The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 85, July 1981 - April, 1982 Page: 125
497 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Origins of the Parr Machine 125
poll-tax payments from Republican and Democratic spokesmen who
agitated against the Parr machine. To prevent pockets of opposition
at the precinct level from influencing the selection of Democratic
party officials, the Duval County boss simply eliminated the precinct
conventions and appointed his own men to serve as precinct chairmen
and members of the county executive committee. The stationing of
armed guards at the polling places to intimidate citizens, the distribu-
tion of marked ballots to illiterate voters, and the occasional tamper-
ing with returns completed the corruption of the election process.
In some elections, the whole Parr slate won almost unanimously.9
Despite the thoroughness of his tactics, Archie Parr still faced chal-
lenges to his authority. In 1912, a rebellion developed within the
Democratic organization. The county Democratic chairman, C. M.
Robinson, tried to wrest control of the party machinery from Parr,
and the ensuing struggle provoked a gunfight, led to a credentials
contest at the state convention, and ended with the legal intervention
of the district judge to restore the legitimacy of Parr's power. After
winning the party chairmanship in 191o as Parr's choice, Robinson
recognized that the boss's illegal methods were a source of vulnerabili-
ty as well as strength. When the preceding county chairman and the
party secretary confirmed that no precinct chairman had been elected
that year, Robinson wrote the Texas attorney general to find out what
course of action could be taken to correct the irregularity. On the
advice of the attorney general, the county chairman appointed his own
precinct chairmen, who also formed the county executive committee
for the Democratic party, and he scheduled precinct conventions in
preparation for the county convention that would send delegates to
the first state convention of 1912. Parr, in the meantime, picked his
own county executive committee. To justify this move, he made the
false claim that these men had won election as precinct chairmen two
years earlier. When Robinson refused to join the Parr committee, the
group chose Parr's brother-in-law, O. G. Allen, to serve as county
chairman. The two Democratic factions organized separate conven-
tions, and selected competing delegations to attend the state conven-
tion that would name delegates to the national convention.'1
9Terrell to the Department of Justice, June 24, Sept. 29, 1915; memorandum for Mr.
Wallace, "Digest of Evidence Presented to Grand Jury in Duval County, Texas, Election
Fraud Case, September 1915" [no date for memorandum]; Green to the attorney general,
Oct. 7, 1915, U.S. Department of Justice, File 177325, RG 6o, NA; Corpus Christi Weekly
Caller, Oct. 27, 1912, Jan. 2, 1916.
10Terrell to the Department of Justice, June 24, 1915, U.S. Department of Justice, File
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 85, July 1981 - April, 1982, periodical, 1981/1982; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101208/m1/159/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.