Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-01-31
SATURDAY EVENING, JAN 81.
WHETHER A PRIMARY ELECTION

tee have not conciusively resolved on
primary election for the nomination Of
candidates for the city offices, would it not
be well to call meeting of representative
Republican citizens and advise with them
as to what should be the method adopted
for such nomination? We take it that the
committee want to reflect the best senti-
ment of the party in this matter and desire
to take such steps as will be likely to give
US a municipal government that will be
Republican and at the same time accept
able and honorable to the city.
Would the primary secure that result
The primary is popular and seems to be a
fair method of determining the preference
of the party. And, but for certain habili-
ties to perversion, it would be the fairest
method that could be devised. If none
but members of the party were allowed to
vote, if all the members of the party would
come out and vote, if no money were used,
and if majority of the votes cast were
requisite to a nomination, the primary sys-
ten would be the ideal method, and could
not be objected to.
But there is hardly ever primary held
by the Republican party (the Democrats
do not hold primaries) in which Demo
cratic votes are not smuggled in, or rushed
in, or sworn in at every precinct, more or
less numerously according to the phability
of the respective sets of judges. This prac-
,ice often defeats an expression of the party
majority's will and nominates the very
candidate whom the Democrats want put
up tor them to beat.
Then, a very large percentage of the
party can not be got to vote at the prim'fy-
They are either too careless to atteps or too
much disguised at the use 81 money ny
the candidates to comm. themselves, as
they would by voting to support nomi-
nation procured By such means.
For the u~e of money actually to buy
votes is the brne OF the primary srstem
1t =, corrupting the sources of government,
national, state, and municipal, and sapping
the foundations OF public virtue. 1t de-
grades the franchise, degrades the electo-,
and degrades the elected. The man who
buys votes to nominate himself for Office,
or to elect hims If to Office is expected to
repay himself out of the Office for his ex-
pense in getting it; and the voters whom
he has bought are indulgent of his pecula-
tions and are not shocked when he steals.
Money is getting to be used to such a
scandalous extent in the primaries that
the best citizens are refusing to run for
nominations and the best citizens are re-
framing from voting at them. So the
candidate who has the most money and
the least conscience in its employment is
generally the nominee.
And ne is generally the nominee by a
minority of the votes of the party. When
only two men are contesting for the same
nomination, even then the successful man
has majority OF only the votes that are
cast; and these are frequently, by reason
of the careless and disguised absentees
aforesaid, not more than two-thirds or a
half of the party's strength. But, when
there are four or FIVE for the same office,
the successful man is nominated in many
cases by third, or fourth, or fifth of the
party's vote.
How can a candidate so nominated be
said to be the preference Of his partyP A
man nominated by one-tourth of the votes
cast at primary election is in no sense
the choice of majority OF the party; and
if he is distastetul to such majority, may
they not very well claim that they are not
bound by such election3 Suppose a pri-
mary election is held here, and there are
FIVE candidates for mayor. Suppose there
are 5000 votes cast, distributed among
the FIVE candidates as follows: 1900
,OO0-9OO- S50-750 Is the man who
gets the l,500 votes to be declared the
candidate for the 5000, thoug gh the $500
voters against him might think him utter
ly unfit for mayor3 And suppose halt Of
the voters for the 1900 man were bought
with money, would the :, see feel that they
were shsrhd BY such choice of the party
as that2
Will the man whom the Springfield Re
pubicans as party would like to have in
the Office OF mayor enter into such a
contest? Would such man be
Likely to get the nomination, if he did,
And would not the man so nominated by
a small minority OF the Republican votes,
and perhaps by questionable means, be
liable to be beaten by some unexceptiona-
bic citizen put up by the Democratic party
against him?
Do the gentlemen Of the committee de-
sire straight, clean, respectable, honora-
bic Republican government for the city OF
Springfield? We assume that they do We
believe that all of them would vote ay on
that proposition. Then, let them consider,
in the light of experience. and with their