Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-16
PRIMARIES AND PROGRESS

A N article entitled "The Doom OF
N the Old Machine Convention" i"
IA written by Robert S. Binkerd, sec
retary Of the City club of New York,
and published in the American Review
of Reviews. leads to the following sum-
marizing conclusion: Clearly such
primaries mark another such step in
advance inasmuch as they materially
lessen the power of the organization to
conceal its purpose from the affiliated
voters of the party BUT IN LOCAL
| AFFAIRS THE NATIONAL PARTI-
SAN LINES OF DIVISION ARE UN-
REASONABLE AND VICIOUS. The
permanent division of the electorate
into two standing armies makes for
Journalism and rigidity, WHEREAS
PUBLIC OPINION NEEDS TO BE
bRESTORED TO THE CONDITIONS
! of FREEDOM WHICH OBTAINED
IN OUR EARLY HISTORY. Therefore
the partisan direct primary does not
provide the ultimately satisfactory ma
chinery for the analysis of public
opinion at least for municipal, and 1
believe also for state elections. Beyond
/
the partisan direct primary we must
look for either a non-partisan direct
primary or for a method of direct nom
ination by petition.
"It is most interesting and helpful TO
note in partisan direct primary states
like Massachusetts, Iowa and Texas
that the cities have already moved oil
l. Ny3y,, rip IN q
nomination Of candidates for local
office"
The convincing argument in favor of
popular selection of candidates as we'll
as of officeholders is its Americanism.
Every student knows some modern de-
vices prostituted by machine partisan
ship were originally planned to ease
the economy of a governmental system
in a country of magnificent distances,
without thought of greater speed than
could be attained to by the mail coach
or the mounted courier.
The government was designed to be
popular, or representative, but, prin-
principally because Of the distances and
the difficulties of concerted public
action, various makeshifts were re-
sorted to, the actual necessity for which
has gradually disappeared as the in
crease of transportation and communi-
cation facilities has made popular in
telligent concerted action easier.
Political conventions were adopted
simply because it was at one time
highly ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS impos-
sible-to conduct a satisfactory popular
nominating canvass or election, or. as
it is now called, "a primary" All
modern political makeshifts are truly
conventional" and it was necessity
that was the mother of the convention,
a. we'll as of invention. The necessity
has been outlived. He who argues for
indirect nominations in an age of direct
and easy communication is more of an
archaeologist than a sociologist. How
ever, it will be only question of time
until even this reactionary obstruc-
ZIONIST is in line for direct control of
nominations for public offices. Mean
while, his expositions of the risks at
tending progress and the dangerous
nature Of the menaces to privilege
which growl like unmuzzled bulldogs at
the heels of Americanism are useful,
inasmuch as they exhibit the state Of
mind of the antique school he repre-
sents. And as optimistically we look
for ultimate perfection, we are con-
strained to believe of the reactionary
that, like Longfellow's Lucifer the son
of mystery, he too is Gods minister,
and labors for some good by US not
understood.