The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-07
WANTED-A REAL PRINfARY

WANTED-A REAL PRIMARY.
1t is to be hoped that the friends OF
a real primary election law-one that
does away entirely with conventions
and allows the individual voter to cast
his ballot direct for the candidate
will not allow the minor details of the
bill to block it's passage altogether.
There is room for honest differences
of opinion as to the compulsory appli-
cation of a primary law to towns and
cities In most Kansas towns parti-
! sanship does not enter into city cleo
tons. Candidates or tickets are noIni-
mated by petition. The issues are
wet or dry" municipal ownership, or
something of that sort, and party lines
are unknown. There is strong in
disposition to force partisan tickets in
such towns, although the primary
should undoubtedly be enforced in city
elections conducted on partisan lines.
Another point concerning which
there may be honest differences of
opinion among the friends of the mea-
sure is whether the voter shall be COM
PEELED to declare himself as to party
preference before voting in the pri-
mary or be allowed to secretly choose
his party in the ballot booth. Cover
nor Hoch's views as expressed in his
message, represents one extreme on
this point and the Wisconsin law rep
resents the other.
These points should be discussed in
all fairness. but it is to be hoped that
no friend of the direct primary will
try to kill the measure entirely, be-
cause he cannot dictate all of its de-
tails. Nothing would more please the
-
this. 1t is to be expected that certain
politicians will do everything possible
to foment trouble and insert ''jokers"
in the measure, and of course, it's
friends must be on the lookout for
such things.
The State Journal doubts if there is
much use of the discussion as to
whether the representative district or
the state as a whole shall be the unit
in electing United States senators.
Senators are really elected by legisla-
lures and there is grave doubt wheth-
er the primary can bind Legislators to
vote for the choice of the primaries.
The primaries will, however. show ex-
actly the choice of the people. and the
wise legislator will follow the express
ed will of his constituents. In this
case the anu not the STATE
would be the unit, no matter what the
law provides.
In the main the Stubs bill is the
best primary measure that has APP
peared in the house. Both the Hol-
dren and the Creech bills are masquer-
aiding under the name primary" but
neither is a direct primary bill, as
both provide for delegate conventions.
1t is possible, however, that some of
the details of the Stubs bill could be
improved.
The adoption of the Haskins amend
ment is, in the estimation of the State
Journal, an exceedingly wise move. |
This will, in a large measure, prevent
the big towns from "hogging'' the
offices. It will also tend to pre-
vent the more populous districts of the !
state from combining to the detriment |
of the western counties-if there
should ever be disposition to do so. |
Furthermore-and this is very i'm
portant-it will prevent rings and ma
chimes from controlling nominations
by jumping up candidates to divide |
the opposition to them, thereby allow
ing a minority ring candidate to
slip in.
Something like Senator Simons'
registration idea also strikes many
people as good feature.
The people of the state demand
real primary bill, and it is up to this
to give them one. No half
baked part-primary and part-conven-
ion measure will satisfy. The people
want to nominate their own candidates
and not leave it to the trades and COM
Dimes of political conventions.
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