The Cairo bulletin., 1908-02-05
some Effects Of
!. NEWPB|MARyLAW
RENDERS STATE CONVENTIONS
PERFUNcToRY AfFAlRs or
PARTY LOVE FEAsTs.
CONTEST FOR GOVERNOR
viii Reopen as Soon as Governof De-
ncen Has Recovered From Illness
-ShurtIeH Still in the
Race.
Special to The Bulletin.

n Special to The Bulletin.
= Springfield, ILL.,, Feb. 4.--Thes yea
1904 witnessed the idst of the grea
d party conventions that have becom
!, historic in Illinois, There will be n
Z more "deadlocks," no more STAN
:, pedes,' no more dark horses" to
: stalk forth at the opportune momen
to carry off a nomination Under tn,
new primary law, such things are i'm
possible, There will be state con
lvention, but it will have no power ex
cept to nominate candidates for trus
tees of the University of Illinois. tl
name national convention delegates
and presidenttai electors, aud to
adopt a party platform. Long before
the state convention meets the state
ticket OF the party will have been
made by the direct vote at the prim /.
Iries. The convention Will be more or
less a perfunetory affair. Under ia.
vorable conditions, it may be turned
tinto party love feast" but the du.
ties and powers left to it by the law
are not Of nature to arouse any of
the spirit or enthusiasm that marked
state conventions Of former years.
The new law makes no specific pro
vision for state convention this year.
vs. theslaw does not go into effect I'M
TIL July !, all parties of necessity will
hold state conventions Ill the spring
Tor ahe selection Of national conven
ticn delegates; and it is assumed that
1t The same convention they will per
forua--th aths,s- -~i..ai->-- a-----
wednesday next succeeding the pri'
maries in April
The direct plurality primary, on tha
extensive scale provided by the new
law. is an experiment in Illinois. here
tofore in a number of counties Voiuh'
tary primaries have been held py one
marty or the other, and the plurailty
principle has usually prevailed some
times the results have been satlsfac'
tory, sometimes quite the reverse. IN
| q county with large city, compara-
lively speaking, under the piuraiity
| plau. ii has sometimes happened that
every candidate nominated resided III
| the city. Then the other party
shrewdly held convention and maze
up a ticket with the offices wen dis-
tributed. and generally won out at the
election But on the whole II Is gen.
orally conceded that In purely local
contests the direct p;uraiity primary
has worked we'll The difficulty sug-
lgested by the illustration just cited
will be overcome in part under the
lnew law, for all parties must hoid
primaries and all will be on the same
footing with respect to the geographi'
Ical distribution of offices. The expert
mental feature of the law relates more
to the state ticket The party leaders
lin the assembly who opposed a di
rect plurality law took the ground ina
II would menace party success at TN
election-that the majority party, n'
| matter what it might be, would SUI
: fer from the bitter strife between can
. lidates at the primaries and from tn
( lack of a cohesive party organizauoi
| tn get behind the party ticket on elet
tion day. Some striking instance
] we're cited from the experience of otf
D er states. But. so far as Illinois
I concerned. there can be nothing b'
$ yond speculation at this time. Tn
D politicians and the people must adjus
1 themselves to the new conditions. Tn
; old-fashioned methods must be abal
u doned. One or two campaigns n
u doubt will disclose some defects In IN
d law which q subsequent legislatui
. will be called upon to correct. Po
= sibly. as opponents of the direct plu
ality plan predicts. the entire law WI
!. prove unsatisfactory, resulting In
inew law based on a compromise sin
:. lar TO the measure proposed by Il
conservatives" in the assembly tV
70 weeks ago. No man can now forest
!. inst what will be the verdict OF u
=, people as to the merits of the la
10 after II shall have been given tri'
10 Rut IL NAV be set down as distin
IA achievement that some kind of p
mary law has been enacted. The le
IS islature finally responded to the POI
e. lar demand: it is now up to the pc
" ple" to decide whether they have g
~ lteu exactly what they wanted.
at The gubernatorial campaign will
q open as soon as Gov. Deneen fully
,s- covers from his present illness. CO
n trarv to expectations in view OF I
yh passage of the primary law. SPEAK
OF Shurtlef has not Withdrawn as a ca
al didate for governor. but announe
. that he tbinks his chances better
to der a direct primary Law than IN
he delegate convention. Il is proba'
hg that within a short time there viii
concentration Of the ant-Dene