The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1903-08-15
THE MISSISSIPPI PRIrlARY ELEC-
TON.

TON.
A week ago the whole State OF
Mississippi turned out to select
the candidates of the Democratic
party and the result is highly
gratifying to all lovers of popular
government. The great State of
Mississippi, not content with
general primary election law
which gives every citizen voice
in the selection of all State OFF,
GERS, goes further and makes her
two United States Senators
amendable to the same law. 1t is
quite different in Louisiana. In
this State the people elect repre-
sentatives to both branches of the
Legislature and it devolves on
these to elect the representatives
of the State in the United States
Senate. We are not inclined to
find fault with this latter method,
but we will be permitted to say
that the Mississippi plan is great
deal more democratic. 1t has this
feature about tit brings the
august Senate Of the United States,
in its composition, much closer to
the people. 1t has often struck
us forcibly that one of the present
evils of the government of the
nation was the almost unanimous
millionaire composition of our
highest law-making body. When
onl v a short time ago, the Presi-
dent of the United States made
his famous attack upon the organ
lied trusts of the country-wheth-
er or not this attack was sincere,
we are not prepared to discuss
he insisted that Congress should
pass a very stringent law against
this great commercial evil of the
times, which came near SCATTERING
the hopes of his party in the last
Presidential campaign.
The House of Representatives
responded quickly enough to his
dictates for such a law, but it
failed ANONYMOUSLY in the Senate
presumably because the great
majority Of those holding seats in
that body are connected with or
interested in some great syndicate
or trust. Neither has it ever been
possible, though several times re-
peated, to have the United States
Senate concur in any House reso-
luton looking to the election of
the United States Senators by the
people instead of by the legisla-
lures of the several States.
The Mississippi electors under
stand thoroughly that no legisla-
tive body is more essential to the
welfare of the people than the
| United States Senate and they
are now sending to represent them
those men who are of their own
choosing, of the choosing of every
elector within the confines of the
State. This is true and honest
Democracy. Louisiana is a
staunch Democratic State to-day
and for years past. Why can we
not follow in the footsteps of
Mississippi and in this one and
highly important particular in
crease the purity Of our Demo-
cratic political article? In every
respect the general primary cleo
ton plan of selecting candidates
has worked quite satisfactorily in
our sister State. Not a complaint
to amount to any thing has reach
ed US from that State since the
election. This result is certainly
not pleasing to the present oppo-
nents of the plan in this State, who
are very industriously at work
trying to find all the objections
needed to suit their special views
and to thwart the adoption of that
system of selecting candidates.
The large vote polled in Missis-
sippi shows that it takes a gene
raj primary to revive the old-time
interest in our political affairs.
The voter is now qualified by law
and is competent to say and ought
to say, who the candidates of the
party ought to be, from the high
est to the lowest. Whether or not
primaries are more expensive
than the convention or any other
plan, they enlarge the scope of
the voter, are more popular with
the people, and for that very
reason cannot be too quickly put
in vogue in our politics.