Los Angeles herald., 1910-04-26
Unpopular
Vote for Choice of
United States
Senator

| state wide vote for United States SEN
ator by retaining statements No. l and
! No. 2 in the bill-AnthOny, Bell, Bird
sail. Black, Boynton. Caminetti. Camp
bell, Cartwright, Curtin. Cutten, Estu-
dillo. Holoran, Miller, Roseberry, Rush,
Sanford. Stetson, Strobridge, Thomp-
son and Walker-20
Against the provision-Bates, Bills.
Burnett, Finn, Hare, Hartman, Hurd,
Kennedy. Leavitt. Lewis, Martinelli,
Mccartney, Price. Reilly, Savage, Weed,
Welch, Willis, Wolfe and Wright-20
After a struggle which lasted up to
within week OF adjournment, the
machine succeeded in having the bill
thrown into a committee of free con-
ference made up of Senators Wolfe,
Leavitt and Wright, and Assembly
men Leeds. Johnson of Sacramento
and Hewitt. This committee substi-
tute the following for statements No
l and No. 2:
by nominating petitions signed and
! filed as provided by existing laws party
candidates for the office of United
States senator shall have their names
! placed on the official primary election
ballots Of their respective parties, in
| the manner herein provided for state
| offices; PROVIDED, HOWEVER,
THAT THE VOTE FOR CANDI-
! DATES FOR UNITED STATES SEN
| ATORS SHALL BE AN ADVISORY
| VOTE FOR THE PURPOSE OF AS
! CERTAINING THE SENTIMENT OF
THE VOTERS IN THE RESPEC-
TIVE SENATORIAL AND ASSEM-
| BLY, DISTRICTS IN THE RESPEC-
TIVE PARTIES, and the senatorial
and assembly nominees shall be at lib
erty to vote either for the choice of
such district expressed at said primary
election, or for the candidate for United
| States senator who shall have received
! the Endorsement of such primary elec-
tion in the greater number of districts
electing members of his party to the
! legislature"
This provision is now the law of the
state. The opinion of the better ele-
ment of the legislature regarding it
| is best expressed in the statement
made by Senator Stetson, in eXplana-
! tion of his vote to accept the report of
the committee on free conference.
Before voting on this matter" said
! Stetson, "lest anyone in the future
may think that 1 have been passed
something and didn't know 1t, 1 wish
| to explain my vote, and wish to say
| that this permission accorded a can
! didate to go on record to support that
candidate for United States senate,
who shall have the Endorsement of
! the greatest number of districts, comes
from nobody and goes to nobody. 1t
means nothing-mere words-idle
words. The only way in which a can
/ didate could have been pledged would
| have been to provide a pledge or in
structions to the legislature. The
words shall be at liberty mean moth
| ing and get nowhere. l shall vote for
this report, not because I want to, but
because 1 have to If we are at this
session to have any direct primary law
at ALL"
The Lincoln Roosevelt league has
adopted resolutions demanding that
the direct primary law be so amended
! by the next legislature as to give a
practical statewide vote for United
! States senator. The machine can be
counted upon to oppose such legislation
/ just as strongly as it did at the last
! session. But Californias fight for a
direct primary law will not have been
won until the machine is defeated on
this issue and the provisions demanded
embodied in the law.