It was the April primary that Hoke
Smith, the candidate for office, objected
to —not one on the 4th of June.
So?
Let us do Hoke Smith no injustice. Let
us refer to the record and refresh our
memories as to what he did say. Clearly,
he himself has forgotten.
Turning to the speech he made at Mc-
Rae, only five months ago, we find Gov
ernor Smith using this identical lan
guage :
“There are men now running for the
Legislature, when the first session of the
Legislature under existing laws at which
they expected to serve, will not meet until
the summer of 1909.
“I AM OPPOSED TO ELECTING
THE JEFFERSONIAN.
LEGISLATORS FOR THE SESSION
OF 1909 UNTIL THE SESSION OF
1908 IS OVER.”
Those were his words in his speech of
November 17, 1907. Nothing said about
April; nothing about May; nothing about
June. He announced a principle— a
sound principle— that candidates for the
legislature ought not to be elected in a
primary called before the session of 1908
is over.
In other words, the people should not
be asked to choose the men for the Legis
lature of 1909, until the Legislature of
1908 is over. The reason is obvious; the
people should know how their members
have conducted themselves during their
first terms in office before being called
upon to give them a second term.
To re-elect members before their term
of service has been completed is in prac
tical effect, to give them a four-year term
instead of a two-year term. And, of
course, this kind of system violates the
Constitution.
When members are elected on June 4,
1908, to serve in the Legislature of 1909.
the very thing which Governor Smith
said he was opposed to will have been
done.
