Evening star., 1949-08-03
Continued From First PageD

leadership of the party in Virginia.
This was the second time in three
years he has weathered attacks
from the faction led by Martin A.
Hutchinson of Richmond and
Delegate Robert Whitehead of
Nelson County. In a l946 pri-
mary, Mr.. Byrd defeated Mr.. Hut
Crimson for the Senate nomina-
ton.
When Mr.. Miller conceded de-
feat at am. he served notice
that he and his supporters, which
include organized labor groups
opposed to Senator Byrd, would
continue a movement to take over
control of the party"
Our movement" he said. will
continue to organize the forces of
the Democratic Party until we
have taken over control of the
party. This is but the first
round. We will continue to fight
until we have won a complete
victory
Miller Not Mentioned.
Senator Battle made no refer
ence to Mr.. Miller when he ad-
dressed a victory gathering of his
workers at State campaign head
quarters in Richmond. The nom
inee thanked Mr.. Edwards and
Mr.. Arnold for their pledges of
support and hailed them as great
Virginians." At that time, how
ever, Mr.. Miller still had not con-
ceded.
Senator Byrd, at home in Ber-
ryville. had only a brief comment
on the outcome of the bitter cam
paign. He said:
THE vote speaks for itself.
Naturally. I am highly pleased"
In publicly indorsing Mr.. Battle
and working for his nomination.
Senator Byrd departed from Gus
tom. He told the voters in a
Harrisonburg speech that their
choice lay between Mr.. Miller and
Mr.. Battle. He urged conserva-
tives to rally behind Mr.. Battle in
order to defeat the candidate who.
he said was being pushed by out
side labor czars" bent upon get
ting control of the State govern
ment.
The Byrd organization's esti-
mate of the votes proved very
nearly correct except that Mr..
Edwards failed to muster the
strength expected The former
Richmond Mayor campaigned in
tensively on a platform that called
for per cent tax on retail sales,
as q means of producing money
for emergency school construc-
ton.
School financing. machine con-
troll" and labor czar control y
were principal issues of the torrid
campaign. But all of the candi-
dates agreed that something has
to be done about building schools
and quickly.
Under Senator Battles program,
State surplus would be turned
over to the localities in the form
of grants. The nominee, who is
chairman of the State Senate's
Finance Committee, estimates
that the unobligated sum- now in
hand exceeds SIS, 900. He be-
lieves a similar, additional amount
will accumulate by next June 80.
Senator Battle said he would
recommend that the Legislature
earmark the total for school
buildings and, if still more money
is needed, permit the localities
to borrow from several available
investment ldnds.
Little G. o. p. Interest.
The first Republican State pri-
mary in history, held simultane-
ously with the Democratic ballot
ing, aroused negligible interest. In
the only COP contest, E. Thomas
Mcclure of Petersburg and Rerk-
eley Williams of Richmond ran a
close race for the nomination
for lieutenant governor.
The unofficial tabulation for 651
precincts in this contest gave the
following vote: Mr.. MCGUIRE,
1928; Mr.. Williams, 1883.
In the Democratic primary, re-
turns from 1888 precincts gave
1t. Gov. Collins 125,l04 votes
against 56,448 for Mr.. Prillaman.
Returns from 1.346 polling places
credited Attorney General Almond
with 122,606 to $3.50 for Mr..
Plunkett.
Northern Virginia communities
nearest Washington bucked the
State trend in the Democratic
gubernatorial contest by support
| ing Mr.. Miller. They also gave ap-