The Alaska citizen., 1911-01-02

alone for his conduct In office and has. therefore. every incentive to render the best possible public ser vice How different in all essentials from the position of the candidate who has received his nomination a the hands of d convention controlled hy political machine.
 The great masses of people are not only intelligent, but honest The. have no selfish interests to serve and ask nothing of their public officials hut faithful and efficient service. Only the v,ry few have interests adverse 10 those of the general welfare. The people therefore act only for public good when they choose between can didates for tle nomination or can dates for ol ct'on.
 The direct primary encourages the people of the country to study public questions and 10 observe an, pass judgment upon the acts Of theiI public officials. This in itself tends very strongly to the building up O. a better citizenship.
 Honest selections mean honest gov ernment and better public servants.
 Public servants who lack confidence in the intelligence CT honesty of
 he people will find their feelings re ciproCatsd.
 Primary Laws Protect Parties.
 Many claim that primary laws de -troy party. In my opinion, they protect and cement parties. Party success depends, under primary laws upon the ideas and principles adyO- cated and the nominations made b. he parties in their primaries. Ii majority party fails 70 make proper nominations, or if the minor fly party has better material in it. electorate. then the minority party would rapidly develop into major ity party, and rightly so. Under [ ,reCt primary law no individual caI require a large personal following Ol ,uild up a p.rsonal organization, eX cept such a following as would sup port the individual on account he principles advocated by him he demonstration made by him as public servant. But ID man wOul be able to transfer such a follow
 ng for or against another individual
 hough he might influence thousands Jr hundreds of thousands of voters @ support his ideas. constructive suggestions. or proposed solution oi pending problems. This does not dc stroy party, but elevates an strengthens it. and fortunate, inde q is that party which possesses in its electorate one or more individuals "ho are able 10 advance new ideas IT evolve solutions which appeal f
 he sound judgment of his fellow men.
 Popular Selection Of President ant
 Vice-President.
 For years the desirability of p0pu lar selection of candidat,s for Pres ident and Nice-President has grGWr upon my mind. By adoption of such plan, Presidents would be re
 ieved of pronominatiOn or pre-eleC- ton obligations, exec pt the Obliga
 ion of good service to all the peo- pie. Thus accountability to the peO pie alone would be established anC aSpirants for the presidency would b. free from the necessity of con sulting the wishes of men who make and manipulate conventions. To ren der good public service would be the sole desire, for reelection would de pend upon demonstration of capabil ity and fitness for office. Because of his conviction I have arranged to submit. under the initiative, to the D ODle of Oregon al the next general election bill further enlarging the scope of our present primary law. It provides for the direct primary election Of delegates to national con ytntiOns, selections of presidential electors, and gives the opportunity to the elector in his party primary to express his preference for Presi- lent and Vice-Pre sident.
 l am confident that the people of Oregon will enact this law, and l hope that other states will follow her example. in which event, through the crysta alizatiOn of public opinion, method of popular selec- ton of presidents and vice-presidents would be secured without violation of the federal constitution.
 Not a Revolutionary Change.
 The declaration by each state of it's choice for president would be in no sense wider departure from the constitution than was the trans formation of the electoral college in- to mere registering or recording ' change in anywise revolutionary. The theory of the constitution was that each state should choose a body of electors who should have choice election-as to those for whom they should vote for president and vice president. This theory we find ex- pressed in all the eXpOsitory letters and pamphlets written by those who drafted the Constitution. The cleo tors were to be free men, bound to no candidate, nor to any party. They were to met and survey the whole country, choosing therefrom according to their own unhampered and w1sest judgment the man best fitted to be the head of the nation. This was the law of 17S9, and 1t is the law i today. Theoretically and legally the electoral college which cast its per functory vote for MT. Taft and MT. sherman might have elected MT. Bryan and Mr. Kerns. Had this been lone, all the vast power of the su preme court could not have set the election aside or compelled a | true registration of the popular de cision as expressed at the polls. The | constitution of the United States was changed a hundred years ago | by force of mere popular acceptation | and general usage, so that it's ma | chinery today is used to effect an end which it does not in it's letter eX- | press - and did not in it's concep | ion anticipate. We have made the | constitutional machinery suit our idea of the way this government