Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1912-09-16
respect. when he asks for the ballot

respect, when he asks for the ballot
of any party not his own.
OF course, we understand that this
view is scorned in the Herald Office.
The Herald turned Republican two
short years ago, when Democracy
was without chance of success. Now
that the star of Democracy appears
about to rise it crawls back into the
Democratic party. but it can not seem
to forget its solicitude for the Re-
publican party, which really can get
along without Democrats or Bull
Moosers, and which has an unde-
niable right to get along without them
in primary election.-Aberdeen
World.
Well! we'll! This is surely some
scold for the Herald, and the worst
feature of it that most of the allie
cations against this paper are alb
solutely true. The Herald certainly
uAu OOJCCI " TIC oCuCAAc VI TIC
World and the Taft club to prevent
republicans who did not favor the
reelection OF President Taft, from
having voice in the nomination OF
the state and county officers whom
they proposed to support in Novem.
Der, and who will be, should they
be elected, officers of the state of
Washington and Chehalis county, not
of the republican party.
This paper opposed the reckless
challenging of qualified republican
voters at the polls, as happened, in
many instances, notably a precinct OF
the Sixth ward, by challengers and Of
ficials utterly ignorant of the prOvi-
sions of the law permitting such
challenges, and incompetent to ad-
minister the required oath. That a
republican intended to vote in No.
vember for one or more democrats,
socialists or prohibitionists did not
disqualify him from voting that party
ticket at the primary, and whether
he intended to scratch the republican
nominee for president or constable
made absolutely no difference, with
regard to his qualification to partici-
pate in that primary-and the Aber.
deem World knows it.
1t Is safe to assume that less than
ten per cent of the republican voters
in this county who will repudiate
Taft in November has been aligned
with the Bull Moose party, yet this
remaining remnant of the old stand.
pat machine would have made an oath
Of fealty to Taft the test of ones
qualification to vote that primary
ticket. The ballot did not contain
the names of presidential electors
anyway, and a republican who was
determined to support Wilson, or
Roosevelt, was entirely within his lie.
gal rights when he called for the
ticket of his party When the World
says, There is no constitutional
right of suffrage in nominating pri.
mary" it errs amazingly. The con.
stitution fixes the qualification Of vot.
ers at all elections in the state, and
the primary, like all other laws pro.
viding for elections. must and does
respect this constitutional provision
Had the attempt been confined to
persons who had actually left the
party and joined the Roosevelt or.
ganization, for state and county as
well as national purposes, and com.
petent challengers been provided for
the task, the friction that occurred
at various polling places in Aber
deem would have been avoided. In
stead, we had an indiscriminate chal
longing by persons incompetent and
ignorant of the law they were sup