Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-02-23

of the primary election law, Lewis
and Clark county being among the lat
est to fall into line. In Cascade coun.
ty, where a vote on the question will
be held March 9th, the merits of the
law and the system is being discuss
ed pro and con. In the large counties,
where there is Socialist or Populist
party there is some opposition to the
law on the part of its members through
fear that they will be lost in the
shuttle. The Great Falls Tribune, in
the following editorial, shows how the
Montana law is particular about guard
ing the interests of minor parties:
at is quite likely that elections for
the adoption of the primary election
law will be held in nearly all of the
counties of the state before the fall
campaign opens. The sparsely set
tied counties are generally not push
ing the matter as much as are those in
WHICH there are large towns. But
enough of them will vote on the law to
show clearly the drift of public senti-
ment. One county-Ravalli- has al
ready adopted the law. and the Trib-
of the others is so favorable that there
is hardly doubt about the result
wherever it is voted on.
THE most energetic opposition to
the law appears to come from the
members of the small parties. The
POpulists are afraid that under it the
remaining remnants of their party will
disappear from view, and the Socialists
are afraid that under its operation
they will not be able to get a good
start Aside from people holding these
political opinions the sentiment APP
pears to be overwhelmingly for the
law.
Most of the objections that have
been offered to the principle of the
law. so far as the Tribune has been
informed are sOphistries of the pet
tifoging sort. To say that corpora
'lou VII nave IlIOlC iHHuCuCc
the new law than under the old is so
manifestly absurd that it is not worth
refuting. To say that machine poll
ticians can control things equally as
we'll under the old is silly, and the
men who make it generally know that
it is silly. They do not advance that
argument because they are afraid of
either the corporations or the machine
politicians.
The other objections offered-except
objections as to the details of the law,
upon which men very naturally differ
are of about equal weight with these
mentioned.
1T is true. however, that the primary
law in most of the states where it is
in force does tend to njure minor
parties because of the difficulties in
making nominations. But the Mon
tana law appears to be particularly
favorable to new parties in this re-
spect. Not only does it make the per-
centage of signers necessary smaller
for a new party, but it also provides
fol the filing Of nominations where
none are made at the primary Sec
ton 13 provides:
vacancies occurring after the hold.
ing of any primary or through failure
to nominate shall be filled by the
party committee of the city, county
or state, as the case may be, by the
chairman of such committee filing a
nomination paper filing such vacan-
cy'
IF a committee has a right to fill
one nomination where none was made
at the primary it has right to make
all. Therefore, if the socialists, who
appear to be Offering the most at
tractive opposition to the new law,
find themselves unable to make nom-
nations through the regular primary,
they can put up their whole ticket by
the action of committee. All that
will be necessary for them to do to
maintain their party organization, if
The new law is adopted, will be to
eject delegates to a county convention,
and thus form a party organization
that can make nominations for them.
"Of course this section would not
have much weight with either the
Democratic or Republican candidates
because generally there would be ac-
tive struggling for the various nomi-
nations, and no vacancies to fill. So
it would seem that section IS was put
in the law for the particular benefit
OF the minority party