The San Francisco call., 1910-08-15


to the direct primary election law to-
morrow. Not the least important fea-
ture of that test will be the public's
assimilation of the first half of the
lesson" with which the dictators of
the Herrin machine have threatened
the people.
Admitting defeat for their own can
didate, Alden Anderson, the machine
bosses confess their intent to knife
the republican nominee al the general
election polls. I'VE elected Budd and
we may elect Bell" declared one of
the first rank chiefs of the machine,
reiterating his unalterabl BILE opposition
TO Curry and the machines preference
for Johnson. The first test of the
direct primary law will involve not
alone the machines ability to use one
candidate to secure the nomination of
another. but also its ability to fiout
the will Of the party and defeat its
nominee at the general election.
ANDERSON BLAMELEsS
In all fairness to Alden Anderson
the machines candidate, no response
bility for the machines avowed intent
to wreck the party should attach to
him. Anderson undoubtedly entered
the primary race for the republican
nomination for governor believing that
he had a personal following, which,
backed up with the power of the ma
chine. would return him a winner. At
the close of the campaign he insists
that he is confident of his success.
Presumably he is confident. All can
didates are. But Anderson is virtually
alone in that confidence. The men
bending the most desperate energies
to hold his dwindling forces and dump
ing fabulous sums into the campaign
do DOf hpljeVp @ "a n win
The great majority of politicians and
students of California's politics have
admitted for weeks that continuation
Of the fight for Anderson could serve
no other purpose than the possible
determination of the contest between
Curry and Johnson. The machine lead
ers' threat to teach Curry and the
party a lesson" has been heralded
throughout California. 9 So far as sur
face Indications go il has not had the
desired effect
PARTY BOLT PLANNED
1t has not held Anderson's following,
and apparently it has resulted in ma
terially strengthening Curry's hand.
While thousands of republicans may
have been led to believe by campaign
orators that Curry would be acceptable
to the machine, that argument has not
been taken seriously by the great
majority of thinking men of the state.
Not all the people are imbecile enough
to believe that if Curry was not the
man most feared by the machine. the
machine would be making a hopeless
fight for Anderson that at best could
be expected to accomplish no more
than the defeat of Curry and the NOM
ination of Johnson. That the machine
wants Johnson nominated to the end
that it may help elect him few men
will believe. That the machine intends
TO lead a party bolt from Johnson in
the event of his nomination is gen
orally believed as it is generally be-
Iieved that the machine bosses consider
Johnson the one candidate against
whom bolt could be engineered with
hope of success
That sort of thing does not appeal
to the average republican. and the aV-
erage republican constitutes a tremen-
dous majority of his party. He has
he will not willingly lend himself to
a boss scheme to defeat the nominee
of his party. who has been nominated
bv average republicans and against
the wishes of the boss.
The enrolment of large numbers OF
democrats as republicans for the pur-
poses of the primary election has
aroused popular suspicion. Nobody
knows what the great majority of the
democrats so enrolled intend TO do as
republican primary voters. The people
generally know what many of the
prominent Bell democrats purpose do
ing as republican primary voters, for
they have publicly announced that they
have registered as republicans to vote
for Johnson.
This popular suspicion was aug
mented by Johnson's refusal to de-
clare that in the event of his defeat
at the primary election he would sup
port his successful republican oppo-
nent. Ostensibly he based that re-
fusal on the ground that the state
central committee was dominated by
Herrin and consequently had no right
TO assume to represent the republican
party. While the public generally
might be willing to concede that the
state central committee was dominated
by Herrin, thousands of republicans
were not prepared to concede that a
majority or a plurality of the 100000
citizens who were expected to vote at
the republican primaries would be or
could be dominated by Herrin. That
the republicans of the state had
right to know that any candidate sub
hitting himself as a republican to a
direct primary vote would submit as
republican to the will of his party if
il should be recorded in favor of an
other. was recognized by other Lin
colin Roosevelt candidates, who un-
hesitatingly bound themselves to abide
by the popular decision.
JoHNsON's REFUSAL
II NAV be that Johnson did not mean