New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-03-17

against the caucus, and several earnest anu
well-considered attempts have been made to
reform it by legislative enactment. But little
or nothing has been accomplished. Now
comes Assemblyman Hickman, of Buffalo,
with a bill having for its object the displace-
ment of the caucus and the nomination OF can
,idates by a radically different method. The
bill is the outcome of the series of articles on
@TNe Caucus System, Its Failure and the
Remedy" which Mr.. j. n. Larned contributed
to The Buffalo cypress last fall, and which
commended themselves to many thoughtful
students of our political machinery. 1t merely
embodies system perfectly familiar in practice
in parts of neighborng States for quarter
of century. Mr.. Hickman's bill is enti-
tied I" An Act to provide for the holding OF
primary elections to select candidates for
public Office Il provides for regulating
and protecting primaries by law as strict
as that which now regulates and protects the
final election. day is to be appointed, eight
weeks before the day of the general election,
on which polls shall bc opened in every cleo
ton district from sunrise to sunset, exactly as
ON election day. Boards of registration are to
sit previously in each district, and prepare a
corrected list of the lawfully qualified voters.
The inspectors who conduct the final elections
are to conduct the primaries, using the same
ballot boxes at both elections. Regulations are
prescribed with regard TO the form and style OF
the ballots to he used, provision is made Tor
challenging, and false swearing is declared to
he perjury punishable by fine or imprisonment
or both Every citizen who would have the
right TO vote in any election district at any cleo
-. q Oh oil Ia la held
when the primaries are held is to have the
right to vote at the primaries, and no other per-
son is to have the right. When the polls OF the
primaries are closed the ballots found IN the
several boxes are first to be sorted and clasSed
according to the party names that appear III
their head in order to bring together those
which bear such names, and also to bring TO-
gether such ballots as may have been cast with
no designation Of party. They are then to be
counted, and returns made of them rs thus
classcd. The returns are to be promptly can
yassed by the proper boards OF canyasserS,
State, County City, etc, and the result is to be
published in two daily newspapeIs-one Demo
cratic and one Republican-in each county.
Tampering with primary returns is made
misdemeanor punishable by Imprisonment not
to exceed one year and q fine not to exceed
$500. The bdl also provides for the election
of delegates who may act for the people in set
Ting their choice whenever it is left undeter-
mined by the popular vote
Such are the salient features of Mr.. lick
mans bill The committee to which it was re-
ferred has reported it for the consideration OF
the House, and we trust that approval may
follow consideration. No valid reason can be
urged why primaries should not be legalizcd.
There is every reason why they should be. If
the bill as it stands goes too far in any direc-
ton. contains sins of omission or commission,
let it be amended. Bat let it pass in some
shape In theory the right Of suffrage is the
dearest right of an American citizen; in prac-
tice it is right which he secs practically stolen
from him year after year without taking any ade-
quate steps TO prevent the outrage. Mr. Larnedm
the article to which we have alluded well re-
marks that " if the true suffrage Of the people
is exercised at all, it must be exercised III
{" their primary voting; i'll their after voting
they have only, under common circumstances,
" TO elect between two alternatives. so far as
citizen is defrauded in the first elective act
the second is reduced for him to poor choice
of evils and no fraud i'll the latter instance
can wrong him half so much"