Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-06-05
Boost a WiIImar Industry and
Ask for J0hnson's Velvet Ice Cream.
Give % : Real Primary Law.

Some 10000 farmers in the state of
Minnesota are personally interested in
the special session of the Legislature
called to consider a direct primary law,
a corrupt practices act, and reappor-
tionment.
1t is quite unnecessary to consider at
this time the political cross-currents
that wrung reluctant assent to action
from the bipartisan reactionary ma
chine that has for years controlled Min
nesota. The people of the state should
remember only that the time has come
to get progressive legislation, and they
should rest content with nothing less
than the best that may be secured. If
they muddle the present opportunity
they will deserve the contempt in which
they have been and are held by the ma
chine" = - - :.
OF the three measures up for consid-
Grafton the direct primary offers the
most, and may mean the least. AL de-
ponds on the character of the accepted
law. If it is worded so as to permit
minority candidate to land the nomina-
ton thru splitting up the opposition, it
will again fool the people. It is safe to
say that such will be the form of the
bill offered by the state machine. None
other could perpetuate it's power.
What the people need, in order to Sc
cure control of the nominations, is the
preferential primary. This sounds big
and hard, but it is very simple. Suppose
four candidates for the gubernatorial
nomination. Call them Smith, Brown,
Jones and White. For our purposes sup
pose that Jones is the machine" man,
and that the voters want to swat" him
that is, a clear majority of them do,
but that the vote is split up among the
other three in such manner that he
will be likely to get more votes than
any other candidate. Under the pre-
ferential system ousting Jones is easy.
This is how it is worked:
Andrew Larson goes to the primar-
les and calls for a ballot. He enters
the booth, and puts down a cross OPP
posite the name of Brown, his candi-
date, and in the square nearest to the
name. Then if his second choice is
Smith in the second square over he puts
not for Brown, his vote would have been
for Smith. Suppose he does not care
particularly about White, but wants to
see Jones defeated at any cost, in the
third square over, opposite the name of
White, he puts third cross. The
squares opposite the name Of Jones all
stand blank. On no opposite cOmbfna-
ton of votes can he get any help from
the vote cast by Larson, and every
possible combination of votes is against
him This is just what Larson wanted
done, and the preferential ballot gave
into his hands the power of doing it.
If there is no majority of the total
of votes cast for first choice, that is to
say If Smith, for example, does not get
more first choice votes than all the rest
combined, the second choice votes are
figured in, and added to the first choice.
1t may then develop that Brown leads,
but s.4n with too few to place him in
nomination. Then the third choice votes
are called upon, and ADDED as the second
were, when it may happen that White,
distanced on the first and second choice,
gets the majority vote. This means that
White is acceptable to more people than
any other or all other candidates, and
therefore is the real choice of the peo-
pie. Under the workings of such law
it would be impossible for ring can
didate opposed by healthy public SEN
timent to force himself upon the party
or the state.
Such a preferential law should be
passed by. the special session now to
convene. And unless Inc legislature does
pass such a law, one with real progress
in it, 1t should refuse to pass any at all.
There should be no halfway business
about the proposed legislation.-Farm
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