The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-11-24

voted for for presidential electors
should be pledged in advance to this
or that candidate. So that what was
at first intended to be an indirect way
of electing a. president has become in
effect a. direct way except that the
people elect by states instead Of num-
bers. There is a demand now that
voting by states be done away with
and that the person receiving the high
est number of votes Of the entire
country should be president. The meth
cd of electing United States Senators
provided for in the Constitution has
become unpopular. The people are de-
manding that they be allowed to elect
their senators instead Of delegatins
the work to Legislatures. This latter
matter is exciting more attention than
the presidency for the reason that
greater abuses have arisen from the
indirect method of choosing Senators.
There are men in the United States
Senate now who could never have Sc
cured an election from the people. In
the recent election New Jersey, that
has been giving overwhelming Repub.
lican majorities in recent years, elect
ed a majority of Democrats in tho
Lower House OF it's Legislature and it
is only because of it's hold-over Sem
ators that the Republicans maintain
control of the Legislature Of that state
OH joint ballot, 1t is generally con-
ceded that the change in the state Of
New Jersey is due to the dissatlsfac-
ton Of the people with United States
Senator Dryden. Dryden is a Repre-
sentative of the plutocracy. He repre-
sents a phase of political life which is
rapidly becoming thing Of the past.
He is the President Of the Prudential
Life Insurance Company, and is one
Of the men who make a business of
mixing his business with his politics.
New jersey has been governed for q
number of years by the Prudential Life
Insurance Company and kindred or
ganizations. New York's representa-
ton in the United States Senate is an
other instance Of special interests be.
ing represented instead of its people.
Plat represents the United States Tx
press Company and Depew the New
York Central Railroad. The election
in New York shows conclusively that
the people are voting with an intelli-
gence that would not be expected even
ten years ago. They repudiated the Re-
publican machine by electing the en-
tire Democratic state ticket except the
governor They defeated the Demo-
cratic candidate for governor because
he himself represented a plutocracy in
business and politics that is becoming
more and more distasteful. A state
which can defeat the head Of the tick
ct by 10000 and elect the remainder Of
the ticket by safe majorities is not in
danger Of being compelled to submit
to any clique Of men for any great
length of time. The meaning of the
election is that the American people
are determined to rule their own at
fairs. They will not follow dema-
gogues. Neither will they submit to
dishonest bosses. They not only OBJ
ject to dishonest plutocrats in politics
but they object to plutocrats of any
kind. 1t is no longer recommendation
to have rich men in the control of party
affairs. It is not many years since either
of the great political parties would
deem itself fortunate to have a. million.
aire directing its campaign Such a
situation now means defeat. So long
as the people show so much discretion
in voting there is little danger. It is
encouraging to know that while they
no longer listen to the man who tells
them that there are no evils they re-
fuse also to follow the man who tries
to stir up class hatred. True demo-
crazy is becoming strong but it is
conservative democracy. 1t means
death to the rich men who have been
trying to control the politics of the
country in the interests of themselves
but it gives little encouragement to
the radical and the socialist whose aim
is to destroy our form Of government.
The demand Of the people is for a pure
democracy in which the people can
elect their own servants directly. The,
frequent and great changes in ma
'e1'''s' shows how aeate'y sensitive