Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1902-05-31

ly, without any personal effort in his
district
SIN plain speech, the first requisite to
securing a nomination under the bill
would be to provide for the cooperation
of a sufficient number Of men, managed
by q central power, from which all or
ders would emanate,' who would present
the candidates claim in a way to secure
signatures to his petitions and votes for
him at the primary election. This pro-
cedure supplies all the elements of
machine, as defined in the discussions,
before the Legislature.
According to the orators to whom we
listened, we have been working so long
under party regulations so very bad that
disintersted political service is an I'M
known quantity, if not an impossibility.
The men who would be found willing to
circulate these petitions as matter of
public duty would be no more numerous
just after than just before the enactment
of this law. Until we could raise up a
new generation we should have to be
content with our present resources in the
way of political workers. Some sort of
compensation would be a prerequisite to
the performance of their services. Either
the candidate would have to possess
enough money, or be willing and able to
make the promise of office sufficiently al
Turing to enlist men who know how to
circulate petitions and advertise a can
didate so as to get votes.
"The orator from whom I quote a pre-
vious letter said:
The friends of the measure stand
squarely upon this proposition-that
wherever we can obtain a direct express
sion of the peoples will, it should be
done
Not Result of Direct Vote.
"The constant talk was about the plat
form demand that the nomination should
be the result of a direct vote, but the
bill provided for the Intervention of this
elaborate petition business, the interfer-
ence of petition-made nominations with
the voters right to express his own
choice. The elector was to go alone
into booth, with his printed ticket in
his hands, but evidently he was not ex-
pected TO exercise his sovereign right of
choice by direct vote after all, for,
quite likely, he had neither seen nor
signed one of the petitions circulated for
any candidate whose name was printed
on his ballot. To be sure, he need Sc
lect none of the printed names; he had
the sovereign right of inserting another
name in the blank space provided there
for upon the ballot, but, was it planned
that he should; was it expected that he
would? The petition scheme, notwith-
standing the platform, was justified upon
the ground that it was proper measure
in order to keep the number of names
printed upon the ballot, that is, the num-
Der of nominees, within reasonable linn
it's.
1.-The voter had long had the opportuni-
ty, at an election called general, and now
he was to have an additional chance at
an election called primary, to express
choice between candidates whose
names were printed on the ballot handed
to him at the poll. In the old case the
names printed upon the ballot were of
deIegate-named candidates and in thenew
of petition-named candidates. What diff
ference in Principle lies between candi-
dates nan ed one way or the other, SO
far as the voters exercise of his sover-
eign right of choice bv direct vote in
making nominations for office is con-
cerned, / do not know. How any such
plan can be looked upon as not of the
machine order, as essential to the unity,
symmetry and effectiveness of a bill
which was claimed to be antfmachine,
to be a fulfllment of a platform pledge,
that the voter was entitled to the oppor-
tunity, to exercise his sovereign right Of
choice by direct vote without the inter
vention or interference of any political
agency 1 am unable to decide.
"a great scheme this, assisting the
voter to exercise his sovereign right of
choice by direct vote, shutting him up
in booth by himself, with ballot con-
tanning the printed names of candidates
suggested by petitioners, in order that he
might select therefrom a candidate of
his own, without the Intervention, of or
interference of any political agencyH
Revolution Without Warrant.
''The proposition was to fix arbitrarily
the required percentage of voters who
should sign the petition before it could
be fled print ballots containing the
names Of such nominees, and to conduct
an election at public expense, and all
that we might have, as their leading
champion admitted in his opening SEN
fences: "A revolution in this state in
methods of nominating candidates for
public Offices without sufficient warrant
in experience for the revolution
GAS to the policy of this provision,
from a party standpoint, it seems to me
wholly unjustifable and destructive. In
stead of party action, this bill suggested
that we substitute the action of individ-
uals, the political machinery to be en-
ployed by them to be wholly under their
control, within their own knowledge, and
managed exclusively for their own in
terests; instead of party oversight, that
we enter upon a period of personal in
trigue, or personal schemes and persona
self-seeking.
81 deem the whole plan out of keeping
with the political system which has
grown up under the constitution. The
constitution provides, with reference to
state officers, that they shall be elected
by the qualified electors of the state
circuit judges by the qualified electors
of the circuit, members of the Senate
and Assembly by qualified electors of
| the proper district. and SC OH through
the list officers are elected by the voters
| within the proper jurisdiction. That of
| ficers can be elected by a part of the
| electors in part of the state or district
| was not adopted as our system. The
attempt should not be that nominations
for Office may be made by percentage
| of voters in a fraction of the voting dis
| tricts concerned.
! "The bill, with the provisions of sec
| ton included, was neither the perform
| - Il