Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-11-25
IN DEFENSE OF SENATORIAL
 PRIMARIES

The political genius of the American people sometimes transcend3 .he limits of written constitutions and although conforming to the letter of shs law, ac- complishes a purpose in quite another spirit from that originally intended. This process may be seen in the wreck made of the constitutional method of choosing president, and it may be ob- served also in the popular elections of United States senators by means of the primary. That the primary system of indicating to the legislature of state the person whom its members shall elect as senator is extraconstitutional may be admitted, but it is absurd to contend, as some of our reactionary contemporar ies are now contending, that it is un- constitutional in the sense that it may be inquired into by the courts or the them. A number of United States sen ators now hold their seats by virtue Of popular elections in their respective states, and the number is shortly to be increased. We have not the remotest idea that the question of the right of any of these senators to represent the state will be raised on the ground that he was unconstitutionally chosen, so long as he presents credentials showing that he was formally "chosen by the legislature thereof
 The assumption that legislatures have in the past exercised that free choice in the election of senators contemplated by ths constitution is wholly erroneous. Many a senator has come to Washington whose choice was no more a free choice by the legislature than it was by the people. It was made, as every student of political history knows, by a cabal, or 6 machine, or it was bought outright or obtained through payment of the campaign expenses of legislators in re- turn for pledges of senatorial support, or through soma promise of place and peif, or by various combinations of those methods. Political bosses were careful not to make the matter of the senstorship an issue before the people; pledges were exacted and made in sec ret; the legislature was bound hand and foot to soma particular candidate before it assembled. To get rid of the inevit- able corruption of this method and to give to the people the rightful share in the choice of senator which they are supposed to have when they elect the members of legislature, the plan was devised of submitting the names of sen atorial aspirants to a direct vote of the people and of pledging legislative candi- dates to support the popular choice. This has been usually done in party pri- maries, but Oregon has gone a step fur ther by providing method of selecting a senator by vote of all the people, SO that the successful candidate must have popular majority over his op- ponent or opponents in his own party.
 And now it is solemnly urged that this system, because it contemplates the subjection of the legislative will to the popular will, because it pledges legisla- tors to act as their constituents vote, is unconstitutional, in that the legislature dces not exercise free choice. It is perfectly constitutional for legislature to obey the dictates of political boss or machine, to redeem pledges made to a candidate and rewarded by cash or office, but when such pledges are made to the people, the source of all political power, they are subversive of repub- ncan form of government and the legis- lature that is governed by popular senti- ment, formally expressed, acts in contra vention of the constitution. Such argu- ment is it's own best refutation.
 Tho real trouble with the primary system from the reactionary point of view, is that 1t promises to bring to sa