The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-28
EVERY Ilfirr'n,ATE K
 PLEDGED ID TAFT Roosevelt Men Completely
 Defeated in New York NEW PRIMARY AS.ED
Roosevelt Leader TeIegraphs Gov ernor Dix Asking Him to Set Aside Tuesdays Primary.
 Taft Men Oppose Plan

. N'""i DLA <AshiiS ulH tO Set Aside Tuesdays Primary.
 Taft Men Oppose Plan
 ooocoOcococoOCoooccoCooooo . New York. March 27.-su- e . preme Court Justice Russel G c Benedict at a late hour tonight c e issued an order to show cause (, c why the result of the primary c c elections of Tuesday in the C c Fourteenth assembly district of c ICs Brooklyn should not be set (; lC aside and a new election or c iC dered. OooocoooooocooooooccocccoS
 New York, March 27.-Delegates to the republican national convention favorine the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt were defeated at yesterdays primary in every district in which they opposed can ddates designated by the regular repub- lican organization and claimed by the followers of President Taft
 Characterizing yesterdays primary in New York county as farce Charles H. Duell, chairman of the Roosevelt com- mittee of the city of New York, after . I conference with Roosevelt leaders today. appealed to Governor Dix to declare the primary invalid and provide for 8 second primary.
 Samuel s. Koenig, chairman of the re- publican county committee, and William Barnes, Jr., chairman of the republican state committee, both express the opinion that a second primary would be illegal.
 Cannot Place Responsibility Leaders of the two factions of the party cannot agree as to who is responsible for the failure to deliver official ballots at many of the polling places yesterday. Chairman Duell insists the republican county organization was responsible, while and the official printers had complete charge of the printing and distribution of the ballots.
 Chairman Duells telegram to Governor Dix read
 ''The newspapers of this morning, with out regard to party or political affiliation declare that yesterdays alleged primary election in this city and throughout the state was a farcial breakdown of the election laws. Great numbers of voters were deprived of the opportunity of cast ing their ballots. The official ballots in many election districts were not delivered at all, and in even more numerous in- stances were delivered shortly prior to | the close of the polls. The unexampled length of IA feet and the complexity of l.t.- the provision of the election law for a substitution of informal ballots in the absence of the official ballots look like conscious irony
 Had No Copies
 "The fact that where official ballots were not supplied no copy of the official ballots containing the names to be voted for were at the polling places, made it physically impossible to Substitute in- formal ballots. Apter method of mocking at the supposed right of the voter to sig nifty his will at a party primary could not have been devised
 "As an avenue of redress for yesterday 1, collapse of the primary election. it would require the institution of thousands of special proceedings and a resultant clog ging of the courts, and the indefinite delay and ultimate defeat of the voter seeking to protect his rights under the primary law.
 When it is borne fin mind that a large section of the citizenship of this state sdrds the primary law in it's present form as disingenuous attempt of a bi- partisan machine to escape honest com pliance with an irresistible public demand for some means of primary expression on the part of the voter. 1t would seem to countenance or tolerate the utter collapse of the law, whose purpose and intention Is under widespread public suspicion, IS to add insult to injury and must pre- clpttate very grave electoral crisis.
 Asks for New Primary
 Tn the interest of honest politics, we ask you, as governor of the whole peo- pie of the state of New York. to give this matter Your immediate official con- sideration, so that by proper recommen- dation to the legislature now in session and with it's cooperation, proper stems may be taken for the vindication of the law now on the statute books, and what we deem even more important, the vim dication of the civil rights of the citizens of the state, underlying the statute. ! Without presuining to formulate your I course of action. it is manifest we think. that another primary should be held at once to abate the public sense of outrage and to solve an intolerable situation"
 Keonig's Reply
 When Chairman Koeng's attention was hdrected to Judge Duell's telegram to 1Governor Dix. he said:
 'The republican county committee will not object to giving the voters in the districts where there were no ballots an opportunity to cast their ballots, but why should we join in request to the gov ernor to throw out the returns of yes- terday's primary and take steps to have the legislature convened in extraordinary session to provide for a second primary contest? Such action, in my opinion, would be Illegal
 Dix Cannot Interfere
 1 Albany. N. Y., March Ex-Governor Dix l has power to order another primary election in New York city. The question