Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1902-05-31
SIXTH LETTER.

| "TO the Editor of the Sentinel:
$50 much had been said in regard to
! restoring to the people the political pow
/ err which had been taken from them,
/ to adopting political methods which
would enable the people to execute their
! own political will and to placing the
/ voters in direct control of all the affairs
of the political parties to which they
! belonged. that we should not have ex-
| pected to find, i'll the Stevens bill, a pro-
| vision like the following:
1" Section 26. The county chairmen
| at their meetings to canvass the vote for
state officers shall, in the proper years,
choose by ballot the electors of their
party for President, and vice president.
The names of the persons so selected
shall be placed upon the official ballot,
as now provided by law
Under this section. i'll the year Of a
| national election, when the county chair
! men of a party were to meet as a state
canvassing board, they were constituted
ex-ofIicio nominating convention to pro-
pose candidates for presidential electors.
Their selections momineesl were to be
placed upon the official ballot.
Provisions as to AIternates.
'Tn this connection let me call atten-
ton to the provision of section %, relat-
ing to the selection of delegates to ma
tional conventions at Il primary election
held in April of presidential year. The
required number of persons receiving
the highest number of votes were to be
delegates ut large or from the congress
sionaI district. as the case might be, and
IN equal number of those receiving the
next highest number of votes were to be
the aternates, except that there was no
choice Of an alternate declared unless
he haC at least per cent. of his proper
party vote. If under this rule, there
were failure to elect alternates the
delegates elected were to choose alter
mates. Here are two sections relating to
national party politics and four different
ways of doing the things proposed to be
done % An ex-ofIicio convention to NOM
mate presidential electors; GU primary
election to select delegates to the ma
tionui convention; 90 a selection of alter
nate delegates by Il conditional second
choice mt the primary election; a. Il Sc
lection of alternates by delegates acting
eX-ollCi0.
Platform CIause IA Surprise.
Here is another surprise from the
bill:
Section q. The candidates for the
various state Offices and for Senate and
Assembly nominated by each political
party at such primary election shall meet
in che Assembly chamber at the capitol
n y o'clock noon on the second Wednes-
day after the date on which any primary
election is held preliminary to any gem
erai election. They Shall adjourn to suit
i,ll N1~ -, In hull
they Shall forthwith meet and formulate
the state platform of their party. The
chairman and secretary of the state CEN
tal committee Of each party shall act
as chairman and secretary of such meet
ing. Said platform shall be adopted by
! majority of all candidates voting at
such meeting by roll call, the record of
which shall be filed and preserved by the
secretary of state. The platform of each
party shall be framed at such time that
II shall be made public not later than 6
o'clock i'll the afternoon Of the following
uay (the afternoon of the second Thurs
day after primary election day..
This section provided for a biennial
party convention, made up, ex-officio, of
candidates for the various state offices
and for Senate and Assembly, The Off
GERS of this convention were to be the
chairman and secretary Of the party state
central committee. Notwithstanding the
claim made by the friends of the bill that
this government is based absolutely upon
the idea that the people can be trusted
to determine public questions, so far as
that is a physical possibility the time
honored custom of political parties in
this state which had always prevailed III
delegate conventions of framing plat
forms before candidates were nominated,
was set aside and its place filed by an
ex-officio convention to be held at regu-
lar intervals under the law, where the
candidates themselves We're placed in SUI
preme authority, and authorized to for
mulate the state platform OF their party
Still Another Convention.
Here is q provision from the bill, all