Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-04-17

was not fair and just that jurisdiction
should be given to the courts to retry
mark you, | say retry-cases thai
are determined by the commission.
The Primary Bills.
Il pass from the railway subject tt
another. One of the VITAL issues of this
campaign is the proposal to enact 8
primary election law. 1 have noted
that you say, in platform issued tc
the people, that you are for the pri-
mary election principle. You must be
| more specific. The voters will not un-
| derstand you and can not understand
you, for under such a vague and url-
certain statement you can always be
found in opposition to a primary
election measure. I am for the NOM
nation, by direct vote.l of candidates
for all the principal offices of the state
government; for the office Of repre-
sentatives in congress-; for senator OF
the United States, and for county
Offices Are you in favor Of such a
law? You know my position ii you
have read my recommendation to the
last general assembly. You know
that did whatsoever 1 could to aid in
the passage of what was known as the
'Crossley bill When it failed I was
willing that some of the minor Offices
OF the state government and the
judges Of the district court be elimin-
ated, and, therefore, favored the bill
introduced in the house by Represen-
tative Flenniken.
ut is high time that you should
give the people of this state your views
upon a primary election measure.
am not insistent upon the details, bu,
have right to ask you to stand be-
fore this audience and declare what
state officers, if any should be nomin-
ated In the primary election, whether
the representatives in congress should
be so nominated, and whether our
United States senators should be sc
selected. / would like to know, further
whether you stand for the proposition
that requires a majority Of all the
votes cast in order to make a nonin.
ation,r or whether a plurality or some
less proportion than a majority may
| nominate. You have been industrious
in creating the impression that my
friends in the last general assembly
defeated the primary election law
How unfair this effort is will be dem
onstrated by a mere glance at the
record.
when the Crossley bill was before
the senate there was offered as a SUBJ
stitute for it county primary law
and the question was as to the mer-
its Of such a law compared with the
general primary established in the
Crossley bill My friends were unwill-
ing to limit the operation of a primary
to county officers, and in the vote thai
was then taken the choice was between
the general primary law and a county
primary law. My friends voted fol
the general law.
Practically speaking. this expert.
ence was repeated in the house, where
a county primary law was offered as
substitute for the Flenniken bill.
What have you to say in defense
of persistent course of misrepresen.
tation, intended to deceive the people
of the state into the belief that we
We're not sincere in the effort to secure
fair and just primary system? II
you become governor it will be neces-
sary for you to make some recommen-
ldation to the general assembly upor
the subject. These people before yor
have right to know, in general terms
what you would recommend, and what
they may expect from your admins
tration upon this subject. 1 await with
i1mpatlence your reply.