Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-05-22
PRIMARIES FOR
WHOLE COUNTY
PETITION FOR ELECTION ON
QUESTION
LINCOLN ROOSEVELT LEAGUE
TAKES INITIATIVE
Process Requires Majority of Voters
and a Special Electlon-Gain
Primaries for Country
Precincts

IlOn law privileges tHe llhcoil-INoOSO-
welt league has taken the initiative in
having petitions prepared.
At the regular meeting of the county
central committee at the Westminster
hotel yesterday noon this action was
taken. 1t is in response to an appeal
from the executive committee of the
league, issued the day after the Re-
publican convention at Fresno by Pres
ident Devlin, and means an opportunity
for all to join in demandig primaries.
The work of organizing the petitions
was placed in the hands of Frank E.
Dunlap and the petitions will be in
circulation just as soon as the law
committee of the league here passes
on the forms.
Under the primary law Los Angeles
city and Pasadena are the only voting
sections of the county where primaries
are mandatory. But the law also pro-
vides for the extension of primaries
to any voting district, though the proc
ess of extension is cumbersome and
seems, in the opinion of many, to have
been designed to make extension as
difficult as possible.
| The law first requires that petit
ton signed by a majority of the cleo
tors of the district seeking the extern
sion must be filed with the supervis-
ors requesting an election to determine
whether such primaries shall be held.
| The majority will be determined by
signatures of qualified electors exceed
| ing one-half the vote cast at the last
preceding county election.
Requires 5000 Signatures
This will require over 5000 signatures
| from the districts outside Los Angeles
and Pasadena. The league believes 1t
will have no difficulty in getting these
signatures, as the petitions are open
to voters of every party and the de-
mand for primaries Is general.
Should a majority petition be filed
the supervisors must order a special
election within thirty days at which
| the question of extending the law shall
be voted on. If the majority Is in the
affirmative then the supervisors must
provide for primaries and sustain all
| incident expense.
| Under the plan adopted by the execu-
tive committee of the league yesterday
! these petitions will be circulated at
once and it is hoped to have ma
jority of electors by June /, when 1t
will be presented to the supervisors
for their action at the June term. This
! will mean a special election in June
on that question alone The law fixes
| the other primaries In August.
The manner in which the great boon
of direct primaries has been granted
to the people is amusing, as 1t seems
| intended first to charge all the work
and expense on the districts seeking
the primary and then to give an OPP
portunity to the opponents of primaries
| to fight at an election. The law gives
the supervisors no discretion to deem
the majority petition sufficient advice
The same, process viii be initiated IN
every county in the state by the Lin
coin Roosevelt league and in this work
| it has the sympathy and assistance OF
| leading men of the other parties
Convention from Inside
| The decision of the league followed
| talks by Marshall Stimson, A. J. Wal
lace and Frank G. Tyrrell. 1t was ex-
pected they would make a full report
| of the Sacramento convention work to
| the committee, but the interest in this
was so intense that the committee de-
cided to let all who want to hear the
reports and meeting will be held at
Simpson auditorium Tuesday night. AT
| this the speakers named and Lee G.
Gates will speak, and the symposium
will be called 1.-The Republican conven-
ton from the inside" 1t is understood
that spades will not be called imple-
ments.
At yesterdays luncheon Mr.. Stimson
declared that the leaguers had forced
the machines hand of the chairman
ship and the instructions for Taft and
he declared that the Chronicle editorial
against instructions was intended to
pave the way for an uninstructed dele
cation to Chicago.
while we were technically defeat
ed" said Mr.. Stimson, 1--WE were jubi-
liant and enthusiastic. While the ma
chine was technically victorious. 1t was
gloomy and discouraged"
Convention Figures
Mr.. wallace spoke of the deductions
| that have been made from the con-
vention statistics OF the 629 delegates
| to the convention 239 were elected at
primaries. OF these the league elected
about two-thirds. OF the remaining
800 delegates nearly all were appointed
| by county committees and were in
| tended to be servile to the machine.
what chance had we to VIM" asked
Mr.. Wallace. practically none, and
yet we gained Ill votes from the 800
delegates who had been appointed.
Forty more votes would have changed
| the control of the convention"
| Mr.. Wallace declared that the selec-
| ton of a central committee was a
harmless process so far as the machine
was concerned, as Its executive COM
mittee will not only do the work, but
if questioned is numerically strong
enough to defeat the central commit
tee. even If the league did have ma
jority of it's members.
Mr. Tyrrell said the machine saw the
handwriting on the wall and that the
delegates faces were long enough to
eat oats out of churn when the con-
vention adjourned
SchWamm in Favor
That the extensions of the primaries
to the country districts Is advisable
and will be popular is attested by
Chairman Anthony Schwamm and Sec
retary Richmond Plant of the Demo-
cratic county committee. Mr.. Schwamm
said last night: by all means Demo-
Gratis in the country districts should
sign the petitions and assist in giving
the people a fair chance to express
themselves. This is a non-partisan
matter and I am glad that there is
! to be an opportunity to bring the mat
| ter before the supervisors and get an
extension The Democratic county CEN
! trail committee viii likely meet in a
| few days to take up precinct organi-
zation work. and / hope this primary
| extension will be Endorsed then"
Richmond Plant was equally strong