The Baltimore County union, the Towson news., 1909-09-11
pIREcr pRIMARY A FA1LuRR.
Bosses Have Their Own Way and Escape
Responsibility.


Under the title "a Maryland Mess the
New York Sun Of August q published COM
munication from Mr.. Benjamin A. Richmond
of Cumberland, Nd, who is well and favora-
bly, known as one Of the leading lawyers of
this State giving results and conclusions on
the recent primaries held in Allegany county.
Mr.. Richmond's views on our new primary
election law will doubtless be indorsed by
many voters of Baltimore county. His letter
follows:
In the discussion of the direct primary it may
formed of our experience in Maryland county
under direct primary law in action. In this
State all primaries by a recent law are now
regulated by long minute and intricate statute,
entailiDg enormous labor upon the election Off
cials and great cost and expense to the county
and candidates. Under this law any citizen who
share Of the expense and is otherwise eligible
can compel the supervisors to place his name
upon the official ballot.
party. four weeks before the date of voting as
sumes all the Objectionable characteristics of
regular election. Combinations and bargains,
intrigues and trading. crimination and recrimi-
nation, newspaper charges and counter charges,
and regular flood of the usual hand bills. mark
the closing days of the contest, with all the con-
seQuent bad feeling, interruption of business and
disturbance Of the peace of the community.
at a primary held here last week for the
nomination of county officers, fifty seven per-
sons offered themselves as candidates, and the
result to large majority of the members of that
party. not professionally interested as politi-
clans, was distinctly disappointing. Perhaps no
scheme born of such alluring promises of
form ever proved so illusory. Some of the par
ticulars in which the law in actual practice sig
nally failed are as follows:
/. It was claimed that by direct vote of the
people better class of men would be selected
for the various offices than by the convention
system. just the contrary turned out to be the
fact. AS any man under the new system could
force his name on the ballot by mere compli
ance with the law a large number without re-
gard to fitness crowded forward as candidates.
This, of course, deferred better men who would
have accepted a nomination from a convention
from entering the unseemly scramble. The
voter, being confined to selection from among
the names on the ballot Since independent
voting is practically useless), was reduced to
mere choice between evils. The quality of the
ticket nominated was thus entirely regulated by
terry of the candidates themselves, and not by
their fitness at all. Net result the selection,
with few exceptions, Of an inferior ticket,
2. 1t was claimed for the new primary that it
would at least enable the majority of the voters
to express their will, whether the candidates
selected should be the best who could be had or
not. This proved to be a delusion. So many
candidates crowded upon the ballot that some of
tn4se SECURING even yen small minority were noml
ing less than one-fourth of the total votes cast
were actually nominated although more than
three-fourths of their fellow party men rejected
them and preferred other persons.
8. It was confidently claimed that if the new
primary did nothing else it must surely deliver
the people from the domination of the party
leaders so called bosses, but this proved to be
the most amusing chimera of all. The party
leaders by tip to their favorites made sure that
their names should be snugly on the ballot along
with the rest, and then by quietly rallying their
political henchmen throughout the county to
the support of these particular favorites they
were all forced to the front, and by thus receiv-
ing the largest minority vote the slate went
through to a man. It was the simplest and
easiest thing ever seen /; not half as much trouble
and bother to the leaders as managing con-
ventiOn.
4. The bosses thereby escaped all RESPONSE
bility for the nominations. If some of them are
bad, did not the people make them? Why, what
would your The people cried for direct pri-
mary and they got it. Then how can they blame
the bosses If the scheme did not work out to suit
them? Thus the bosses quietly made the whole
ticket while the people fondly thought they
were choosing their nominees in defiance of the
bosses. o. temporal 1t is to laugh. 1t makes
one believe that Lncoln's talk about not being
able to fool all the people all the time was only
one of his jokes after all.
These are but a few of the particulars in
which the direct primary has utterly failed to
improve upon the convention system, but
need not name the rest.
1t is sufficient to say that the plan in actual
practice here has not accomplished single re-
form SO confidently claimed for it by its spon-
sors. Perhaps no one political panacea ever yet
hatched in the cloistered brain of the scolist or
evolved from them priori logic of the academi-
clan has proved in actual practice such snare
and delusion as the direct primary.