The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-11-13
wednesdny, November 1s, 1907.
THE DIRECT PRIMARY.

S~S%ASA- pie of direct primary nominations for political office That it is In part due to the increasing demand for more improved commercial habits cannot be questioned. President Roosevelt cannot be credited with known in terest in the direct primary but he may nevertheless claim some of the credit for its growing popularity since 1t turns upon a higher conception of civic righteousness. In other words the spreading conviction that stand ards in this country have been too low lies at the bottom of all at tempts to elevate them.
 It would be remarkable if the movement for better conditions in the business world did not overtake poli- tics. If the report of the commit tee charged with the investigation of the direct primary had been postpon- ed until next year it's progress would have been more marked As it was the general assembly was so far im- pressed by the logic of the proposed bill that it continued the commission for another two years, which from one point of view may be taken as half the ground of education covered. It is not new subject here in New Haven, where the Democrats have been experimenting with it for some years. The difficulty with the rule as it exists here is that it runs up against the preposterous State law requiring citizens to register who wish to par ticipate in party caucuses. At the re- cent Democratic primary in this city, while 8 large number of party voters went to the primary polls in support of MT Martin and Mir. Avis, many more who would have liked to do so were denied the privilege because for good and sufficient reasons from their point of view they deny the right of the State to prescribe the conditions under which one may be regarded as a partisan. It is proposed to adopt the direct primary principle in Hart ford at the Republican caucuses but the same difficulty will be encounter ed there. The registration law will step in and limit the usefulness of it, and all because in some of the small towns of Litchfield county the evil practice used to be indulged in of packing party caucuses with easily in- fluenced outsiders.
 The direct primary principle has become so essential to higher politi- cal standard in the State of Connec- ticut that its friends should take every advantage of the next year to preach its philosophy. The people of the State are indifferent to its fate only because they do not yet understand it. All the majority see is a proposed revolution in the manner of holding nominating primaries and the people of Connecticut do not take kindly to revolutions. The adoption of the direct primary act would be revolutionary in that it would com pletely upset prevailing methods o1 placing men in nomination for public office, but if any one thing has beer demonstrated 1t is that in no other way will popular government be re- vived. This act represents the intelli gent resistance of a persecuted com munity to the prolongation of ma chine rule. It had its birth in popu- lar indignation in a western State a the manner in which the few were able to boss the many It Is needed here in the State of Connecticut be- cause in no other way can the people of the State have commanding say in the personnel of their government It is not at all to the point that unde, the machine system we have on thu whole been we'll served, nor is it tt the point that the very excellent gov ernor we have at the present timt was supported by the machine. Wha is alone to the point is the fact tha this is avowedly representative gov ernment in which the people rule, an that whatever interferes with it's reg ular progress Is against public policy The local Republican machine, whicl in many respects was an admirabI machine, was thrown out of powe because 1t was machine and with out regard to it's nomination of man who would have made undoubt edly an excellent mayor; the Demo cratic ticket was elected because was at least representative of thos