The Washington times., 1911-10-03
THE STRUGGLE FOR POPULAR
NOMINATIONS.

Every State that was a member of
the Confederacy has adopted the pri-
mary system of making political NOM
nations. The whole Pacific, noun
tain and Middle West has it. Only
the conservative States of the East
have thus far stood against it, and
these have not all succeeded.
The perfect primary nomination sys-
TEN has not been devised. Such
system, in fact, is inconsistent with
the bipartisan political system that
survives here after most countries
have grown away from it. The man
who votes at the primary of a party
is theoretically bound to support the
nominee. whether he personally ap-
proves that nominee or not. Thus in
dependent voting is discouraged. The
man who wants to retain absolute
independence for exercise at the cleo
ton. tends to remain out of the pri-
mary, and the Independent is the very
man who makes the primary most
useful
The absolutely wide-open, unparti-
san primary makes complete inde-
pendence possible. All parties hold
primaries simultaneously. The voter
on entering the booth is handed all
the tickets, and two envelopes. He
marks the ticket he likes, puts it in
one envelope, and seals it. He puts
the unused tickets in the other enve-
lope, seals it, and hands both to the
election officers. The vote is dropped
into one box, the unused ballots into
another.
This makes it possible for Demo
Gratis to vote at the Republican Iri-
mary, and Republicans to vote at the
Democratic. Nobody is under any re-
straint; no party affiliations are de-
manded, no pledge of regularity is
even implied.
1t is a system that would simply
horrify the old-time narrow partisans
who, generally knowing little of the
actual results of primaries, argue that
the Republicans would vote for weak
Democratic candidates, the Democrats
for weak Republicans, and the result
would be the worst possible conditions.
There is just one difficulty with
this argument:
IT ISN'T TRUE.
In actual experience with this sys-
tenn, the people are found to be square
with themselves and square with the
large purpose of getting the best men
for the offices. The Democrat who
votes for a Republican in the primary
votes for the good man, not the bad
one, as he sees it, and with intent to
support that man if nominated. But
he does not bind himself to support
the other man if HE is nominated.
What is the primary for? If it is
intended to strengthen the bipartisan
system, then this sort of primary is
most undesirable. If it is intended to
get the best men into office, and to
promote independence in voting, this
system does the business.
No such radical proposal has yet
been seriously considered in any East
ern State, nor is it likely to be soon.
The New York assembly is desperate
ly trying to do something with the
primary question, both parties being
pledged to pass such legislation, and
the old-line leaders in both being de-
termined to prevent it, or make it as
| Ineffective as possible.
The Jersey primary, just employed
for the first time, is being attacked
with violence and unfairness. The
people who first opposed it because
they thought it would uphold Wilson's
hands, now denounce it because it
didn't sustain Wilson!
Maryland has a mighty poor pri-
mary law, but it proved good enough
to uncover and expose the rotten
ness of a political condition hardly
paralleled in any other State. But
its enemies denounce it because it got
the Democratic party into trouble.
Well, Maryland must decide whether
it would rather be ruled by cor
rupt gang, masquerading under the