Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-09

voters who, in registering for the
urinary election, refused to declare
| themselves as being affiliated with
any given party. 1t has been the dill
gent work of the machine and the
! rumpites to convey to these voters the
| impression they cannot vote at the
primaries This is wholly erroneous.
/ The dire ct primary law is not state
/ law in the present instance, but is a
part of the city charter. and as such
/ is not in any way regulated by state
/ provisions. All the voters registered
| in the so-called IN. S" mot stated
column of the register can and should
vote at the primary election.
The question of what the primary
| is and why there are two elections this
year, while understood by most voters,
is a matter of deep mystery to others,
especially among the toilers who are
too busy to read the law or digest new
provisions. Good Government work.
ers, in their literature and in all their
personal work and speeches, are i'm
pressing on the voters the fact that
the primary election is merely for the
sake of nominating the men who are
later to run for the Offices in the gen.
eral election in December. Two men
will be permitted to stand for each
OI1GG-L0e Two ulSutSl III the NOlllIS d
the primaries. These two men viii
have their names placed on the general
ballot in December, and at that time
it will be possible to pick the man for
whom a majority win vote for election
to the office.
In this connection it should be under
stood that where more than one office
is to be filled, as in the case of city
councilmen, the candidates who receive
~ ~ l,n,. &c NJ f0T-
mary election will have their names
printed on the ballot at the general
election-that is to say, the eighteen
candidates who receive the highest
number of votes for city councilman
will have their names printed on the
ballot for the general election, and the
nine who receive the highest number of
votes at the general election will be de-
clared elected as councilmen at large.
This appears to be extremely simple to
the average voters, but good govern
ment workers have already met with
hundreds of cases where the signifl-
canoe of the law is misunderstood. In
this connection it is the intention of the
good government workers to arrange a
series of what might be termed educa-
tional meetings. where voters will be
instructed and where questions may be
asked. At these meetings Assistant
| CITY Attorney John Shenk and City
| Prosecutor Eddie probably will Go what
thev can to elucidate to the voters
seeking information the complexities
of the law 1t is hoped this will coun-
teract the evil effects of the nefarious
work being done by the gang in the
attempt to befuddle uniformed clti-
zens.
Those citizens who are interested in
the successful application of the new
primary law are urged TO let no oppor-
tunity slip to set questioner right in
these regards.
Another important feature is that
voters may still register for the bond
and general elections. They may also
register, on or before October 16, their
change of residence. This right Of
transfer from one precinct to another
stands both as to the primary election
and all following il. Voters have been
repeatedly told they now cannot regis
ter a transfer for the primary election,
but this is mistake.
Three men were added to the execu-
| tive committee of the good government
organization yesterday. They are Cap
tain Lewis Hanson of San Pedro, F. v.
owen of the old First ward and Coun-
Gilman A. ]. Wallace. These men have
accepted the proffered places and will
attend the next meeting of the COM
/ mittee.
John Myers, newly blossomed candi-
/ date for city auditor, spread out into a
+ vari-colored bloom yesterday. Myers
/ is favored openly by many workers in
/ the good government organization, but
1 whether or not he will receive the in
] dorsement of the body as a whole is not
I yet known. His ability in the particu-
/ lar branch of public service he seeks
/ to enter is well known. For almost
/ eight years he was in the county court
house in one capacity and another, and
his work there speaks for itself He Is
said to have many particular qualitica-
tions for the office besides his undoubt-
ed honesty and fidelity to business.
! These are quiet nights about Repub-
lican headquarters. There are large
number of comfortable chairs in spa
cious room, beautifully decorated with
. cuspidors and last years election signs.
/ Theoretically there is every evening a
/ large gathering of unfettered and SOW
j ereign voters assembling in the head
+ quarters, discussing their several un-
fettered and sovereign rights.
I But actually the chairs are unoccu-
pied save by fat and pompous gen
/ tleman who is learning to play solitaire
and who says he is paid to stay. The
| spacious room does not resound to the
4 eloquent appeals to a free citizenry to
assert itself at the polls. The cuspi-
] dors are unused-the match safe is full
i and the telephone bell never rings. The
i only callers are sad-faced office seekers
who bear the Endorsement that won't t
come off.