Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-07-06
A SENSIBLE SUGGESTION.
Let the People Who Favor Reform Give It
Careful Consideration.

allowed lew Olymplans TO dictate
the nominations.
The country delegate came, saw the
slate, knew it was tough" but said
. he "liked it," and swallowed it with
good grace and philadelphia enthusi-
asm.
The nominations came from above
! (not heaven) and not from the people,
but it will have to go for the party's
sake and to boom individuals who
would fain jam themselves into Offices
At best the ordinary convention
method of placing candidates before
the people is open to objections.
There are many temptations and op-
portunities to trade, combine and log
roll. Frequently the choice of a con-
vention is not satisfactory to the vot-
ers. The candidate ia therefore de-
feated and the party suffers loss of
prestige and courage. The old saving
of"I tickle you and you tickle me-"
becomes too frequent reality in both
conventions and legislative bodies. 1t
does seem as il the rank and file of
the voters who finally pass upon q
candidates desirability should have
the opportunity to name that candi-
date. They should not be called upon
to vote for man they may consider
unfit simply because he is named by
the party. The office should seek the
man, and the man should not set up
convention pins To make the office
come his way.
The Democrats, Populists and Silver
Republicans should profit in the com.
ing campaign by the utter failure of
the Republicans to consult the rank
and file of their party. Our ticket
should be free from even the suspicion
of bossism, intimidation, slate-making
or convention wire-pulling, and with
that object in view | would respect
fully suggest to the three anti-Repub-
lican committees plan, that il exc
cuted will result in the selection OF
candidates satisfactory to the allied
parties, and consequently be invinci-
BILE at the polls. The three above
mentioned committees should meet in
Joint session and arrange for the man,
ing OF candidates for the county offices
at the primaries by furnishing to each
precinct sufficient number OF ballots,
containing list OF the Offices for
which candidates are to he named.
This done, the three precinct commit.
teemen should be instructed to attend
the primary meeting and act as Off
GERS of such primary, performing the
duties of Judges and Clerk as at reg
ular election. The voter should be
requested to write opposite the name
of the office to be filled the name OF
his choice as candidate for said Office.
The ballot should be secret. After
the Clerk had registered the name of
the voter and the Judges were satisfied
that the voter is, or is willing to be-
come, a supporter Of the ticket thus
named, the ballot should be deposited
in sealed box. A separate box
should be provided for the reception of
ballots for delegates to County Con-
yeniion to be held in the usual way,
or the latter may be selected in macs
meeting as heretofore. After the hour
for closing the primary has passed,
only the box containing the ballots
for delegates should be opened and
the credentials of those elected as del
egates made out The box containing
the vote on candidates should not be
opened, but the ballot box together
with list of those voting, and list
of those elected as delegates should be
forwarded to the county committees,
in whose custody the boxes from each
precinct should remain until the day
for holding the County Convention,
when all should be turned over to the
convention for the purpose OF canvass
ing the vote.
II it should be found by the conven-
ton that any person had received
majority Of all votes cast at the pri-
maries, it should be considered as in
structions to the convention to FORM
ally nominate that man and have his
name placed on the official ballot as
provided by our election law.
In those cases where majority had
not expressed a choice, the nomina-
ton could be made as usual, but the
convention would at least be advised
and guided by the number of votes
any particular man had received, and
by taking the location of the bulk OF
the votes into consideration, the avail
ability of a candidate could be deter.
mined and the result wonld Of neces.
sity be satisfactory.
The object in view in keeping the
result of the balloting at the pri.
| maries secret until the convention as
sembled is to arouse lively interest
in the convention itself and to prevent
the bitterness which might spring up
between rival candidates if the result
was announced prematurely. and it
would be found that the convention
would have to nominate because of no
majority for any particular man at the
primaries.
believe that this plan, or one con-
tanning its essential features, would be
a good one for the fusionist commit.
tees to adopt at this time. A great
many Republicans are tired of ring
rule. The Dakota gang in the Repub.
lican party. like the blizzard common
in the State OF that name, las forced
many good man in that party into a
hole, but true to its characteristic it
has also CONCEALED the enthusiasm for
the ticket named, and the opposition
can profit in this campaign by giving
the people chance to say who shall
aspire to the various offices.
There is time enough to put such
plan into practical operation for this
campaign. Aspiring candidates should
not object. unless they think they can
manipulate few delegates easier than
the whole party. 1t would bring
about fusion without the " Conference
Committee" as far a. candidates are
concerned, and it would result in a
ticket that would command the sup.
port of all who believe in fair play. I
hope the subject will be discussed by
the allied parties, and if considered
worthy trial, adopted.
But before closing. lest some might