The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1907-05-31
WHO SHOULD PAY2


The Bel Air Times of the twenty
fourth instant says:
THAT the Republicans of Hartford
are alive and aggressive was indi-
Gated on Saturday last, WHEN the
County Executive Committee met in
Bel Air. The meeting was largely
attended and was held for the pur-
pose of considering what course the
party should pursue in respect to the
onerous provisions of the primary
election law. Under this unjust law
the Republicans are required to
shoulder half the expense of conduct
ing the so-called legalized primaries,
their share amounting this year to
the sum of $3.50, which must be paid
to the Supervisors twenty days prior
to the primaries to be held June Is,
or the nominees would be refused
place on the ticket. This is small
sum for the dominant party-which
is in full possession of all the local
ofices-to pay, but it is great
hardship upon the Republicans and
was probably meant to be. \ \ :
No charge has ever been made that
the Republicans conducted their pri-
maries unfairly, and, being the mi
nority party, the levying of cne-half
the cost of the primaries upon them
is like making the Republicans pay
to make the Democratic primaries
fair"
Whatever charges may be made
against the Republican managers in
Hartford, no one will assert that they
are not "alive and aggressive"
Democrats are, or should be, fully
conscious that they are very much
"alive and aggressive" and that
they will leave no stone unturned to
win support in the coming campaign.
The Times is so "alive" that in the
same issue in which the above ap-
peared referring to the probable
Democratic nominees, it states the
Organization dictates slate" and
proceeds to name the ticket; and it is
so "aggressive" that it has for
twelve months been laying before
the public Startling facts" which
judicial testimony failed to verify.
We are not surprised that the Re-
publican management did not want
this law; the "closed door" method
of nominating their ticket has been
so universal heretofore that we can
easily see why legal primary is not
agreeable for the future.
But as a matter of principle we do
feel surprised that the party of "high
moral IDEAS" whose standing text
for editorial discourses is the laud-
able one Of good government" is
not willing to be kept out of the way
of temptation by means of a protect
ing law instead of by its political
conscience. We are frank to confess
that its good moral effect on the
Democratic party was seen two
years ago and will doubtless be
again, and we confidently believe
that Republican voters have not so
long and so completely lost their
manhood in selecting their ticket
that they will not now recognize
and respond to this dawning chance
for each mans vote to count in the
primaries as we'll as in the general
election.
We thank the Times for its kindly
suggestion that the law is very good
Democratic medicine and should be
used in their primaries alone, but we
are not ready to admit that there
are so many evil-minded Democrats
and so few Republicans. Indeed the
proposition is not only unique in
law, tits unprecedented in practice
no one heard a murmur against a
similar law under which the munich
pal ticket in Baltimore was recently
nominated. We think the weak
nesses of humanity had better be
warded off all along the line, and we
would not like to stand for any such |
class legislation as the Times recon-
mends.
EDWIN II. WEBSTER, Solicitor