The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-02-07
NOMINATIONS BY PRT1IARIEs.

NO-AA-e y HUNS 1E EAfIALAEflEso-
Down in Harvey county the Republi-
can county central committee has adopt
ed a resolution calling on the state COM
mittee to nominate candidates for state
officers. and also a candidate for United
Stats senator this year by a direct pfi-
mary. The idea is to hold Republican
primaries for this purpose all over the
state on the same day.
This suggestion brings forth a loud
guffaw from ". Y. Morgan, states
man of more or less reLown, and incl
dentally editor Of the Hutchinson News.
Mr. Morgan denominates the resolution
as Harvey Horse Play" not so much
because Of the suggestion itself, but be-
cause of the apparent Inconsistency of
the Harvey county committee; for after
declaring in favor of nominating a state
ticket by the primary system the Har-
vey county committee turned right
around and decided to nominate its
county ticket by the old convention
method.
But the inconsistence of the Harvey
county politicians does not necessarily
make their suggestion a poor one. The
important question is. is it practical?
There can be no doubt that theoreti-
cally the primary system is the best.
Theoretically it comes nearest to arriv-
ing at the viii of the people. But there
are practical objections to it. 1t would
not be at all unlikely that in a bIs field
Of candidates some one would receive a
plurality of the votes who would not be
the choice of a majority of the party.
For example: Suppose there are six
candidates for Mr.. Walkers place as
railroad commissioner, one Of whom is
pro-raiIroad and the other five endorsed
by the commercial interests. Suppose
the prO-railroad candidate receives 25
per cent of the vote and the rest is di-
vided equally among the other five can
didates. giving them Is per cent each.
The pro-railroad man would be nomi-
mated by good plurality; yet it is prob
able that any one of the other five
would, if running singly against the
pro-railroad man, receive a big MAORI
ty of the votes. That is why the prac-
ticability of the primary plan should be
carefully considered.
Still, even though such things as this
should sometimes happen, the primary
system would be fully as likely to rep
resent the real viii of the people as
the convention system.
The old convention system was chief
ly useful in the days when elections
were close. In nominating a county
ticket, for instance. some large town
might be able to hog all the offices
by the primary system, and when cleo
ton day came around enough country
people would vote for the opposition to
defeat the town ticket. And so the
convention system was devised, where
by representative men from each pre-
cinct came together and parceled the
nominations out to each portion of the
county with the idea of making d
strong tielSet-one that would poll the
greatest possible number of votes.
But this excuse FOG county cenven-
tons no longer exists, as there are few
counties in Kansas where the Repub-
hcan party is not supreme so long as it
allows the people to rule.
Whether the primary would be sue
cess for the nomination Of county
ticket is another problem. No COOL
reason occurs why it would not, ana it
might well be worth me experiment. If
a primary is decided or it should, of
course, be made late enough to a,lcw
the candidates to set IN cir claims he
fore the people. which would be more
of a task than getting before county
delegations.