The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-10-08
PRIMARY LAW AMENDMENT. 4
Jacksonville Times-Union
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| Suggestions for improving the Pri-
mary Law is the subject of commu-
nication to the Pensacola papers of
! Tuesday, which we reprint in today s
issue. 1t was written by j. T. G.
Crawford, who was Gov. Broward' S
manager in the latter's recent cam
paign for the United States senate
and who was himself elected a dele
gate to the national convention at
| Denver and was, We believe, the
Youngest delegate there That the
primary law could and should be i'm
proved, not repealed, is the opinion
of many, perhaps majority, of the
democrats of Florida. Mr.. Crawford
article shows that he has given con-
siderable thought to this method OF
expressing the will of democratic
voters in the light, no doubt, of his
own experience. 1t is a valuable con-
tribution to discussion which ought
to engage the sober consideration OF
all thinking Florida democrats. But
some of its suggestions are too radi-
cal.
His first suggestion is that enough
loyal democrats can be found TO serve
for nothing as clerks and inspectors
at the primary elections, thus saw
ing the item of $4,000 for the two
primaries, taking the state at large.
We doubt it, seriously. In fact. we
doubt whether it will not be rather
more difficult than ever before to find
democrats willing TO undertake the
arduous labor of counting the ballots
in such cities as Jacksonville and
Tampa for 50 day, in View Of the
eXhausting work it was found to be
in the primary of May 10 last. In
several wards in both cities election
officers were at work from Tuesday
morning until well into Wednesday
night without ceasing. The division
of a number of the largest election
precincts into smaller ones may pre-
vent the work being so trying at the
next state primary, or the one four
years hence, when there will be anoth-
err long ticket to be voted upon.
We doubt, in other words, whether
there are enough democrats who
would consider the honor of holdingiI
such Offices as clerk and inspector of
primary elections sufficient re-
for the labor. If there was
such spirit of self-sacrifice among
Florida democrats the subscriptions
to the Bryan and Kern campaign fund
from this state would amount to a
surprising figure. Some who have fill !
ed those Offices express the opinion
ludI INC SuI0 pau 10 eHblfSiS IHdue-
quate to the nerve-racking labor in !
volved.
There should be a section in the |
law. as Mr.. Crawford suggests, pro- |
any avowed candidate from |
any species of bribery, including the !
paying of another's poll tax. and /
steps should be taken to protect can
didates from the -'blood-suckers-'
Some provision should be, and We !
believe will be, made by the next |
for publicity of expenses. /
though We think Mr.. Crawford will !
that his proposed plan is /
capable of improvement II is too
long to quote here.
We think. and We see the Journal
agrees with us there, that the bal
lot should not be shortened. Every
opportunity should be afforded aspi-
rants to Office to get their names
before the people that the latter may
lift out the most desirable in the first
primary. As for candidates who have
40 opposition, how could they be re-
except through the pri-
mary. in the absence of state con-
And il convention for
some why not for all? Even IL dele
gates to national conventions. etc,
we're nominated by a convention it
would be necessary to find some
means to determine the popular will.
The size OF the vote that WAS east for
delegates in the last two primaries is
of the interest the people
axe in this matter.
Mr.. Crawford gives considerable
pace to the method OF choosing
Judges of the supreme. circuit and
rimiral courts and argues well. There .
s much TO be said in favor of the
dea that those OF our citizens who
'ractice in the courts are the best
judges of fitness for the bench. Its
ne of the subjects that should be
Tell considered
There are other recommendation
n this article of less Importance than i
hose mentioned. None of them seem
o us to be trivial though we MAY
ot agree with AL