Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-07-04
WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1906.
THE INDEPENDENT VOTER.

VI u1lc WOI1u Is uA1S independently
man, the man who dares to think
for himself and to act as he
thinks. Every step forward in
every department. of human en-
deavor has been taken by the in
dependent thinker. The man
who blindly follows precedent,
who believes that whatever is is
right, is mere cog in the vast
machine; it is the independent
man who pulls the levers that set
the machine in motion.
This is true in politics as we'll
as in everything else. The party
slave is cipher; the independent
man is the integer. The man
who thinks his party is always
right and the other parties always
wrong will never assist in correct
ing an error. In every effort so
far made in the line of progress
the party slave has had no part;
the independent thinker who has
looked at every question in the
light of reason and not in a par
tisan light has been the moving
force. Such men are generally
but a small part of the total num-
Der of citizens; but few such
men outweigh the millions of
party slaves, because the latter
are divided up on an average in
nearly equal opposing masses.
Supposing a state has million
voters divided equally between
two parties and only a thousand
independents. Who will have
the power to determine who shall
govern the state? Not the party
slaves, for they neutralize each
other; the independent thousand
have the power of decision in
their hands. The party that
comes nearest representing their
ideas will get the deciding votes.
That is the vote the politicians
have in mind when putting up a
ticket or making a platform. The
party slaves cut no figure; a man
does not bid for what he has
securely slowed away in his safe.
It is only where the party
slaves are so unevenly divided
that the majority party does not
need the independent vote that
the latter cuts no figure. But
even such a condition does not
give the party slave any voice in
the government; itmerely enables
the politician of the majority
party greater opportunity to
serve the corporations more
effectively and without fear of
consequences.
Parties are of course a neces-
sity as a rallying point for people
who think alike on some question
then before them. Having used
the party to carry out their
wishes on that question they will
then, if they are independent
thinkers, look around for the next
question to be solved. For as
long as humanity is imperfect
so long must there always be
room for progress towards better
conditions. Every evolution in
the industrial world brings new
problems to society in general
and they must be met by indie
pendent men. If the independ-
ent can bring his party to act on
the new question in line with his
thought, well and good; if not,
then it is his duty to ally himself
temporarily with others who
think as he does, whether that
new alignment means joining
another old party or forming a
new one in case none of, the old
are willing to take a stand in
favor of true progress. In this
way the party becomes what it
should properly be, a tool in the.
hands of the citizens instead of
the citizens being tools in : the
hands of the party bosses. +. :'::- =:
But it is not always that. some,
great question dividesthe voters
Under ordinary circum:st stances
the question is merely. to get.
men who are willing and able to.
execute existing laws in a. fear.
less and Impartial name Ia.
such cases the party q lion
should cut very little figure.