The herald., 1894-04-22

eaCn party nOlulnB pFlmhTy oioStlOni
with such clerks, inspectors and judges
as the respective parties may wish to
employ. and one great register clerk Tor
each party. Such polling place shall be
easily acce BILE to all citizens, and shall
be kept open during the hours which
shall be agreed upon for holding the
primary election and until the votes are
counted and the result announced.
Upon a voters approaching the polls
and expressing desire to cast ballot,
he shall give his name, number on the
great register, residence, etc, in the
same manner as at general election.
The great register clerks shall thereupon
examine the great register. snd If it is
there shown that he is entitled
to a vots in that precinct the voter
shall name the political party in
whose primaries he desires to
participate and shall then be at liberty
to cast his ballot in the ballot box CT the
party which ne has designated. No per-
son shall be allowed to vote in the prl-
mary election of any political party who
is not on the Great Register of Los An
geles county, nor shall any person be
allowed to vote at anY place except that
which the Great Register of Los Angeles
county designates as his legal voting
place, nor shall any person be allowed
to vote in the primary election OF more
than one political party.
MAKE AN ELECTION OF THEM.
A plan was received from Mr.. M. M.
O'Gormsn, who ssid in part:
"For many years have thought the
present caucus system to be the cause
of most of the ills our body polite is
heir to. 80 when [ read the invitation to
the public extended by your committee,
I resolved to tender few suggestions
for securing the remedy which every
patriotic man desires shall be found and
applied.
THE sentiment expressed at the
primaries should be the index to legis-
lation, but instead we find the primaries
themselves run by the party, and the
party run by the machine, making it
but natural that the product OF the
machine should care more for the pant
managers than for the public welfare.
Such system permits our affairs to be
conducted by dishonest, incompetent,
unscrupulous, scheming men, who, Tor
their personal benefit, keep our laws, OF
whatsoever nature, in constant state OF
uDheaval. Hence we have no settled
policy in our city, county, state or ma
tional affairs, and our most vital inter
eats are subject to attack and altercs'
ton almost continually. Until changes
are made, it will be profitable to be 6
politician and political positions will be
fought for.
"On that account l do not look fol
purity in primary conducted by q
party, nor do l expect the greatest in-
/ ;01anandauoa in ma Y
produced official. l think that tbs
country is tired of 'cuckoos' aud thai
thu people now want men in office who
will serve the people and not the bosses
and | believe that such men cannot b'
evolved by the caucus and convention
AZ a primary implies an election, /
should be conducted rs sacredly as al
election. and my plan proceeds accord
ingly. suggest that on the frat Tuea
day in SsptsmnaI oI shs e!sstsoa. z. !. ! u; esss
the regular officers, provided with off
cial ballots bearing only the names
the Offices to be filed. Each voter, a
on election day, should be properl
identified, then be furnished with on
ballot on which he should write Oppo
site the name of each Office to be file
the name of the man he waots to fill il
after which it should be placed In tn
ballot box and counted in the customRr
way. The four highest candidates 70
an Office should then be declared the OF
fetal nominees for that Office. and onl,
such names be printed or the officia
ballot, which should be used on Che
Australian plan the following Novem bel
at the final election.
The nominees would thua have tive
months in which to make their cam
paign, and the vietors would truly bt
the choice of the people and to the peo
pie alone would owe allegiance. This
| system would greatly curtail the period
of agitation, now 80 vexatious. 1t dis
poses alike Of packed caucus and slated
convention. 1t obliterates party lineI
and avoids the bitterness which con.
tinually arraying large bodies of mer
against each other surely engenders, snc
which may some day become so serious
as to threaten our institutions.
But above all things it regulates the
political boss to the obscurity from whict
he sprang; it recognizes talent and hon
ssty and inspires fidelity and independ
ence; blessings enough, surely, to war
rant it's adoption.
A bill providing something OF this kind
is now before the Massachusetts legisla.
ture. but it proposes separate days fol-
each party's caucus instead of a general
day for all the people, as in my plan.
Another blessing to be sought after,
think, ia to have fewer elective Offices
and longer terms for the men we dc
elect.
W. J. o'BRIEN's PLAN.
Mr.. W. ]. O'Brien of University
offered the following:
"The invitation extended to any who
have ideas that might possibly prove ac-
ceptable to your committee. induces me
to offer the following suggestions:
believe that ex-Mayor Hazards plan foI
primary elections is in some respects q
good one, but there seem to be some
weak points. First. the opportunity
afforded an uuscrupulous candidate, OF
a cabal OF such, to go about to those who
could be approached in that way and
pay them to sign and deliver their bal
lots to them to fill out. II suffi cient
money was spent in this way, each ticket
could be filled from top to bottom by the
names of the worst rascals in the city or
county. and those who would stoop to
such methods would not hesitate to psr-
jure themselves to qualify according to
the new purity of elections law. The
second objection is the long and difficult
job it would be for one set of election
officers to count the votes. 1t takes all
night for the officers of election to count
the votes in single precinct at a gem
eral election. 1t may be said that the
vote would be comparatively light, and
80 would reduce the labor. 1t may be
SO, but the plan, | believe, is especially