The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1908-08-26
ATTEND THE PRIMARIES.

The citizens of Chouteau county and
other parts Of Montana having been
denied the privilege of nominating
candidates for public Office by direct
vote. the only way to secure the nom.
nations they desire is to attend the
precinct primaries and take active
part In selecting delegates to the
county conventions. The principal
objection to the precinct primary sys-
tenn is that the voters are often apathe-
tic, and that the primaries and con-
ventions are controlled by the profes.
sional politicians, but this undesira.
BILE feature can be eliminated If the
voters will attend the primaries and
select the right kind Of men to repre-.
sent them in the conventions.
Some pertinent observations as to
the desirability of recording q large
vote at the primaries are made by the
Anaconda Standard which says:
In q week or two the precinct pri.
maries of the political parties will be
held for the purpose Of choosing dele.
gates Of the party in each precinct to
constitute the county convention. The
delegates thus elected will have the
naming of the county ticket of their
respective parties, and will also name
the delegates to the state conventions
which will nominate the state tickets.
The caliber of the state and county
tickets will therefore depend largely on
the character of the men chosen as
deleg ates at the various precinct pri.
maries.
Very often dissatisfaction is ex.
pressed by citizens with the ticket that
has been placed in the field, or with a
portion of it. Often the objections
made to the ticket are we'll grounded:
often the men nominated in the past
have not been men we'll fitted for the
trust of public Office, and this criticism
justly applies to nominations which
have been made by all the parties in
the local field.
1t has usually been the case in the
past that the citizens who object most
strongly during the campaign to the
character of the nominations never
attend the primaries and make no eff
fort to influence the choice of dele.
gates to the convention which has the
naming of the candidates. Usually
they r passive and Indifferent when
they should be active and earnest,
and they enter no protest until after
their party has named the men for
| public office.
With the great majority OF citizens
the only opportunity to voice senti-
ment in regard to party principles
and nominations is just before and
at the primaries. If good men are
selected as delegates from the pre-
%cincts, it is altogether probable that
the county conventions will make
good nomin ations. The time for citi-
zens to get busy in this matter is 10
Interest should be aroused in each
precinct in the matter of selecting the
very best men in the precinct as dele
gates to the county convention. This
cannot be accomplished solely by at
tendance at the primary; during the
days preceding the date announced
for the holding Of the primary thu
subject should be thoroughly dis
cussed among the citizens Of each
precinct and general interest aroused
in the matter Of sending to the con
%vention, as representatives of the pre-
cinct, MOI only good men but the very
best best men dwelling in the precinct
whether they are anxious to mingl'
actively in politics or not.