In making up your ballot. 1t means
that YOU must swear that neither
Mormonism. Hinduism. Atheism, Ca
! tlOlicism, Professionalism Judaism, nor
any other religious belief or lack Of
belief will influence, in any wise,
your choice Of men who are to he
your officers and administer or make
l your laws. It means that il an avow.
ed atheist, a man who does not be-
licve that there is a God, is a candi-
| date for superintendent Of education,
4 for instance, you must swear that
: YOU are not influenced against him on
that account. 1t means that you must
swear that you would not he influ-
enced against a man simply because
he is Mormon, and claims that his
religion teaches him that he may
b have as many wives as he can SUP
G port. It means that you must swear
2 that It would have no influence with
} you in selecting your ballot to find
| men among the candidates whom you
/. believe owe superior allegiance to a
r foreign ecclesiastical power than to
this country and its government. You
= must swear that such a conviction on
= your part would not influence you
r Hgainstt such candidates. 1t means
r that you must swear that 1t makes
2 no difference with you whether your
e officers worship the sun, or the moon,
! or the wind, or fire, or an elephant,
r. or a bull, or idols, or images, or
saints, or relics, or Buddha, or God.
or nothing.
ain short, 1t means that this com.
mittee wants you to swear that you
are just an ordinary fool.
"But let us look little deeper in
= to this test of democracy. This oath
} means that you must swear that
, when you vote for a man who is as
ISOLATED with you in church work that
this fact did not influence you. 1t
means that when pastor votes for
one Of his church members or a priest
votes for one Of his, that he must
swear that he was not influenced by
any church ties. 1t means that you
must swear when you go to vote. that
all the best and tenderest relations
and associations Of men with men are
forgotten and have no influence up
on you. 1t means that you must
swear that you can and do divest
yourself of much of that which is
hest and most sacred in your life
when you cast your ballot. 1t means
that you must swear to do the i'm
possible. 1t means that you must
swear a lle."