The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-06-01

full of their duties. but II IL not possible
10 have It IL they are neither. To secure
purity In primary elections, therefore, all
that Is necessary In to have honest and
faithful officers of election. We can have
Thea in primary elections. IL proper at
tention IL given to the subject, as well
"a IN regular elections. To cay that we
cannot is 10 confess that rule by the peo-
nile is impossible. and this we Will never
| admit. and the facts OF all modern history
contradict the assumption. All new COM
| munities 20 through period when cheat
| ING I'm elections is the rule, but all com
| r,unities as they verse themselves In
The methods Of elections learn what is
necessary TO securing honesty and fair
dealing in them, and all secure them In
time. The truth is that although primary
elections may not be suited to all parts
Of the rural districts. they have come
IN be An essential to fair play In the cities
and the Legislature should take hold of
the subject and provide primary cleo
toral scheme which parties might resort
N when they chose, and in which the
urinary election should be held under all
the sanctions of law applied TO regular
elections, and at public expense. Tke
voter who frauduently voted in primary
election should be made subject 10 all
the pains and penalties visited upon the
fraudulent voter In the general election,
and the officer of the primary election
who was dishonest or faithless 10 his trust
should be subject 20 all the penalties i'm
posed upon the officers in the regular
elections. The primary election would
thus become one OF the institutions Of the
people and it would bring reform 10 the
methods Of city government for which
they now cry aloud.
But "Falr Play" and all who think with
him should notice this essential distinc-
ton between the fraud imposed upon us
In ward meetings and those imposed on
us In primary elections.
When the "heelers" and "toeswarmers'
have once packed the ward meeting hall
and have worked out their nefarious de-
sign by imposing upon the people repre-
sentation in the convention that suits
them, though is It very far from suiting
the people. their villainous work is past
the power of correction. II has all the
outward marks Of regularity and fairness,
and 1t is impossible to ever undo #, though
1t is putrid and rotten to the core. 'Stet
nominis umbra." But when the scoun-
drels practice their frauds in the primary
elections it is always possible to track
their rasSality and expose it. 1t is true
there was cheating at one precinct In
jefferson ward in Smiths behalf, but
lynx-eyed friends of Spotswood got upon
the traces of the rascals, patiently fol-
lowed their infamous work, step by step,
and exposed it in all fits details to dis
gusted public. A great lesson grew out
Of this investigation. 1t taught election
thieves that their work could be undone.
1t thereby steadied the confidence of the
people in the possibility OF pure primaries
and IL gave a distinct warning TO election
robbers. We think that for a long time
at least, It has cured frauds in primaries
in Richmond
The State thinks the expense Of taking
part in a primary election deters many
Of our best citizens from running for the
Legislature, who would offer themselves
as candidates before convention as that
could be done without cost There has
been a good deal Of talk lately about the
expensiveness Of primary election, which
has caused us to make an investigation
Of the matter and we find the following
TO be the actual state Of the case. There
are twenty-five election precincts in the
city and the cost Of holding an election
at each precinct is SIS. This makes the
cost of the whole primary sS15. 1t takes
from fifty to seventy-five dollars to print
the tickets, so that the cost Of the whole
business is about $50. The party ought
to bear this expense, and thus relieve the
candidates entirely and the money neces-
sary for 1t can be easily raised at each
primary by contributions from citizens
who want good government. But there
are generally at least fifteen candidates
for the Legislature and, If the whole cost
falls on them 1t is only about $50 to the
candidate. They are all willing TO pay
this sum.
But however expensive, the good clu-
zen who wants TO be candidate had bet
ter pay his part Of the expense and have
show than to go before a packed con-
vention for nothing and get no show at