Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1875-09-10
The Crawford Comfy System.

We see this plan of holding the primary
elections has been adopted by the Execu-
tive Committee of Baltimore county, in
the hope that it may tend to harmonic
conflicting interests of the different candi-
dates. AS many of our readers arc aware
by this system the people vote at the pri-
mary elections directly for their choice for
candidates for the different offices TO be
thereafter regularly elected by the people
The judges meet instead of convention
and after casting up the votes from the
whole county declare those receiving the
highest number to be the nominees for the
respective offices for which they have been
voted for. There are some circumstances
under which this plan might work well
and tend to harmonic the party, but there
are so many objections to its operations
ordinarily, that we think our friends in
Baltimore county will conclude, as has
been done elsewhere, that it does not an
swer. The objection which first presents
itself and which perhaps is the strongest,
is that under the operation of THAI plan it
would generally be impossible to obtain
as nominees even as good class of men
as we get now, and it would result in
utterly excluding that still better class
who will not electioneer for nominations.
We have men here, as there are in every
community, who would readily accept a
nomination, even at the sacrifice of their
private interests, if rendered by compli-
nentary vote, who would not and could
not electioneer for it. And cica cersa,
there are men whom the people would be
delighted to nominate, if it were known
they would serve, which of course could
not be with sufficient notoriety under the
Crawford county system, because these
men would be unwilling to submit to the
ordeal. Again it is objectionable because
it is calculated to inaugurate system of
electioneeriDg before the primaries which
can only lead to further decentralization in
politics. And as q result of it we would
have innumerable candidates in every
neighborhood wasting their OWE time and
substance and annoying other people by
electioneering solicitations. And further,
in contest of this sort where every dis
trict would have its local favorite in all
probability, the most populous districts
would have an undue advantage and Sc
cure their candidates. In short, as a sys-
tom, We can see nothing that is good in it..
but much that is bad. 1t violates the
principle, which, for deccncy's sake, at
least, we ought to have in theory, that the
office should seek the man, and instead
encourages the man to seek tho office and
also doubles the number of our already too
frequent politicsl campaigns and elections
with all their demoralizing influences
The fact is, we have never yet heard sug
gested any plan or scheme as likely to ac-
complish the object aimed at as the one
we have, of primary election of delegates
to county convention. The great advan-
tage of this system is that it is likely to
afford the best opportunity of obtaining
a convention of unbiased and substantial
citizens, whose sole object is to advance
what they ascertain, after consultation
with delegates from all portions of the
county, to be most promotive of the gen.
eral welfare. But like all human institu-
tions, it depends upon being administer
ed by proper men for its success. If sub