The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1912-03-21
WILSON'S DEFY
NOT ACCEPTED
Governor Wilson Stands For a Pres
idential Primary, But the Other
Candidates Are Silent.

Washington, d. c., March 21.-I
Special. Only woodrow Wilson among
the democratic aspirants for the pres
idency has endorsed the presidential
tpreference primary. As yet neither
Speaker Clark, Gov Harmon, Chair
man Underwood, or any of the others
except Gov. Wilson has suggested that
the nomina tion be left to the will of
the democr7 tic voters. The challenge
issued by iir. w. F. McCombs of the
Wilson campaign managers for pres
idential primary has not been taken
sup by any 0. Wilson's opponents.
Neither Clark nor Harmon nor Under
wood is on record in favor of the cleo
tion and instruction of delegates to
the national convention by a vote of
the party voters.
On the other hand, Gov. Wilson is
plain spoken in advocacy of the presi-
direct primary as the cure for the
evils of bossism and machine politics
and he believes that it should govern
the nomination of all candidates for
Office from president down to con-
stable.
That this advocacy of a presidential
primary is not new thing engendered
by Gov. Wilson's present nationwide
popularity an dtaken up as sure
means to get the nomination, is prov
ed by the fact that it was feature of
the first legislative fight Gov Wilson
Undertook after he became governor
of New Jersey Since Governor Will
son is the only democratic candidate
who is candidate in every state of
the union, and since he is opposed by
"a field that has divided the states in
sections and are allied against him, his
friends naturally believe that pri-
mary would nominate him. His en-
senaies believe the same thing, that
why they are not for the primary, and
THAT is why no reply has been received
to the McCombs challenge.
But no such motive of expediency
can be assigned as explaining Gov.
Wilson's attitude. When he was elect
ed governor and the legislature con-
vened, his first fight was to persuade
the legislature to respect the will of
the party voters who had nominated
James E. MARITIME for senator in a di-
rect primary. James Smith, Jr., the
oId.time boss whom President Cleve-
land had connected with the peridy
and dishonor of the emasculation of
the Wilson tariff bill, wanted to set
aside the primary and come back to
the senate. Gov. Wilson stood for the
primary and won
The next thing he did was to get a
bill introduced to change the election
laws and to provide for direct pri-
maries for every officer from president
down to constable The machine
leaders told him they wouldn't let it
pass, and democratic conference was
called to vote the bill down. The
bosses had the votes to do it, too. That
is. they had them whe nthe conference
was called.
Gov. Wilson got himself invited to
the conference He made three-hour
speech in favor of the direct primary
bill. When he had finished the con-
Ference that had met to vote the bill
down voted it up as a party measure
and carried it on to victory The peo-
pie and not the bosses, therefore, will
Instruct delegates in New Jersey this
year 1t was an effective speech and
il showed not only the power of Gov.
Wilson's logical eloquence, but also it
Showed how deep is his faith in the
people, how firm is his conviction that
nominations ought to be made by the
voters in primaries, and not left to
coteries of bosses and machine dead
ers working behind closed doors, even
when they work according to "the rules
of the game.r