Devils Lake inter-ocean and Devils Lake free press. (Devils Lake, Ramsey County, N.D.) 1905-1909, 1908-12-18
DEPEW SPEAKS ON REP
RESENEATlNE GOVERNMENT: I:
Against Initiative !! nj and. and. !.
BY. Primary
Referendum Re or and Nomination

W nlllndry.
candidates, and their literature and
Autographs must be prepared, printed
and circulated. They tell me that even
for members Of the legislature and
county officers, these preliminary ex-.
penses are far in excess of any salaries
OF fees which can be hoped for. Unit
ed States Senators have told me where
they had no opposition, and therefore
there was no contest or interest, that
1t took about two years of their salary
for the necessary expenses of the pri.
mary election. One gentleman said
that in the heated contest which he
had against a large field, his petition,
his appeals through the press, his lit
.erasure, his public meetings and his
carriages for the .infirm voters, cost
him in one city twelve thousand doE
lars. said, "How much for the whole
state?" WELL" he said, "at the same
rate it would have been two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars" But he
did not say how much it was. The.
work which is now taken care of by
party organizations must he performed
by each candidate. He mist create
his organization in every election dis
trict in his county or senatorial Or con-
OCCASIONAL district or in the whole
state. There are in the state of New
York four thousand nine hundred and
eighty election districts. The confes-
sion of all these gentlemen to me are
that the necessary and, legitimate =ex-
:pense Of the primary contest make
candidacy impossible. except for men
Of large means. The. successful can
didate faces three large and inevitable
Sexpenses77ilis petition, his primary.
vote and then the general election.
- tTines cost Of manning the: polls and
other expenses in each election dis
trict in the. state is conservatively es-
,timated at. thirty dollars, or for five
thousand districts, one, hundred and
fifty thousand dollars. This money is
raised now by the state, county, as
sembly district, town and county COM
mittees and associations and the cam
didates and their friends. For the
nomination by the primary there can
be no party organization because If
there is fair chance Of election there
are many candidates. Therefore each
candidate must create his individual
organization everywhere to- man the
polls, canvass the voters, present his
claims and persuade them to go to
the polls in his behalf. It is easy to
see that d militant, experienced and de-
termined man with the money to
create the most perfect organization is
certain to succeed: S.ss5 8 b: 3%S q \
We have been. 1egislating against
corrupt practices, in every possible way
to prevent the zexpend ditureS of money in
,Hsls~
elections, but il I Isam correctly inform.
Eed d.5sthis primary process necessitates
legitimate expenditures by the :candizz ntd1Hlz
dates never dreamed Of before. 5SS. = ~
These repre- esentatiyes also say that
this primary process enormously helps
the minority party: II there. is no hope
OF election, it is difficult to find a man
in the minority party who will assume
the expense of the petition and other
sontlays for the primary; SO that y sile
there are; many contestants with tbs
majority party, the minority has only
! one candi date. When the /: election
comes, the bitter contest among the
majority candidates, who have Az
}been fighting and abusing each other
In the press and before the people
leads to the conce entration sof the de
feated and their friends against the
man who succeeds at the primary
(which often results ii q strong repub
Ilican Or Democratic district going the
other wa at election. s5 s.}GSE=3.
The ccessful trial Of more than q q
hundred years of present tatiye gov
iiernmentS has demons nstrated the Wisdon
| IIof The fathers Of our repub bile. q
Railroads and other #:S ions
| and labor unions, are governed BY the
|repre system, and 60 ia nol1il
Itlcs, through various gradual ions o1
conventions Of sseleeted e1egates al,s
Eo1 legislators. we xpress the popular
| will. II III ,rongly exp essed. o,,l
]. frequent elections and universal sllf
| frage provide perfect rene y.''ssss
| omen s fne hand 3enbroid dered hos
iery for Xmas aifts the New yorl ''1il
Store. q.
I