Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1910-09-07
VOTES FOR A DEAD MAN.

Information contained in the news
dispatches from Madison, Saturday,
was to the effect that Secretary
Crownhart, of the LaFollette organ
ization, presumably with the con-
sent Of his chief, the Senator, advis-
ed all Wisconsin so called Progress
sions to vote the name of Frank T.
Tucker deceased, for attorney gen
eral of the state. The ballots in the
several counties of the state had at
that time been printed and distri-
buted, and it was urged that, al
though Mr.. Tucker was dead. if he
received a plurality of the votes
cast, another name could be sub.
stituted for his by the state com
mlttee, after the primaries.
This is ''Progressivism" gone mad.
There were two other Republican
candidates for that office, whose
names appeared upon the ballots =
Levi A. Bancroft, of Richland Cen
ter. an able lawyer and brilliant
speaker, who was formerly an en-
thusiastic LaFollette supporter but
now opposing him, and Henry A.
Gunderson of Portage. understood
TO be now Progressive"
1t is remarkable proposition to
ask voters to cast their ballot for a
dead man, when there are other
good men-live ones candidates
for the same place, in order that a
committee might afterward do the
choosing for the people.
Mr.. Tucker committed suicide a
few nights ago, at Oshkosh, The
only cause that can so far be attri-
buted for his act was the discovery
that his campaign literature was
being sent out in government
stamped envelopes stolen from one
of the state departments and bear
ing the card of the state fire mar
shall. The dead man denied any
knowledge of the theft, and it is
only charitable to his memory that
he should have the benefit of the
doubt. If guilty he made repara-
tion for the few paltry dollars with
his life. There is no reason to be-
lleve, however, that he would have
filled the office for which he was a
candidate more capably or honestly
than either of the other two candi-
dates.
The underlying principle of the
primary law is that it takes the
power Of selecting public officials
away from the bosses and places
that power directly with the people,
and yet this proposition of Mr..
Crownhart's would seek to rlullify
that principle and turn the power
back to fixed committee.
Instances are numerous which in
dictate that the men who were most
vOciferOus in demanding primary
law, professedly I'm the interest
Of the people" are the first to dis
regard and ignore it's decisions
when such decisions are not to their
liking.
The legal complications that
might arise, in case a larger mum be r
Of ballots were cast for Mr. Tucker
than for either Of the other candi-
dates, are many. The main ques-
ton would naturally be: Could the
state committee substitute a candi-
cate or would the other candidate
voted for who received the next
highest number of votes be the
nominee?
At the hour of this writing the
vote throughout the state is not
sufficiently reported that it may be
known how the attorney general
ship has been decided. There is
little doubt that thousands Of votes
have been cast for Mr.. Tucker by
men who did not know that he is
dead, but we cannot believe that to
any very great extent men who did
know it have voted for him for the
reasons set forth by Mr.. Crownhart.