St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-03-20
JURY SYSTEM IN POLITICS.
Ms. 0'eRiEN EXPLAINS DETAILS or
HIS "BY LOT" fL4N
FOR SELECTING DELEGATES.


ries - Claims Selecting by
Chance on His Scheme Will
More Nearly Represent the
People.
10 the Editor of the Globe.
Ibeg leave to accept the invitation so
politely rendered by you in today's
GLOBE to discuss the merits of the plan
which L proposed the other evening
relative 10 the method of selecting del
egateS TO city and county conventions.
/ will first give you the plan as it exists
in my mind and then give my reasons
Tor believing it to be better method
than that which at present exists for
making those selections:
Let the city committee consist of one
or two members from each election pre-
cinct in the city; those members to be
selected by the city convention at its
biennial session. Let the city commit
tee so appointed select from the poll
lists of the electors belonging to their
party IN each election precinct per-
centage of such electors-say 50 per
cent thereof, using proper judgment I'D
such selection to obtain qualified and
reputable persons. Let these lists be
duly certified, and filed with the clerk
of the committee.
Then, at time to be publicly an
nOunced and preceding the convention
by some four 10 six weeks. let there be
a meeting of the committee at some
convenient hall, and let the names eff
the electors so selected from each pre-
clnct be written upon slips placed in a
box, and from that box be drawn the
necessary number of delegates to the
city convention, according to the repre-
sentation agreed upon, and at the same
time let there be drawn three alternateS
for each delegate TO the convention.
The convention should consist of at
least one delegate from each election
precinct, but the question of represents
alton could be determined upon any
other basis, as that is after all merely
matter of detail.
Now, what l claim for this plan IS
this:
First-1t would absolutely abolish
that abomination of politics in munich
pal affairs known as the primary"
election or caucus.
Secondly--It wonld procure the selec-
tion of fairly competent and representa-
tive men as delegates to a city conven-
tion.
Thirdly-ThoSe delegates would be
absolutely and entirely independent.
Fourth-The delegates in the detail
and aggregate would be known to, the
public and to each other for sufficient
length of time prior to the convention
TO cast upon them the proper amount Of
responsibility for their acts in the con-
ventiOn, and il is fair axiom that the
greater the responsibility the better
the work done by the individual.
Fifth-it would result in the conven-
lion selecting the candidates for public
Office, instead of, as it is at present, the
candidates selecting the delegates to
nominate them.
The foregoing is mere general de-
Bcription of the plan that L have in
mind, to be elaborated by all of the
necessary details which would attend
the establishment of such method as
applied to our municipal politics.
Now for the reasons for it: 1t will
not be seriously cOntended by any in
teliigent or obServant member of either
party that in city like this. or In any
other community of equal size, there
exists such thing as ''pure primares;"
that is, the present system does not af-
ford fair or proper method of select
ing delegates to city convention. The
reasons for this condition are obvious.
The primary election is based upon the
idea of the old New England town
meeting, i'll which, as in the present
town meetings held in the country dis
tricts of this state, all or very large
majority of the township electors as
sembled at their hall, and, under the
direction of a chairman or moderator, by
viva voce proceedings elected their
public servants for the ensuing year, SO
far as town officers were concerned.
This method of selection was perfect
first, because it is provided for by law.
and therefore protected by the law, the
proceedings being of an official charac-
ter; next. because all of the electors, or
the large majority of them, did actually
assemble, and were therefore perfectly
competent to transact their own bust
ness according % the wishes Of the ma
FORTY.
But this system, when applied to
primary elections whose only function
is TO select delegates to a convention
which is thereafter to nominate the can
didates for several offices, fails in large
communities like cities, for the reasons
that i'll the first place the electors-or a
majority OF them-neyer attend these
primary elections; secondly, these cleo
ions are not recognized by law. there.
fore are not protected by law, and their
proceedings have no official recognition
whatsoever; third. whether it is because
of the innate insulficiency of the
method, or because of the case with which
ii can be done, these primary elections
have come to be selection by the sew
erai candidates of the delegates whom
they desire to compose the convention,
instead of a selection by the people OF
delegates to represent the people.
Remember that i am now speaking of
the primary elections Of both parties,
for there is no objection to the system
and there is 10 evil which it produces
and perpetuateS that is not absolutely
common to whatever political party
uses, or adopts this method of selecting
anything of the subject will pretend to
assert that at any primary election in q
city like this, there is cast by either
party vote equal to 20 per cent of the
real vote of that party in the election
district for which the primary is held
Nobody will presume to assert that the
delegates SO selected are the spontane
Gus choice of the smaller number O
persons who do vote at these elections
and nobody will assert that at an
primary election ever held in Thu
city by either party that the viii
and desire of the judges of sucl
elections were ever overcome or pro
nounced against. While. upon the othe
hand, every one who does know any
thing about the subject knows that tn
delegate ticket is selected in advanc,
either by the candidates upon agree
ment between themselves in some par
ticular ward, or by the friends OF sue
candidates, who usually place them
selves upon the ticket and then see tia
they are elected.