The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-03-26
PRIMARY ELECTIONS.

After the election last fall the REG
IsTER announced that when the time
came it would have a new plan to pro-
pose as substitute for our old system
of township primaries. As it will not
be long until the time for beginning
political work will be at hand, the agi-
tation might as well begin now.
In the first place the many and seri-
Gus defects of the old system under
which we have been working are adj
mitted ON all hands. We do not re-
member a county convention in which
some candidate did not think he had
been "sold out" There are always
some disguntled parties who either
passively refuse to support the ticket
nominated or who entirely oppose it.
1t is inevitable that such should be the
case for the very constitution OF our
county convention under the old sys-
tenn is such as to furnish an irresistible
temptation to work up schemes"
Admitted, then, that our old system
should be done away with, the next
thing il to find substitute. The one
We wish to propose is the primary cleo
tion sy stem. This is not new, having
been long used in other States and be-
ing now in vogue in some of the cOun-
ties of cur own State. The details of
the plan, in brief, are these: Meetings
are held at all of the voting precincts,
just as at present. Instead, however,
Of voting for the allotted number of
delegates. those present vote direct for
the candidates, just as they would at a
regular election. For this purpose the
polls are kept open from two to four
hours according to the number of
voters in the precinct, It is best that
regular judges and clerks be appointed
and a record kept just as in a regular
election, although in the country dis
tricts where all the voters are acquaint-
ed with one another the vote may be
taken less formally. When the vote is
counted, if it is found that any one can
didate has received a majority of all
the votes east for the Office to
which he aspires, such candidate
shall have all the delegates of that
precinct. If there are three or more
candidates for any one Office and neith-
er receives majority of the votes, then
each shall receive the proportion Of the
delegates to which his vote entities
him. The delegates are not chosen I'M
til the election is over and the result
announced. Then they are chosen as
the meeting may direct, usually how
ever by township committee appoint
ed for that purpose. These delegates
meet in county convention as under
our present system and proceed to the
nomination of candidates. The differ
ence is that under the new system ev-
cry delegate enters the county cOnven-
ton fully instructed by the vote of his
precinct, and if honorable men are cho-
sen there will be no danger of trades or
jobs or combinations. Every man will
vote for the candidate in whose favor
his constituents decided and in nine
cases out of ten the result will be a
nomination on the first ballot. The
delegates should be men of good judg.
ment, however, as it will sometimes
majority Of all the votes in the con-
ventiOn. When this occurs of course
it is not expected that delegates will
keep on voting the way they were in
structed and never make nomination.
Some candidate must be abandoned,
and the delegates must have judgment
enough to exercise their discretion
wisely.
We believe that this system intelli-
gently and honestly carried out would
be great improvement over the Old
one. We believe it would make any,
thing like a serious breach in the re-
publican party impossible. Captain
a. A. Ewing, to whom we are indebt-
ed for the details Of the plan, tells US
that during the twenty years it has
ben - v0gne 1t ~ e18 h0me In