The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1912-03-28

tablished. President Taft is now for
primaries in states where the law
says there must be primaries, though
his leading supporters have fought
in the legislatures Of Michigan, Mas.
sachusetts, Illinois. New YORK and
other states to prevent the passage
of bills to establish any more pri.
maries. In Maryland public opinion
has brought Governor Goldsborough
to urge the passage of a preference
primary law
Whether Ohio Republicans shall be
afforded the best opportunity under
the present law to express their
preference for the six delegates-at.
large, as well as for the AZ district
delegates, is a question up for imme-
diate settlement. Chairman Walter
+. Brown has called a meeting of the
Republican state central committee
at Columbus, March 80. He also has
declared for such a presidential pref
erence vote for delegates.at-large as
the Democratic state central commit
tee has incorporated in its call, pro.
vided Secretary of State Graves rules
II to be legal.
Chairman Brown wrote to Laylin
you have probably noticed that the
call of the Democratic state central
committee provides for a presidential
preference vote. If the secretary OF
state should rule that provision for
such n vote may be made upon the
official primary ballot. further sug.
gest that the Republican call, i'm a
similar manner, provide for a direct
expression of presidential preference"
Chairman Laylin utte"ly ignored this
suggestion in answering Chairman
Brown last Sunday. BY doing so he
made IL clear that the Taft managers
in Ohio are against a presidential
preference primary. They are still
against it, though President Taft has
said he is for such primaries when
they are legal.
There will be also presented to the
Republican state committee the
Brown proposal for a convention
of the AZ district delegates to select
the six delegates-atlarge That plan
was asserted to he Illegal under the
call of the national committee by
Chairman Laylin of the state execu.
tive committee, after a White House
conference had decided to oppose It.
Chairman Brown in reply to Laylin
disposes of the claim of illegality.
lie said
81 must wholly disagree with the
construction which you place upon
the call of the national committee.
contend that It is entirely within the
power of the state central committee
TO call a convention consisting of
two delegates from each of the 81
congressional districts of Ohio to
meet at Columbus on the 25th day OF
May, or Immediately thereafter, for
the sole purpose of electing six dele
gates-at-large to the national conven-
tion, and further, that It is wholly
within the power of the state central
committee to provide that the dele.
gates to the national convention,
duly elected in the several congress
sional districts OF the state in con.
formally with the state law, shall also
be the duly elected and authorized
delegates constituting such state
convention.
at remains to inquire II such a
convention called by the state cen
tral committee would be a popular
state convention.
Popular in the sense in which
Il is used by the national committee,
contend, means pertaining to or
suitable to the people in general
constituted by or depending on the
people II follows, therefore, that
such a convention consisting OF AZ
delegates duly elected by the people
OF the several congressional districts
directly upon the presidential issue
must be a popular convention.
"Your view that the language
popular state convention called by
the state central committed means
the state nominating convention is
not shared so far as / know by any
Republican state committee in the
country. The calls of the New York
and Indiana state conventions are
before me- Each provides for a state
convention in March for the sole pur.
pose Of electing delegates-at-larg
and another convention, subsequent
to the national convention, for the
purpose of nominating the state
ticket. SO far as I know Ohio is the
only state which has heretofore
made a practice of holding it's state
nominating convention in advance of
the national convention"
The Brown plan has been approved
by a number of the leading Republi-
can and Independent papers Of the
state, among them the Ohio State
Journal and Columbus Dispatch,
which also charged Chairman Laylin
the Taft manager, with being afraid
to trust the Taft cause to the people
Preparing TO oppose engaging In
any more of a popular contest for
delegates than is required by the pri.
mary law, the Taft managers in Ohio
sought to create in advance OF the
DrimDr,es the imnreSsion that Taft