Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-09
HEARTILY FAVORS A CHANGE.
JOHN NEER AN ADVOCATE OF THE cRAw.
FORD SYSTEM.

He Thinks It Would Have Given Him 1 500
Majority Over Rutan-His Review of
the Plans That Have Herstofore Been
Used.
The next gentleman seen on the John n.
Neeb, the Republican nominee for State
Senator, who said: ''I am heartily in favor
of the Crawford system, and would like to
see it adopted here. If the system you
speak of was in effect here, would have
had /, 800 majority over Mr.. Rutan. The
present system is entirely wrong. and the
best way to remedy it is to make the change
at once. The idea of voting direct for ones
favorite candidate would be received with
open arms by the people. The people
should take the matter up, and sgitate it
until something is done. The many ad-
vantages are so apparent that 1 do not see
how anyone could object to it. You can
count me in, and say am heartily in favor
of the new system.
"U nder the present delegate system a man
is put up who is told that he must carry his
precinct or lose his position in some public
Office. He goes to his friends and tells
them that it is a matter of official life or
death with him. They vote for him for
per,onal reasons, when otherwise they
would not, many of them, vote for the can
didate whom that man represents"
THE SYSTEMS IN USE.
Mr.. Neeb gave some history of the pri-
mary systems employed in this county. He
has been a member of the County Com
mittee for is years, and is well posted. BE
SAID:
''It used to be that each ward, borough
and township had two delegates to the
county convention and two members Of the
County Committee. There were then only
4 wards in Allegheny and 9 in Pittsburg.
That made small conventions, of not over so
members. The candidates names were writ
ten on q sheet, and the delegates would
mark whom they voted for, That was as
late as 1869. Then the system of voting
viva voce in the conventions was adopted.
After the adoption of the new constitution,
in 1873, which made so many districts nee
essary, the representation in county conven-
tions was changed to one from each voting
district The plan now in use, of allowing
the delegate from each district to cast the
vote Of that district, came in under the new
rules. In the latter part of 1888 the County
Committee, finding that there were nearly
400 delegates in county convention, max
ing quite an unwieldy body and great trouble
and expense for candidates, got to casting
about for relief.
ADOPTION OF THE RULES.
'The committee then adopted set Of rules
providing that there should be but one con-
vention in the county to nominate county
candidates, that convention to be composed
of five delegates for each member of the
Legislature elected. As this county has 16
Legislators, that made S0delegates in a coun-
ty convention. This district, the First, has
two Representatives; and therefore elected 10
delegates TO the county convention. These
10 were elected by district convention,
composed of delegates from every voting
precinct, who cast their precinct vote, as
they do now. In the county convention,
however, each delegate cast only one vote.
Legislative, Senatorial and Congressional
conventions were unchanged. A howl at
once went up that the new rule would CEN
tralize power in the hands of few. Pitts
burg elects members to the State House of
Representatives, and therefore had 35 dele
gates in a county convention. The Pitts
burg people needed only votes more to
have majority of the convention and con-
troll all nominations. In May, 1889, the
rules we're therefore again changed, giving
each district one delegate to the county con-
vention."