Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-03-25
The Case OF Hall County
VOtery rs. Subcommittee
rs Stared by C0k Perry

Editor The journal: The rule as to
the ballots at the presidential pri-
mary as first published was that on
the petition of 100 white Democrats
ANY mans" name would be put upon
the ballot. We complied with that.
Then the committee said the rule as
published was not the real rule. That
the rule as actually passed read ANY
Democrat" Well, let it go at that.
The question still left was who had
the right to say who was good
enough Democrat for his name to go
on the ballot?
Where did the committee get the
right to decide that question? 1t
would seem by all the principles of
popular government that the Demo-
or is themselves would alone have
the right to decide that question. The
committee might have had the right
under the rule to ask whether the
Hall county petitioners were them
selves Democrats, but this the com
mittee did not question.
This being conceded, where did the
committee get the right to decide
whether the man selected by them
was a Democrat? We claim that We
and thousands upon thousands of
other Democrats will agree with us
have the right to do our own think
ing and make our own selection.
The latest move is to bring up
rule said to have been passed in 1917
or IS, substantially that no person
shall hn deemed "a candidate" unless
he is a Democrat.
OF course Mr.. Hoover is not him
self a candidate" and that rule
would not apply. Besides, it had no
reference to a presidential primary
ANYWAY. Now mark! These alleged
rules were not passed by any con-
vention or by 2the' Democrats, but
were only rules adopted by COM
mittee.
But still the question remains, VINO
has the right and where does the
committee derive the right TO say
to the Democrats themselves the
man YOU select is, in our opinion, not
q Democrat? ,.,
We pass by the many things Whlch
can be said to show that Mr.. Hoov-
err is a high type Of Democrat. lie
has never declared that he is not
Democrat. He has been a Democrat
during the war but candidly admits
that as an American citizen he at
present awaits the alignment of the
parties this year on the great ques-
lions now before the country, and
which will determine its policies IN
the critical years before us, before
he can say whether he will support
the. Democratic ticket.
Does not every true patriot feel
the same way?
At the same time, Mr.. Hoover has
not been neutral on these questions
but has been open and emphatic In
declaring his position on all of them.
All his utterances have been so
sound, so progressive and so Demo-
cratic in all that We call democracy
that unless the party in the platform
should substantially conform to
these views which are held in COM
mon with him by millions Of true
Democrats, we would be overWhelm-
ed with dismay. They are so oppo-
site to all the traditional policies Of
the Republican party, it is not con-
ceivabIe that the Republicans will
adopt him or them.
Certainly, when we come to what
you call ''organized Democracy" Mr.
Hoover, in recent years, even though
it may be he so acted from pa
triotic rather than mere partisan mo-
tiVes, and the more honor to him
for that, has been far more regular
than MI. Palmer, whom the commit
tee did not subject to its examina-
ton.
1t is Stated and not denied in the
public press that in a recent election
for governor in Pennsylvania, where
mir. Bonniwell was the Democratic
nominee in regular and approved
party form, Mr.. Palmer stump
ed the state in favor of the regular
Republican nominee for governor
against, the Democratic nominee Mr.