The San Francisco call., 1910-03-02
FOreeasters Agree That at Least
100000 Republican Votes
Will Be Cast
VIII Give Rank of Party First
Opportunity to Name Candi-
/... date for Governor
BY GEORGE A. VAN SMITH

= candidates for gubernatoriaI honors are
agreed.
r. The candidate who can show a total
: Of $4,000 at the primary polls will be
= the republican nominee for governor.
That is another matter upon which they
are virtually agreed. There unanimity
Of opinion ceases. The Curry people
and the Lincoln Roosevelt leaguers
are agreed on one or TWO other matters,
but neither relates to the probable
votes polled by Curry and Johnson,
respectively.
If the forecasts made by the friends
of Curry. johnson and Anderson are
approximately correct the first trial of
the direct primary law in California
viii afford more than vindication for
the law which has been so unfairly
attacked by vicious and disgruntled
critics
WILL BE POPULAR CHOICE
If $4,000 republicans vote at the
primary election in August the repub-
-slican candidate for governor, who ever
: he may be. viii be more truly the
:. shoice of the republicans of California
than any Of his predecessors.
That declaration will bear analysis.
p For the hrst time in the history of
California all the republicans of this
state have an opportunity 10 partici-
pate actively and personally in the Sc
+. lection OF their candidate for. governor
and for every other elective Office. Tn
iii the direct primary election law was
= enacted tile republicans of California
: residing outside the I / principal towns
= had not even an indirect voice in the
selection. Of their party candidates for
- public Office.
Their county committees. chosen by
conventions. chose delegates TO conven-
tions--a very simple ring around the
+ rosie process in which the rank and
~1le Of the party never figured. The
result was that generally less than )
per cent of the republicans could be
said 70 have even lay figure part in
the politics Of their party.
VOTE NAY BE LARGER
And how the managers and friends
Of Curry. Johnson and Anderson are
of the opinion that the 1910 primary
vote VIII be in excess Of 10000. 1t
Z Is an even bet that their estimates are
too conservative. But for purposes of
comparison let it be assumed that the
republican primary vote only reaches
their estimated minimum.
One hundred and fifty thousand votes
are $4,000 more than the total polled
for the head of the republican state
ticket at the general election in 1905.
a total of 10000 votes will top the
whole party vote for lieutenant gov
erRor IN 1906 by 5000. Striking an
average between the high vote polled
by Edward Hyatt in 1906 and the low
3 vote polled by Gillett and the mini
mum estimate for the primary vote for
1910 Is substantially the same as the
whole party vote in 1906.
In other words. the men most vitally
interested in the results of the first
California direct primary election be-
,fieye that as many republicans viii
participate Ia the selection of their
1910 ticket as turned out to elect their
1906 ticket.
LABOR AGAINST BELL
It is true that the voting population
OF California is larger now than il was
in 1906 II is true, too, that Theodore
Bell.-who had the union labor nomina-
ton ia 1906. will be bitterly opposed
by the political directors of the union
labor lzlovement and that considerable
numbers of union ia Dor party voters
will register as republicans for the pri-
snaFy election. That recognized: fact
was undoubtedly taken into consider
alton by Charles F. Curry for himself,
Max. Kuhl, for Johnson and John G.
Lynch for Anderson when they made
their estimates yesterday. IT has been
the accepted thing In San Francisco
ever since the Devlin partisan regis
zration law went into effect. :.
The old register made UP under the
Devlin law indicated that 55 per cent
of San Franciscoss vote was republican.
No state or local election ever indi-
Gated anything like that. The new
register started January 1. 1910, indi-
Gates that so per cent OF more of the
vote registered this year will quality
for participation in the republican pri-
mary fight.
MANY REPUBLICANS REGISTER
Pending the decision Of the supreme
court in the registration test case reg
istration was slow. Since February Is
the daily average has steadily climbed.
it is 200 day now, and will probably
20 to 900 within a week The total reg
istration up to February IS was 2,5l2.
OF that total 1,527 were republicans, 395
democrats. 443 union labor party men,
Is socialists. s prohibitionists, II doodle
dees and 10 declined to state party af-
filfations- and were thereby barred from
participation in the primary election
Conservative estimators place San
F'rancfsco's 5 primary vote at from As, 900
10 3. 600, and the republican vote at
from 10000 to $4,000. In 1906 the whole
ssuspernatofia vote polled at the general
election was 1926. Gi1lett's vote was
1908 The republican direct primary
vote last fall was twice as large as the
Cillett general election vote in 1906, and
the most conservative estimate places the
republican primary vote for 1910 at two
and a half times the Gillett total All
of which indicates that the politicians
have made up their minds to the effect
that the people are going TO take ad-
vantage of the direct primary law and
exercise their right to select their own
party nominees.
CANDIDATES ARE BUSY
Fifteen candidates have formally fled
their declarations with the registrar of
voters and secured the qualifica tion of
verification deputies. Eight are candi-
dates for republican nomination to state
Office Those who want state jobs are
Charles Forrest Curry, for governor;
Frank c. Jordan and II. S. Morrow, for
secretary Of state; Edward II. Aigel-
finger, for railroad commissioner; r. H
Fitzgerald for clerk of the supreme
court; w. w. Shannon and Grattan D.
Phillips, for superintendent of printing,
and George d. Graybill, for member of
the state board Of equalization
Other candidates filed are Dominick
J. Beban, republican, for senator from
the twenty fourth district; Alfred Rom
Covieri,- union labor, for superintendent
Of schools; Thomas J. Kennedy. demo-.
crat. for senator from the twentieth
-fof.