The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-23
SMALL COMMITTEE NAMED ID HANDLE
 COUNTY'S PRIMARY
Chairman Bethea Tells the County Body of Steps Taken to Meet the
 Necessary Expense

At the meeting of the Jefferson coun- ty democratic executive committee at the courthouse yesterday afetrnoon, Chairman John B. Bethea was author ized to appoint committee of seven members to conduct the primary elcc- tion in this county in May.
 The chairman appointed the follow ing committeeman as members of the election committees: Ernest E. Mat thews of Woodlawn, chairman; Francis M. Lowe, Birmingham A. c. Kicks, Bnsley; Ray Tillman. Bessemer;. pr. Vann Vines, Short Creek; L. U. Sal ter, West End; pr. A. C. Branyon, Mount Pinson. Tn addition to these, Chairman Bethea and Secretary Huey were made members ex officio
 A meeting of this committee has been called for Saturday, when sec retary will be named and headquarters will be selected. At that time the reg fstration of candidates and the certi- lying of their names to the probate judge will begin The office will re- main open for this purpose until March ], which is the time limit set by Bibb Graves, chairman of the state demo- cratic committee, for candidates to qualify. The office of the county com mittee will be kept open for the work of the organization until after the election in May.
 More than half of the county com mitteemen were present at the meeting yesterday. No proxies were accepted by the committee but T. T. Huey of Bessemer and IT. c. Sellers of West End were seated as delegates, being elected by the body to fill vacancies. In his address to the committee, Chair man Bethea called attention to the pro- visions of the primary election law passed by the last legislature and cited the fact that under it's provisions it was impossible for the committee to assess the different candidates to meet the necessary expenses, estimated at from $4o0 to $500, for the purposes of carrying on the work of the party dur ing the campaign The chairman cited the record which had been made by the democratic party during the time it has been in control of the national government and highly praised the work of President Wilson in keeping the nation out of war while all Eu- rope is engaged in the struggle.
 In regard to the financial status of the committee Chairman Bethea read an opinion rendered by Solicitor Hugo Black in which he stated that while the election law would prevent the committee from levyng an assessment as condition precedent to a person becoming candidate, there was noth- ing in the law which would prevent a candidate making voluntary contri- button to his party organization It was expected that through contributions from candidates and from loyal demo- crats in the county, the funds neces- sary for the committees work will be lad ylyftb q
 A committee named to draft rules for the conduct of the body submitted it's report, which was adopted. A resolu- tion was passed providing that the names of all county offices be placed upon the ticket in the coming primary election. Over the protest of the chairman, another resolution was adopted providing that the names of candidates for constable should also be placed on the ticket, but when it was explained by Judge Stiles that the law would not allow the placing of these