The herald., 1896-05-16
THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES


THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
The nroiect to hold ward instead OF
precinct primaries for the election Oh
delegates to the coming county conven-
ton. as the initiatory step in the scheme
to deliver the Democracy of Los Angeles
into the power Of the Southern Pacinc
and Chris Buckley. is not quite so robust
as IL was. The Herald's ventilation OF
the plot has had discouraging and dis
concerning effect on It's promoters. and II
the men who have the welfare and the
good name of the Democratic party at
heart will display the right kind of ac-
tivity before the sitting Of the county
central committee today the little mig
ger in the woodpile" will not be allowed
to emerge from his fuel environment.
The reasons given out for the holding
of ward instead Of precinct primaries
are of a very poor sort: they are hardly
entitled to a breath or to stroke of the
Den. mas Occh SdiN lAde eAAS AN4htS
cratic party in this city will show up
very thin II 1t is spread out in accord
ance with the precinct plan. While it
may be desirable. 1t is not absolutely
essential that the leanness of the local
Democracy be hidden-if, indeed. 1t is
lean, a proposition that The Herald is
certainly not prepared to admit. The
purpose Of a primary election Is not to
show the party on parade, but to per-
form an important party function, to
elect delegates or secure an expression
of party sentiment Therefore the pri-
mary plan that is best is not the one
that will exhibit the members in nice,
large groups, but the one that will per-
init and facilitate the most general par
ticipation Of the party's members in the
primary proceedings. The ward plan
will allow of larger vote in spots than
the precinct. but the latter will result in
greater vote in the aggregate than the
former.
The fear that difficulty will be expert
enced in securing sufficient Democrats
to man the numerous polls required by
the precinct plan is entirely groundless
No trouble of that sort has been found in
the past, and as the Democratic popula-
tion-by which is meant the men regu-
larly identified with the party-of Los
Angeles has suffered no diminution of
late years, it is not likely that Demo-
Gratis enough to perform the duties Of
election officers will be hard to find this
in by certain Of the advocates Of the
ward primary scheme about the insult
ficiency of Democrats for this, that and
the other purpose is little peculiar to
say the least. The individuals who ex-
press themselves thus are either suf-
fering from bad attack of the bluest
kind Of blues or In the furtherance of
sinister designs, are engaged in spread
ing the impression that the Democratic
party Of this vicinity has gone through a
process of ensmallment. From its
knowledge of the situation, The Herald
is frank to confess that it does not be-
lieve that the persons referred to are as
blue as they are something else.
The suggestion that has been made In
an alleged spirit of compromise that
precinct delegations be elected through
the agency of ward primaries, affords
one of those compromises that divides
the nut by giving to one party the meat
and the other the shell. 1t is the voting
by wards that is TO be avoided, for 1t is
that method which gives the program
mers the coveted opportunity of swing
ing things their way. A full vote of the
party cannot be obtained by wards, as it
can be by precincts. 1t is a full vote
| that the program element seeks to avert.
| The opportunities for the migratory and
the repeating voter are frequent under
the ward plan: they are minimized I'M
der the precinct plan. The task Of the
honest challenger is light at the precinct
impossible of satisfactory performance
at the ward poll.
No demand has gone up for ward pri-
maries from the body of the Democratic
party of this city. No popular dissats-
! faction with the precinct primary has
been expressed, while the plea for the
ward system found it's origin in and has
received its promotion from e. clique
who do politics" as business, and who
are VIGOROUSLY In alliance with the
Southern Pacific. and in sympathy with
Christopher A. Buckley, who would like
to be again proprietor of the San Fran
cisco Democracy.
The county central committee should
have little difficulty in determining as
to which primary plan will suit the
needs and the wishes Of the real Demo