Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-07-29
OFFICIAL PAPER FOR THE
" TOWN OF EAGLE river.
About Primary Elections.

Had the Wisconsin legislature seen
fit to pass the Stevens primary cleo
ton bill last winter the people of this
state would now be facing an expert
ence that is proving not altogether
pleasant in other states. It was con.
tended by those who opposed the
Stevens bill that:
/. 1t was calculated to build up q.
personal machine at the expense OF
the party organization;
2. That 1T was revolutionary in
character, complicated in construc-
ton and that no good purpose could
be served by it's enactment into
statute law
8. That nominees placed upon a
ticket through the operations Of such
law would, in most cases, be minor
ity candidates, representing but a
minor fraction of the members Of the
party;
4. That it is unconstitutional in
that it presumed to forbid the people
to assemble in conventions for the
consideration of public matters;
5. That through the operations Of
such a law the poor man could not
successfully contend for a pomina-
ton; that country districts would be
at the mercy of city districts; and
that the man with. a well organized
machine and literary bureau would be
invincible when once his was installed
in Office.
Since the adjournment of the legis-
lature three states have furnished evil
dence of character to bear out the
contentious here. mentioned as well as
other defects which were not pointed
out. In Minnesota primary election
law has been in force in one county,
Hennepin, for two years. In the
spring of 1900 nominations were made
under that law and notorious politi-
cal trickster, ssDoc:.'' Ames, was elect
ed mayor of the city Of Minneapolis.
This man had been candidate for the
office for several years but had failed
before conventions because of the
scandals which marked his former in
cumbency of the Office. He was a
Democrat, but he was nominated on
the Republican ticket by the tough
element of Minneapolis, the respect
able element dividing their votes be-
tween several worthy candidates.
Under his administration minneapolis
has become "wide open town. and
a grand jury recently found more
than hundred indictments against
persons for violating city ordinances
and state laws, all OF which was done
with the knowledge of the police.
In the city of Louisville, Kentucky,
primary elections were recently held
by both parties and it is freely charged
by the newspapers of that city that
the political machines ruled the prim-
aries and dictated the nominations.
In point of fact, it was predicted by
the same papers before the primaries
were held that the local bosses would
control them.
In Indianapolis, ind, primary cleo
tions were held on Tuesdae last and
the record in this case is merely rep
etition of the Louisville case. For
days before the nominations were
made party papers were warning the
the boters thatthe machines were pre-
pared to run the primaries, and now
they are telling howit was done,
1t does not appear from this record
that direct vote for the nomination
of candidates is reform. There is
no reason to believe that the proposed
law would work to better advantage
in Wisconsin than it has in other
states. This is why there are more
people in Wisconsin to-day who are
opposed to such a measure than there
were last winter, before time had been
given to consider the proposed change
in the method Of nominating candi-
dates.
(First publication july 10Th, 1901)