The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-06-14
A. B. CUMMlkS, Iowa


the thousands ~ the galleries their op-
portunity for participation In the big
show. DEMONSTRATIONS" Of shouts.
tiag wavingS aud the like, in which the
enthusiasm Is galised 10y the number
Of minutes the diu continues. have
become familiar in recent years. Aft.
ervard comes the nomination of the
candidate for vice president, which is
greeted with modified enthusiasm. for.
although three Republican vice presi.
dents have been elevated to the chief
magistracy by the death Of presidents.
comparatively little popular interest Is
awakened In the choice of the man
who has second place on the ticket
.And so home and TO bed" as Mr.
Pepys would say Al any rate, after his
strenuous days IN Chicago. that will
be the besi place for the average dele
gate.
The "Thrss P's" In This Campaign.
Most important OF the unusual fea
lures Of The early stages OF the presi-
dentinI campaign uf 1912 has been the
prefrrrniiai presidential primary. Agi-
tntipn tor direct primaries as a means
Ut fuiliua the Vaccinations OF bosses
has teen acute Tor several years. but
this Is the tits, presidential contest In
whn'ii this device tor uscertaining the
polnlar will ua> ngured. Even now.
in spite oi the attention they have at
trartrd. real preferential priina ries for
the selection Ut prs jdpntial candidates
are established b, Jaw In only small
minority OF the states The first state
to ennct 81 presidential primary law
was Oregon in $50 The other states
which have adopted the innovation 10
some form or another are California.
Illinois. Maryland. massachusetts, Min
nesOta. Nebraska. New Jersey, North
and South Dakota and Wisconsin
Pennsylvania and ohio have not pref
erential primaries IN the ordinary sense
Of the term They choose congress
district delegates 10 the national con
ventiOn by primary, but leave the cleo
ton Of delegates at large to state
convention. In accordance with old
usage
Maine and Michigan have preferen
tial primary Ia vs.. but they were not
operative in this years campaign
voluntary" pres Idential primaries are
in vogue In several states, including
Kansas. Georgia. Florida and Rhode
Island. In all the states the agitation
for the new system was led by the sup
porters OF Roosevelt and Wilson.
North Dakota Brand of Primary.
In North Dakota no restrictions are
imposed UPON legal voters. Any man
may express his preference without re-.
gard to his party affiliations at the last
election The North Dakota law re-
qnires the delegates to take IN oath
to vote In exact accordance with their
Instructions. TINS means that they
cannot shift their vote from La Fol
iette, TO whom they are pledged. to
any other candidate whose name may
come before the convention. nor could
they under the terms Of the law vote
to make unanimous the vote for any
other candidate, even though all the
other Delegates should SO vote. This
provision. however. Is Of little prac.
teal effect since the delegates. if they
ignored II. would be amenabe to no
under the penal code and
since. II they were held to have com.
mitted an OtfenSe. 1t would come I'm.
der the Jurisdiction of Illinois and not
Of North Dakota
The Illinois primary. which played
80 important u part in the successes OF
Colonel Roosevelt. was the result of
the passage OF an emergency bill sign
I'd by Governor Deneen on slckbed
ate In March. Under its provisions
he vote VI each congress district is