The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1909-03-29
Is PRIMARY LAWS
IN GOV. HUGHES
ELECTION PLAN
NEW POLITICAL MACHINE WILL
COMMIT SUICIDE BY FIRST
EVIL INSTRUMENTATION MEN
FIGHT MEASURE.
BY w. G. SH EPHERD.
Especial to The Times.)

especial 10 ne itWes.)
NEW YORK, March 29.-lt looks
as IL Gov. Hughes of New York has
solved the question OF the American
political machine.
II is not 10 kill the machine that he
aims.
Rather ne hopes to keep party ma
chimes alive.
But, in his new direct primary law
he has made this arrangement
The minute a party machine be-
comes evil IL will automatically kill
itself
Ii can boss all IL wants TO; II can
name it's own candidates; it can pre-.
pare, to a greater or less extent Its
own platform.
But the minute a bad candidate is
chosen. or an evil platform is set
forth. the destruction OF the commit
tee begins.
And. at the very election where the
bad candidate or the bad platform is
presented TO the people, the bad ma
chine is wiped observation-disclosures
another one put In its place.
Twenty-six primary election laws
analyzed and their best points rolled
into enc direct primary election law
this Is Gov Hughes latest achieve
ment of interest to America at large.
Long live the machine. Long live
party leaders,"
This is the astounding motto which
Gov. Hughes has followed In making
the new bill, now before the state leg
islature.
Machine Men Fight Plan.
The machine men in New York are
Rotten. rotten" says John +.
Raines, the new bill. That's all /
can say OF it,"
Raines Is one of the oldest Republi.
anc machine men in the state.
The kind of a machine the COVER
nor wants isn't the Raines sort. It's
a peoples machine. II has bosses.
But the people, under the new law.
would boss the bosses.
There isn't a state In the union that
cannot we'll afford TO be interested in
Gov. Hughes new law.
There are very few states that don't
have conventions as they do in New
York.
First. a few voters. in little snap
shot caucuses called by precinct
bosses, elect delegates to a conven-
ton. This convention elects delegates
to a state convention. This conven-
ton Is thus two steps removed from
the people.
These delegates go to Saratoga"
says Geo. A. Green, of Brooklyn, Re-
publican assemblyman. who helped
Gov. Hughes make his bill. They
drink a lot the first night. take few
drives, drink the waters to counterfeit
the effect of the booze and then go
to the convention hall.
THE names OF candidates are men-
toned
Are they the ones the big fellows
asked the delegates.
That's the slate, comes from
headquarters.
80 everybody votes for the candi-
Barnes. behind the scenes, are not
even glad that their slate went
through. It's all too ancient and mat
ter-of-fact."
That's the old convention that every
state knows.
Put on Ticket by Petition.
But here's the new convention, un-
der the Hughes plan:
Men who desire to be members of
their partys committees, either ward.
city or state, are put on the ticket by
petition.
This committee meets. 1t is the
There are two roll calls.
In the first roll call, every single men,
Der of the convention must answer.
AT this time he may nominate anyone
he desires for office.
In the second roll call every COM
must rise and vote for the
candidate for the primaries.
This vocal voting. this touch of in
that makes each man re-
sponslble for his own vote. would,
alone. do much toward keeping dele
committeeman they will
be called. under the Hughes plan
in convention orgies.
This convention Is held many
weeks before the election. Their
ticket is practically a machine ticket.
In the old way. the people would be
helpless from this stage of the pro-
ceedings on. In the Hughes way the
people have still another chance to
clean up the ticket, IL II is bad one.
They can put brand new candi-
date on the ticket. by petition. To run
against the machine candidate.
But that's only one way to keep
Gov. Hughes machine decent. There
is way to wipe out the machine and
get a new one In its place.
Heretofore the law hasn't recogniz-
ed the machine. There was no way
for the people To reach IT, Gov.
plan brings the machine out
into the open, recognizes 1t as a ne
cessity.
Nominate New Candidates.
Suppose the machine has named a
bad ticket at the convention. has nam
ed bad men. has been raithless to the
people.
All the people have to do is to NOM
mate new candidates by petition. They
don't have TO vote for the fellow on
the other party's ticket Also. by pc
tition. they nominate new committee
men.
On election day they vote down the
bad machine candidate. Also the bad
Thus brand new
to serve two years is chos-
en-. At tho same time the bad candi.
date IL loft IN the cold without fore