Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-03-08
Efforts to Secure Separation Of Voten IL
Opposed Successfully,
SENATE FAvoRs EXTRA PAY FOR OFFICERS
Sentiments Expressed that Constitutional
Limit Works Hardship.
WARM SESSION ON THE PURE FOOD BILL
ETOrt to Knock Out Clause Pertains
inE to Labels ON Patent Medi-
cines is Defeated by Deci-
sive Vote.
crrom a stan. correspondentl

Crrom Stan. Correspondent.)
LINCOLN, March 7.--(special 1.-THE joint
committee primary election bill was the
special order in the house today, and while
less than half Of 1t was gone over two
| very important amendments were decided
upon. One to go back TO the petition finE
plan and to knock out the filing fee, and
the other for the open primary. 1t will be
taken up again I'm the morning.
| II was very evident from the first the
| friends Of the measure who feared the Leg
islators would not keep their pledges to
the people had made a tle-up with the
| democrats, giving In exchange for their
support the open primary-that is a pri-
mary where any person will be allowed to
vote any party ticket without telling his
party afiiliation. All of the Douglas dele
cation was for the closed primary with the
exception of Dodge, Clarke being in the
chair and not being counted. The motion
| by Quackenbush for the open primary wRs
carried. the vote being 50 to 90 1t was over
this section the big fight occurred. Quack-
enbush moved to strike out OF section IL
that portion which provided the voter
| should say with which party he affiliated
and he should then be given the ticket OF
that party. The gentleman from Nemaha
| made talk for his motion, saying 1t would
| give the independent voter an opportunity
/ to be heard and would result In fairness to
all.
McMullen opposed the amendment. III
| the amendment prevails" he said. "you
will lose the most admirable feature OF the
| bill. Wherever there is an open ballot one
party will help to nominate the weak man
| on the opposite ticket 1t Is the chiefest
fault raised against the Minnesota primary
law Such is not permitted today in our
primaries or caucuses. The republican
party should not permit any other party
to disrupt it."
| "If the amendment prevails, the primary
law is defeated" chimed in Noyes of Cass.
JennIson for the Amendment.
Jennison of Clay was for the amendment.
and among other things he said The
forces. of reform must stand together. The
forces of corruption which have held sway
| iff this stlt0 for 80 long have done SO by
getting people to stand for party. Good
people have stayed away from the polls
rather than align themselves with any
party. This amendment allows every one
to vote at the primary. The amendment
will tend to encourage independence In vot-
ing. This primary should not be for the
purpose of knocking out fusion between
the democrats and populists. That is a
wrong conclusion. We can whip the demo-
Gratis and populists whether they fuse or
not"
IF the gentleman from Clay will tell US
how the bill changes the present CUSTOM"
said McMullen. ''he will give us some in
formation. At republican caucus now
only republicans vote and the same is true
Of other parties care nothing about
fusion, but ] do protest against a man
without a party coming into a republican
primary and voting. 1t does not prevent
him from being independent in his voting.
All he has to say is that he supported the
ticket generally. He can vote at the elec-
tion as he pleases."
Eler spoke for the amendment as did
Wilson of Custer. while Farley OF Hamil-
ton was against the amendment.
HRmer breads Annihilation.
''If this amendment carries" said Hamer
OF Buffalo, 'lt means the effacement OF
party lines and the curtain viii be rung
down on the republican party and its fifty
years Of magnificent history. A great deal
has been said about the independent voter.
Why should they. who stand for nothing
politically ask the privilege to nominate
the candidates OF any political party2 A
primary election is in no sense election.
1t is a system by which party selects can
didates TO stand for certain principles. II
we have objected to dictators OF party pol
I
other party TO dominate our party pri-
maries? Why, II he does not belong 10 that
party, should he ask to help select the
candidates OF that party? Should this
amendment carry there will be no incentive
for party organization"
Raper OF Pawnee was opposed to the
amendment while Lee of Douglas moved
that It be amended to provide 1t should not
apply to Douglas county, explaining there
were certain influences which II united
could dictate the nomination of both par
ties. He received no second to the motion,
and IL was not put.
McATullen moved to strike out OF section
9 the provision for the rotated ballot Lee
opposed the amendment ard so did Farley
and Tucker and e. w. Brown and Cone OF
Saunders, while Hill and Raper were for
the amendment. II was lost.
After considerable discussion an amend
ment by Jennison cutting out section L.
providing for fling fees. was carried by a
vote Of 81 to %.
McMuilen tried TO cut down the hour OF
closing the polls from 9 o'clock TO 7, but
the motion was lost.
At 4 o'clock the committee arose and re-
ported progress to sit again tomorrow
morning.
TwO-Cent Fare a Menace.
1 IL developed "heh tue ulscusslon OF the
primary bill began this morning that the
2-cent passenger rate bill, which is now a
law, will rise up TO haunt the republican
majority when Il comes TO carrying out its
pledges As anticipated. the railroads will
use this as an argument 10 sidestep the
platform. In his endeayor 10 get his own
limited primary bill read at the same time
the Joint committee statewide bill was
read, McMullen OF Gage called attention to
the fact that the republicans had not stuck
to the platform in the matter Of passenger
rates and therefore the members should
use their judgment in the matter OF a d.
rect primary law. This talk came on a
motion by Hamer OF Buffalo to read the
McMullen bill and the committee bill be-
fore discussing either. Wilson Of Custer.
OF course. was for the motion and SO was
Hamer and McMullen.