Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-09-30
Governor Cummins Issues In
portant Statement Saying He
Will Abide By Result
BELIEVES VOTERS SHOULD RULE
If Beaten by Popular Vote Will Not
Permit His Name to Go Before the
LeeisIature-Standpat Boilers Put in
a Hole-."Malice Run Mad."-lowa
News.
Special to 1imes-Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines. Sept. 30.-Governor
Cummins has authorized the statement
that he will bow to the will of the re-
publicans of Iowa at the primary cleo
ton next June, and if he is defeated
for United States senator before the
primaries he will not permit his name
to..be used before the legislature of
1909.
"while I have no desire to hasten
next years campaign, l am quite Will
ing to Express my views upon the
primary law enacted last winter" a
Governor Cummins yesterday.
"There are some people attempting
to sneer at it because it has so many
provisions. These people are opposed
to any primary law, and their crfti-
cisms are unwarranted. A primary
law cannot be compressed within a
few words. The holding of a primary
election involves the performance OF a
great variety Of duties by many per-
sons. and these duties must be pre-
scribed. The Iowa law is the shortest,
clearest, most easily understood COM
plete primary law in h United States,
and, so far, attention has not been
called to a line in it that is not as PLAIN
as the English language can make it.
Only those who want to misunderstood
u FIR L~,. ,x Iifffar1fN- in rnlnnre-
hending it's plain, simple terms.
II notice that there are some news
papers insisting hat it was intended
to give me an advantage in the first
primary, because the provisions as TO
party allegiance are not strict enough,
and that / expect democrats to vote
the republican ballot. This is more
than malice; it is malice run ma
Il take this opportunity to remind
the republicans of Iowa of some facts
which bear upon the absurd asser-
tion.
"First-That part Of the law was
written by a republican who was then
and is now opposed to my candidacy
for United States senator.
"Second-When differences among
republicans as to other portions OF he
law arose in the state, they We're adj
iusted by a committee of six, three of
whom Were. so-called standpatters and
three of whom were known as pro-
gressives, and they agreed unanimously
upon the bill.
"Third-When# the bill was put upon
it's passage it received the vote of every
republican member of he senate pres
ent except one, and of every repubi-
can member of the house except five.
"Fourth--rhere was and is no list
or register of either republicans, dem
ocrats or any other party in the state,
and the working of a primary law re-
quired such list or register. 1t was
necessary to provide for the making
of the list. There We're two alterna-
tees; 1t could have been provided that
all voters desiring to participate in the
primary should register with a party
avowal a given number of days before
the primary, or the list could be made
on the day of the primary. The for
mer plan would have put the voters
to great Inconvenience and would have
resulted in excluding a large proper
ton of them from the primary; and,
therefore, LIlC ldLLGl pan was -
"Fifth-There are two tests, either
of which could have been applied to
determine which ticket a man has a
right to vote in the primary. His ac-
ton in the past and his pledge, ex-
pressed or implied, for the future.
IF the law had provided that adher-
ence to the ticket in the last general
election should be the test, the very
men, or most Of them, who now seem
to fear that the party lines will no be
rigidly preserved would not be elig-
ible to vote a republican ballot in the
primary to be held next June, for most
of them bolted the republican ticket
last fall. No one doubted, however,
that Notwithstanding their detection
they should still be classed as republic
cans and therefore the members of the
legislature Of both factions believed
that demanding a particular party ball
lot, with the consequence implied by
the law, and the immediate enrolment
as a member Of that party, and the
publicity and difficulty of changing the
roll, was the best possible solution Of
the question. I agree with them, but
to say that it was so arranged to per-
nit democrats to vote for me, or to
vote the republican ballot at all, Is
the most indefensible utterance ever
made in a political campaign.
"Sixth-[t seems rather remarkable
to me, however. that II should be
charged tina l am likely to experience
any favor at the hands of democrats.
So far as I know, every democratic
paper in the state is speaking far more
kindly of my opponent than of me; and
it has not been long since a great many
of the republicans who are apprehen-
sive of democratic interference were
in open coalition with the democrats
to elect "a democratic governor. SO
much for the false fear that democrats
will vote for me in the primary.
with respect to the effect of the
primary election upon the United
States senatorship, I have this to say:
81 believe in the election of senators
by direct vote. 1t cannot be lone un-
until then I believe in approaching the
desired end as nearly as we can thru
nominations mad at a primary cleo
tion. In a republican state like ours,
the primary should settle the whole
CONTROVERSY, and It's result should be
un~hesitatinsfly accepted. The notion
that republican members Of the gem
eral assembly are to be instructed by
counties en- districts is directly con-
trary to the law, and for the party
welfare ought to be at once aband-
oned.
No republican candidate for the
legislature should pledge himself to