The Washington herald., 1908-08-21

Missouri. and Illinois. says the New 1oEk
Evening Post There are those who real
y believed the new institution Danacea
for all our political Ills. that it would.
Ike a magnet, draw every recalcltrant
voter TO the polls where be would
promptly put the rascals 10 flight and in
augurate an era Of political purity These
innocents are now voiciug their disaP-
pointment that the primary does not ez-
clude fraud. and that. in many cases, the
voter being as Indifferent 20 his new
opportunity as he was TO his old, the uoE-
ious machines. party and personal, are
not Vet in complete disintegration-
On the other hand. the politicians are
only too happy 70 have their doubts
about the new law, they can see hun
dred objections 70 il. and are suddenly
displaying an altogether amusing solicl-
tude for the sauctity Of the ballot. ana
the free expression Of the party's viii
Kansas in the Van.
From all accounts that have yet come
70 US the. primary was seen at rs best u
Kansas. There. as elsewhere. the candl-
dates were compelled 70 go before the
people. They met. as did Lincoln and
Douglas fftv years ago. in joint debates
Of great length. answering questions iree-
lv and giving fun accounts of themselves
and their political principles The result
was a vindicatiJn of our democratic the
orv OF government the people chose as
their servants the men they believed 70
b. freest from the domination Of cor
porations and politicians. Moreover. the
interest taken was So keen that from
Kansas come no such complaints u low
attendance At the polls as are heard ID
Missouri and Illinois.
Either EausauS are more rat-i7tic- 0I
better type of citizenship. or tleir pl-
H-f~a1 grievances are more deeply tel-
Be thar as IL may. they showed their keen
intelligence precisely as Old t-e pieelL
voters who chose from a handbook OF
125 pages the several dozen propositions
that pleased them most and gave the Das-
a5h.bi,ion Of an intelligent electorate thls
triumphant democracy has seen in many
a year
oregonfans Choose "A Democrat
These Orezan!anz chose a Democrat 10
-e1-esent them in Washington because
thev knew him as governor and preferred
him as Senator 90 any o. the candidates
u the ruling Republican party This IS IN
itself an amazing achievement which the
primary alone made possible and i H-s-
be set down 20 rs credit
II the vote was small iE Illinois, II was
nor because OF any lack Cf caupa iEEing
o., the part OF the candidates In rHat
state as in Tennessee and Kansas. tae-e
v-ss not q particle Of rHeir records THAI
was not published 10 the world mere
was even an attempt % hold Gov De
-as7 responsible for the accidental burn
HrHrH
T5a was able 20 defend himself. however.
t-- rroving that 80 was against e. rad
s-r- pvr IN by his autaEonist eN-tIcE-
Yates that the unfortunate child zen
Had IL been a Dereeu radiator Il Wot-l
have been properly ssfeglarce1- Na5-
-.~aTIv when the issues are such rTlvla-i-
ties. il is not altogether surprising ----U
there were many stay-at-lcI-les- l'- -'-i>
souri,. the complaint or nonaIIelilal-Ie
and OF other defects seems universal
DisappOintment iu Missouri
II is thus voiced by the s. Louis
/ Times. an excellent independent news
paper
/ The people. as usual were IN the
hands OF the machine as 20 the cities
Later returns VIII be needed 10 show TIE
relation Of the country vote 70 the QopG-
/ lar idea Altogether. the new primary
I law IS a disappointment. and small credit
I 10 its trainers It's complications are the
/ least OF the objections that may b~
CHARGED 20 e. There are no safeguards
/ for the purpose OF eliminating the bosses
and no element TO attract the activity
I OF the people. 1t IS not what 1t was
meant 70 be-a party vote for nominees
b,,t 2 scramble in which Republicans
= q -.
have 10 business of their own on hand
In some places Democrats voted Repub-
Ecau tickets for local reasons and Il
Z others. in view Of the absence OF oppo-
I sition aEaiust Ha6ley. Republicans step
ped in and helped the Democrats decide
who would be their candidates. II St
/ Louis thousands were disfrauchlsed yes
terday because OF their inactivity They
failed TO register; others VINO were reg
istered failed 20 reach the polls
| The Dispatch and Republic take
a similar view Of the outcome But tht
Times sees truly that. aside from certain
obvious defects. capable OF remedy. tht
responsibility for the outcome rests viii
the people. Under the new order" i
saws. the people cannot resort TO tht
loId trick Of blaming the bosses. Thel
Will find the fault within their own house
hold" The primary is thus at It's wors
a means Of fixing more clearly than eve
upon the voter his responsibility for tn
welfare Of his government In St Louis
not less than 5000 voters. more than ;
per cent OF the city electorate. refused I,
go to the polls
Little Interest in illinois,
In Illinois the vote IS reported 10 be s,
small as to give no true Indication Of tn
real strength Of the two great parties
only one-third Of the Chicago voter
turned out The advisory vote 70
United States Senator aroused little in
terest. and. as in Oregon. the defeste,
candidates are now insisting that the leg
islature is in no way bound by the out
come OF the Senatorial referendum. Whe-
we look South. however. to Georgia an
Tennessee. II is Undeniable that there a
least. in the defeat Of Gov Hoke SmitI
, will was expressed beyond any doubt o
dispute.
Serious defects the primary law ha,
. chief among them the ability Of Demo
? Gratis 10 vote in Republican primaries
( to have experienced a change Of politics
, faith and participate in a Democrat
, primary. and there IS nothing whateve
to prevent his voting for Republican
when he takes his secret ballot on cleo
ton day save his conscience
Can't Make Voters Stick
The State cannot make a voter in
? primary stick 10 that party in the eles
( ton without restricting him In his rigt
= - r,ol4 the fFcxe4 II his ovt,, r,7-fv-- a p