The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-03-07
MAN WHO ALWAYS VOTES
STRAIGHT TICKET DEG-
TROY5 EFFECTIVENESS.
INDEPENDENT MEN COUNT
Rubber Stamp Voters Must Swallow
What is Set Before Them
Republican tTarty Must
BE Progressive.

Akron, O., March G.-More than 5c',
Republicans, mostly prGgress,yes, in
attendance at he Lincoln banques
! here toaisIt, heard Clifford plneaol,
seconded by James Il. Garfield, OF
| Cleveland, and A. l.. Gar!oll |, cf Ely
ria, Ohio, declare for Independence Of
parties rather than regularity.
! o. G Barbour, Of Axiom, 80 s1o.e.
/ Cleveland had delegation Of 80
/ progressive Republicans present, ana
there were delegates from other
northern Ohio cities ard towns. air.
| PincIiot said in part
Party ties SIT ore lightly on tie.
voter today than for many years, ami
.!Iat is vel In The last election
| many 4 EeprElican was beaten by the
Wfgsll Of his fellow Republicans to
annpcrt him rather t!2n uy ;1c oyFa-
sit,an Of the Democrats. The poli..-
cal unrest Of today is mercy Il s.gn OF
political Independence, anl polite.
Independence holds the reomisc or
free institutions
There are ! believe, m1~y mca
who feel as / do. ! am Republican,.
but | am an American first. ! am !:
Republican, but reserve the right to
vote for what | helieve | wouli
rather be right than be "rcgg1ar'
The man who always votes
Straight ticket has dcstrosu: rs OWE
fpoliticaJ effectiveness. Ite has SIN
ply counted himself ot,. Frae vote
of the alwaysregular Republican sim
pie cancels the vote Of the alwaya-rec
rlar Democrat. In effect the two arr
paired, and neither has an influence
on the final result.
The hide-bouad regular must swa,-
low what is set before lim. Down Il;
must go, though it choke him. Dis
likes and mis5iyings alike give way
at the crack CT tie party whip. There
fore he has nothing to say as to plat
| forms or candidates. The men the
| political leaders never fear to lose are
the men these sumo leaders need
make no effort to retain. Wne1 party
platforms are drawn up, no cAanern
need he made to meet the rock-ribbeG
regulars views, for he will vote the
ticket anyhow, When candidates arc
| nominated, no concessions to IFS p--
ference are required, for he will vote
| the ticket anyhow. When elections
are held, the rubber-stamp voter or
dhc one side is Offset by the rubber
stamp voter on the ther side, ara
the issue is decided by the men who
| vote ther convictions where they
find them. The Elen who count are
| the men with independence enough
to weigh platforms, Judge candidates,
and act on what they fini.
| Reguiarity in a party is often com,
pared and confused with loyalty in
an army They are not the same. In
war the pgiyates in an army arc un-
| der the command of their officers
in a free government, on the con.
trary, Tire officers are under the com,
mand Of the rank and file. We pr
Yates in the army Of progress are be-
Ginning to understand this great fact,
which some OF the Old leaders yet
| find it hard to realize.
The man who boasts of his unshaK-
able regularity is boasting of his un,
shaEable inefliciency, Tie is proud
| that he does not count. The men who
will net follow the leaders when they
go wrong ure the men who keep the
| leaders right. The men who will not
| follow the party when 1t goes wrong
are the men who keep the party
right
Whatever is right and vital in the
Republican party today is progressive
| Whatever is not progressive is dying
or dead When any part of a living
body dies, "cut it off and cast 1t from
thee" or the death OF the whole will
| follow The Republican party cannot
| live nalf dead and half alive. 1t can
not continue half reactionary and half
progressive. There has been doubt
ao tn the iseue There la lnco tnffav
We shall live, If we free ourselves
from the gangrene Of blind devotion
to things that have gone by.
As nation we are passing out OF
the political leading-strings OF the spe-
cial interests into the full develop
ment of political maturity. i'ae sign
OF our advance from childhood into
manhood is the progressive move
nent.