Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-09-22


Primary Election Law Baked.
Before the legislature of 1905 convened
a petition was left with the secretary OF
state, at his office in the city of Pierre,
during business hours, for which his re-
ceipt in writing was taken, which petition
contained a full text. of a primary cleo
ton law which the petitioners requested
the legislature to enact and submit to the
electors OF the state for their approval al
the next general election. This petition
was signed by $3.50 qualified electors or
the state of South Dakota With the resi-
dence, post office address, and business
occupation of each elector set opposite his
name with sufficient clearness for any
person OF ordinary intelligence to identity
him. The proposed law. IL enacted, would
have given to the voters OF the state the
right to select candidates for public office
from United States senator down to coun-
ty officers by direct vote under the Aus
tralian ballot. and would have swept
away the caucus and convention system,
prevented the machine. and corporations
from debating nominations and restored
to the average voter his right or choice.
The machi and the public service. cor
porations were afraid OF the proposed law
and were afraid to trust to the judgment
of a majority of the electors at the COM
ing election. They know it's enactment
Of manipulation and dictation. So they
set about to violate the constitution and
suppress the constitutional right Of petit
ton and TO ignore the orderly and legal de-
lldllu Ol o,cSU Oh their lSiIO" CltlLGiS.
IL was not a question as to whether the
law petttioned for was wise or unwtse. III
was a question of the right OF the majority
70 record their judgment upon II. That
right Wa spat upon.
Machine Proceeds Badly.
But the machine had met before the
legislature convened and had decided that
the proposed law would result In its de-
struction. 1t wisely assumed that II sub
mitted, the majority OF the people of the
state would adopt 1t. 1t therefore resolved
that it should not be submitted.
1t was given out when the legislature
was being organized that the measure
would not be submitted. The governor IN
his inaugural address, at the opening OF
the session, before he had seen this petit
ton, denounced the proposed enactment of
a primary election law and recommended
a good caucus law" Some prominent
sneeringly and sarcastically about the
petition at the beginning of the session,
before it had been submitted to either
body. That the committees were being
put up for the purpose of preventing any
action to submit the proposed law to the
people and that it was doomed by the ma
chine, was Tin the air Members were
heard to ask whether or not they could be
punished criminally for violating their
oaths IL they refused TO vote in favor of
sumitting the measure. Machine news
papers took pains TO say that the law had
failed to provide a punishment In such
case.
When men pointed TO the fact that there
was no way to compel the Legislature TO
submit the law to the people, as their
Justification for not doing SO, they had
fallen into an atmosphere where reason
and honor no longer appeals.
Saved by Lack of Penalty.
II by some accident the law providing
punishment for the crime Of arson should
burning OF dwelling houses because the
law had failed to provide a penalty for
such offence? Probably not.
Yet the suggestion was made that 1t
would be tolerable for a member of the
legislature to nullify and violate a solemn
provision of the constitution of his state.
because the law has not fixed a penalty
for his offense.
power Of the state machine, and its side
partner the corporation lobby, with the
rewards to weak men In the distribution
Of c~hairmanships, committee places and
passes, the petition was approved by the
house and the proposed measure success
fully passed by that body.
In the senate 1t met with the most con-
scienceless. arbitrary II u~nscrupulous
name OF the civilized state.
The machine, however, succeeded in In
definitely postponing action upon the petit
ton and proposed bill as introduced In the
senate, by a majority of three votes.
After the house had passed the measure,
1t was sent TO the senate, but the repre-
sentatives of the railroad machine, who
presided over that body, arbitrarily re-
fused to receive the house bill from its
messenger and refused to permit the house
bill TO be considered by the senate In any
manner
Feared Popular Action.
The question arises: Why was this
done? Why were these men so determined
to prevent the people of this state from
voting as TO whether or not that primary
election law, as proposed by those petit
toners, should or should not become the
law of this statef
The plain u~nvarnished truth is that the
men who suppressed that petition and the
machine that dictated TO them, were
afraid to trust the matter to the decision
of the majority of our people,. In other
words, the reference of a question OF this
kin to the people Is frought with so much
danger that as guardians Of the office
holders, and corporate interests, II was
the duty Of the legislature to be over nice
and extremely technical in considering a
plain constitutional petition and TO assume
that nearly Tour thousand Illegal, fraud
ulent and forged signatures were written
upon it. AT the bottom was a distrust of
the people.
This brings US face to face with the
question Of whether or not after all, we
are a free people in South Dakota.
Caucus Law a Subterfuae.
The machine knowing that 1t would be
called to account for suppressing the petit
ton for the submitting OF the proposed
primary law, has attempted to ppeas the
wrath Of the public by the enactment of
what they call an honest caucus law
BY It's enactment they nave confessed
that there was a demand for reform In the
matter.
This honest caucus law" however. was
apparently drafted and enacted for the
purpose OF making more secure the hold
Of the machine upon the rank and file OF
political parties.
The first section in the new law betrays
It's purpose, where II declares that all
party nominations shall be made in the
name provided by the act, and that
nominations by petition shall not be filed
previous to the making OF party nomina
tons by convention, and that mo name of
a party, or ticket, nominated by petition
shall contain the name or part or the
name of a party ticket, nominated under
the provisions of this act"
lSee section l, chapter 10, laws, 1867
1t Is plain that the purpose of the above
language is to compel republicans who
love their party name and party principles,
but who hate the machine, which has
placed that party under the most calling
tyranny. 10 either endure the tyranny or
to abandon the name so dear to them.
The Roberts County Rebellion.
Last year In Roberts county, the ma
chine by arbitrary and INSCRIPTIONS use
of power, n by means of straw contests,
refused to allow the rank and file of the
party to be heard, and the state machine
shut an honest delegation from that coun-
ty out of the state convention at Sioux
Fails. The men who were thu disfran-
chised and Inundated were loyal republi-
cans and love their party name. They
went home and nominated a full county
and legislative ticket, under the head OF
Independent Roosevelt Republicans
The machine" republicans also nomi-
mated q full ticket and the entire state
machine concentrated its entire strength
In a supreme effort to crush these anti
machine men.
But they won a glorious victory and
elected their entire ticket by a decided
majority over both the democratic and
the machine republican tickets.
Railroad Assessment.