The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-09-11
PRIMARIES, DIRECT AND INDIRECT,
News From South Carolina and New York and
SOme Lessons Therefrom.

News From South Carolina and New York and
Some Lessons Therefrom.
The important political news last
week was all connected in some way
with the issues of direct primaries.
The most important event was the
holding of the indirect primaries
throughout New York State TO deter
mine who should be the Democratic
candidate for Governor. These pEi-
maries, under the new law, were,
with few exceptions, fairly cOndUc-
ted, but the fact that the voters
could not directly express their choice
for Governor, and could only select
delegates to the State Convention,
kept four-ffths of them at home.
AS a rule, in this city, only the reg
ular workers acd their immediate
friends come to the primaries, and
as a result the regular machine,
whose nominees we're not pledged to
any particular candidate, had little
difficulty in carrying all the wards.
In a few, however, opposition. can
didates, directly pledged to support
Mr.. Coler, obtained nearly half the
votes. Outside of this city delegates
who support Mr.. Hill in his endorse
'ment of Mr.. Coler were nearly every
where. elected, and it is still possible
that the Brooklyn machine will join
forces with the "up-the-State'' dele
gates and put in nomination the man
who would bringto the party incom-
parably the largest independent
vote. Nevertheless, the probabilities
are that the machines will. sacrifice
not. only the public interests, but
the paTty's interests, in order to sub
serve the private interests of their
own leaders. With direct primaries
the vote would unquestionabIy have
given Comptroller Coler ain over
whelming majority over all other
competitors. No one can question
| this who believes that direct prima-
RES would bring out a general vote
and no n can question that they
would bring out a general vote who
noticed the result of the direct pri-
maries held last week by the White
voters of South Carolina. : There.
are only ahundred.and twenty thou
sand such voters in South Carolina,
and at the last regular election less
than thirty thousand of them went
to the polls. At the primaries last
week, however, the total vote 'ex-
ceeded ninety thousand. In other
words, the vote at the direct prima-
Eries was as general as was the vote
in Massachusetts, for example, at the
last State election. The principal
issue in South Carolina was thefdis-
pensary-Governor McSweeny and
two other candidates championing
the continuance of that institution,
and Colonel Hoyt advocating the
substitution of complete prohibition.
At the direct primaries Colonel Hoyt
polIed approximately "a, 900 votes,
Governor McSweeny 80, 0e0s and the
tworemaining dispensary candidates
about nineteen thousand votes to-
gether. As no candidate received a
majority of the total vote, there
must be a second election, at which
every one must vote for either Gov
ernor McSweeny or Colonel Hoyt !;
but the emphatic majority given the
dispensary candidates almost insures
Governor McSweeny's denomination.
Whatever the outcome of the second
election, however, no can ques-
ton that direct primaries-do bring
the voters to the polls.-New York
Outlook, Sept. 8.