The Augusta Courier

South Carolina Democrats Warn National Party Leader

State e Convention Names Uninstructed Delegates To The National Meeting

The Democrats of South Carolina have served notice on the National Democratic Party that they do not intend to be run over this year.

The state convention met last week, elected uninstructed delegates to the national convention and decided to wait until after the national convention to name their electors and to decide whether they will be instructed to vote for the nominee of the national party or uninstructed.

They make no bones about the fact that their convention will reconvene after the national convention so that they may be able to see how the South is treated at the convention and how the South will be treated by the Democratic Party in the future.

Purpose of Move

This movement is made for the definite purpose of making it possible for South Carolina Democrats to place electors on the ballot who will use their position to make the best deal they can to protect the people of the South.

We will not vote on who will be president in the November election. Instead, we will vote for electors and these electors cast their votes for a candidate in the electoral college.

South Carolina has eleven electors and it has been customary in the past for the electors on the Democratic ticket to cast South Carolina's vote for the nominee of the national party.

Governing Body

However, they are not bound to do so by law and they are bound only by their instructions from the governing body of the party.

The governing body in South Carolina is the convention.

It is anticipated that if the Democratic Party nominates Lyndon Johnson, Kennedy, Humphrey, Symington, "Soap Suds" Williams, or any other of that type who are bound to the NAACP, that the State of South Carolina will name independent electors and they will not be bound to vote for the Democratic nominee unless they receive assurances that the South will be protected.

R. Roy Pierce, of Columbia, was the keynote speaker at the convention and he charged that "a few radical demagogic Democrats" are trying to turn the national party "into a liberal labor party."

Governor Hollings

He urged the convention to "fight within the party if we can, outside the party if they throw us out . . . but never to quit".

Governor Ernest F. Hollings, in a few remarks to the convention, said he favored a split convention with the possibility of having unpledged electors, but said, "There is no place for us in the Republican Party and no place for a third party."

South Carolina takes the lead in this movement. It is expected that the State of Georgia will follow suit.

The delegates to the national convention and the electors in Georgia are named by the State Democratic Executive Committee, composed of 125 members.