Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1912-04-23
HARVEST OF THE SYSTEM.

The defeat of Jonathan Bourne for
the nomination to succeed himself as
candidate for United States senator,
should be cause for congratulatiOn on
the part of every loyal citizen of Or
egon. Confident in his ability, or
rather in the intricate workings of
the system" which he claims to have
promulgated, to bring him another
victory, this egotstical representative
Of Oregon, with the declaration that
"the people are on trial, not l." re-
mained away from the state and con-
tented himself with sending tons of
pense of the government under his
senatorial franking privilege.
The Observer opposed the renom-
ination of Senator Bourne because
we sincerely believed that the good of
Oregon demanded his defeat As is
well known by all who have taken
the trouble to investigate for them
selves, or who are familiar with CON
ditions, this state has been shame
fully ignored by the national govern
ment in many ways and the develop
ment of her resources have been
greatly hindered by the incompetent
cy of her congressional delegation
Representative Hawley is the only
man from Oregon who has really
been of benefit to the state, but he
has been handicapped by the unwiI-
lingness Of his colleagues to assist.
fearful pcrhaps, that anything hey
might 90 would, eventually, rebound
to the credit of the Salem statesman
rather than themselves Oregon has
been the victim of too much politics
and too many legislative experiments
in the past. As the result of these
explorations along untried and un-
known pathways. men without ability |
and entirely untitled to discharge the |
duties of the position, have been elect /
ed 20 office, and the people of the
state have suffered as a result. This /.
is one of the results of the direct
primary method Of selecting candi- /
dates. In the old convention days .
II cannot be denied that the men Sc
lected to represent the commonwealth |
at Washington, or elsewhere. were .
generally broader in mentality
and possessed Of more ability
than some who have gained office
in recent years That the old
system was abused and used by
unprincipled politicians for their
own gain. is true i'm a measure. but.
on the whole, We believe that better
and more competent men were Sc
lected. Under the present system all
a man has to do to run for Office is
To file his intention with the Secre-
tary of State. issue a platform of high
sounding platitudes ana depend upon
the voters to do the rest While the
great mass of the people are thor q
oughly honest and generally right.
II is impossible. owing to the very ma
ture of things for them to know their &
candidates personally and the great .
mass of them simply make guess {
when depositing their ballot. They '
may guess right and they may guess q
wrong. yet the welfare of the state ,
depends upon this slender chance. .
The candidates are unknown. often G
have been repudiatcd in their own s
by the people who know O.
them best. they have been found un- s
1uted Co Discharge the duties of the "
most ordinary official trust Vet they q
aspire 60 larger jobs and trust 70 Il
luck 60 secure them %
Under the old convention system q
he state OF Washington possessed e.
bright congressional dell IL
'gation. Francis W. Cushman. In his Is
lifetime was national figure whose u
influence was great at Washington. c
Congressman Jones (now senator) Is %
man of ability and sound Judgment: N
everal others from the state have 81
EFT their marks on the hall OF fame. 81
.ut things have changed somewhat. OF
he direct primary method of select r.,
'g candidates has been adopted ia M
upon lines similar 10 81
hose Of Oregon. and now the state 81
as a couple Of jokes at the National ~
apital. senator Poindcxter and Rep- p,
sentative Warhurton who rode into er
nce two years ago. never could have On
zen successful under the old con- o.
antion system. especially the latter. 90
no. until ne aspired 10 the Wash an
.Eton job. was a very ordinary. third th
re attorney in Tacoma eking
-ecarious existence. His candidacy
as not accepted seriously hy the ad
-opie ef his district yet neverthe- in
-. De succeclcd in gcttinr the cn- Io-
,rsement Of the labor unions in ce
-ong labor cEnters and rode into th.
bee as the ~workingman's cham "a.
sn. BE has been a member 90 en-