Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-26
TELLS imp PORTANCE
OF THE PRIMARY
SAN DIEGO JUDGE ADDRESSES
CITY CLUB
SPEAKS OF POLITICAL ABUSES
AND CONDITIONS
Attorney Shows 1t Is Only at These
Elections the Individual Vote
Has Any Initiative
Politics

Members of the Los Angeles city
club subsequently to the weekly pam
ouet at the Hotel Westminster at noon
yesterday were treated to one OF the
most interesting addresses ever lis
tened to by that organization, when
Judge w. A. Sloane, prominent attor-
ney of San Diego, spoke on PRIMARY
Elections"
concluded, convinced those present that
although little attention is palo py the
general public to the primary election
1T is one of the most important institu-
tions in politics. The judge stated he
would devote no time to the legislative
details of a primary election, because
he he had not given that phase or MS
subject the careful study which others
present had given it. He preferred TO
talk on the practical Importance OF the
primary, and on certain political abuses
and conditions which make the primary
urgently important.
1--WE have not until recently realized"
he said, THAT 1t is only in the primary
election the individua! vote mas any
initiative politics. This is especially true
under the old system of delegate con-
ventions for the nomination of candf-
dates for office. 1t Is increasingly true
as the direct primary for nominating
candidates by the direct vote of the
people comes into vogue.
''Tjyery voter at the primary election
has an opportunity to select for him
self the men for whom he will vote,
whether for delegates to nominating
convention or directly for the candi-
dates. His political prerogative-his In
d.vidual choice and judgement-are ex-
ercised in bringing to the front the men
and nolitical politics in which he be-
Iieyes, At each subsequent stage of
the campaign he can only accept or re-
ject the work of the conventions or of
the nominees of the primary.
Exercise Control
'Through ignorance of the Importance
of the primary, or through Indifference
of want of appreciation on the part OF
the voters, the boss and machine nave
been enabled to exercise the dominat-
ing nominating control they now exer-
else in our American politics.
"Under either the convention or direct
primary nominating systems the policy
and control of the campaign are deter
mined at the primaries, and thus ana
there pass beyond the control of that
body Of voters. Men who do politics
in order that they may do the people
professional politicians-are keenly alive
to this fact, and have worked the
primary and the caucus for all there is
in them They have tried to make the
primary election as quiet and incon-
spicuous as possible, causing 1t to be
regarded and treated by the average
run of voters as an unimportant afalr
at which their presence is not needed.
1.-THE fewer voters who take part in
the primaries the better for the ma
chine.
mo brass bands and red fire for the
prirnaries. These are reserved for the
> election when the machine has named
its candidates and party enthusiasm
is wanted to stimulate the voters to
swallow a bad dose in the name of
party fealty; for the primary the still
small voice, the quiet caucus. On the
part of the general public, dense, stupid,
criminal Indifference and inaction,
These conditions prevailing have
made it possible for corruptionists to
get in power They have created the
Wonderfully complete and effective ma
chine organization which has laid its
wires of communication and control in
every country, hamlet and road district
of the state.
"This lack of vital, patriotic, intelh-
gent interest on the part of the great
body of voters constitutes the greatest
weakness of popular government and
the greatest crime against civil liberty.
Live Like Serfs
1--WE have been living for years here
in California under a condition of politi-
cal serfdom to an autocratic political
machine which, if less brutal, is none
the less absolute and domineering than
the feudal despotism of the middle
ages.
"Those who tell you political ma
chine and a party boss are necessary
evils are of that class of voters too
indolent or too cowardly to take up the
burden of individual political RESPONSE
bility.
1.-THE man who believes a political
boss is a political necessity is a man
who is willing to be bossed who is will
ing to surrender his American birth
right-the sovereignty Of citizenship
and to take orders from a self-ap-
pointed dictator
"How any man who has red blood in
sinis veins-especially American blood
can reconcile himself to such degrada-
tion is beyond my understanding.
P>Some of you still imagine, 1 sup
pose, that you are sovereign American
citizens, with a voice in shaping and
controlling the political conditions under
which you live. If that is your idea
you are mistaken.
"How can we calmly, and in fact un-
consciously, allow this great con-
spiracy of machine politics stealthily
and insidiously to rob the common
voter of any real voice or influence in
the government of the community in
which he lives and pays taxes? This
may not be fully true of Los Angeles,
for you have had somewhat of an