The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-05-28
LEADS ALL NORTH CAROLINA DAlES M NEWS AND GDRC ATnDM

members of the lower house of Con-
members of the Legislature, often
with an eye solely TO their preferences
for Senator and in total disregard of
their fitness for Legislation or views On
public questions or ,heir personli
characters, frequently leads to serioEs
inconvenience. 1t is no proper nart
of legislators functions or duties TO
be an elector for Senator, and the two
duties should not be combined. Mem
bers of Congress are not constituted
electors for President. Yet they
might be with as much appropriate.
ness.
The present mode of electiny Scna-
tors does not give any approximate
security of selecting the choice OF
the State as its repreSentative to the
hall of Federal amtassad rs, each of
whom should be able 20 speak for the
State, and not as the agent of the
corporations doing business therein,
or a small manipulated fraction OF
its voters.
The change to election by tic people
would greatly lessen the chances for
corruption. The members of Tie party
convention of the State, broaeht to-
gether directly from the people and
so soon dispersed again ami ,ng them,
are not so subject so the subtle arts OF
the corporation lobbyists and wire
pullers which are brought to bear ON
the members of the Legislature as
soon as his nomination is probable (f,
indeed, they do not procure his nomi-
nation), and continued until after the
election of Senator is over, when, like
a squeezed lemon, he is thrown aside.
Besides, the party convention is lcccs-
sible to public opinion, being con-
scious that its choice, if not Wisely
made, is liable to rejection at the
polls. No such responsibility at
taches to the deliberations of a legis
lative caucus. A mistake there made,
or a defiant disregard of public sen
timent, is subject to no ratification by
the people and is without remedy for
six years. There can be a further
check upon delegates to State party
in that the popular choice
for Senator can be indicated by a
primary election
CHECK ON ANOTHER 'PREEOGA-
TIVE"
4 Senator i'm office may he tempted
TO disregard the will of his State if he
knows he can, by use of public patron
age or other means, secure, as shown
above, the control of onesiXtcenth of
the voters who compose majority
III the nominating conventions of those
counties which send majority of the
legislators of the dominant party.
But he will pause when he knows that
II; ;c pan tion 1plIcf command thp
approval of a majority of his party
q .yention, and that its acton III turn
ii71ist De ratified by a ma jority, or . )
least plurality Gf there are more
than two parties), of the voters of
the entire State at the ba;.ct box.
The two Senators are intended to
represent the State. They cannot
truly do so unless chosen by the
whole State. At present, as already
pointed out, larger sections OF each
State are absolutely disfranchised and
have no weight whatever in the choice
of its Senator's, because not sending
to the Legislature members belonging
to the dominant party.
The bill to modernize the choice of
Senators by transferring it from the
to the people of each
State has passed the lower house of
Congress several times, and once at
least by unanimous vote and once
with only two dissenting votes, but
The measure has heretofore found its
grave in the Senate itself, which does
not wish to go on record on the ques-
ton. The Legislatures in at least
twenty-four States have instructed in
favor of the measure, among them
Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska,
New York, Louisiana. North Carolina,
West Virginia and Illinois, and there
may be others. The constitution of
Nebraska requires that the choice of
pie at the ballot box the same day
members of the Legislature are
chosen, but this necessarily has only
a moral force, which would certainly
be disregarded whenever (as is not un
usuaD the majority in the State on
the popular vote should be for one
party, while the majority elected to
the Legislature should belong to the
opposite party.
A TEMPORARY EXPEDIENT.
In many States the United States
Senator is nominated by the State
party conventions. and the nominees
of that party for the Legislature are
deemed pledged to vote for him, ac
cording to the similar custom NOW OBJ
tanning as to electors for President.
There are also many States whose
statutes provide for primary elections
for United States Senator. This expe-
dent is the best possible under the
perhaps, and should be
resorted to till we can amend the Con-
stitution by frankly giving the peo-
pie of each State the right to choose
the two men who are to represent
their State in the Senate. But to be
of value, the primary for nomina-
ton should be for the whole State.
and not merely by counties. If the
people are competent to choose the
members of the lower house of Con-
gress and Governors, why are they
not competent to name the Senators?
WALTER CLARK.
Raleigh, n. c., May 10.
BURIAL OF A CHILD.