The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1912-10-24

Four whole aehem- and system Of cleo
hon machinery will be such as VIII
properly safeguard the ballot and ae-
compIsh, as far as is possible By
FieeisIatIon, that honesty and purity
in our elections so much desired by
IAN good citizens; and.
whereas, Several OF the States have
enacted primary laws ana tested their
: eficfency. which laws diner very ma
terialIy in their provision, and, it is
desirable that the provisions Of these
laws and the results obtained from
them be inquired into, in order that
We may profit by the experience of
our sister states and avoid mistakes
OF some of them! and.
whereas, it would be unsatisfactory
and unwise for this Legislature, at
this time, to undertake such an lnyes-
tigation at great expense to the State,
or to attempt such legislation without
investigation.
Therefore, That a joint committee
OF I'VE members OF this Legislature,
consisting OF two members OF the
Senate, to be appointed by the Presi-
( dent Of the senate, one Of whom shall
be a Republican and one a Democrat,
and three members Of the House of
Delegates, to be appointed by the
Speaker of the House, two Of whom
shall be Democrats and one Repub-
Iican. be appointed. whose duty il
shall be to examine primary election
laws of other states and to inquire
into the operation and effectiveness OF
such laws, and results obtained from
them, and to examine and consider all
! laws of this state Affecting the integ-
rity Of elections, the state registra-
ton law. the corrupt practices act and
general election law and ballot law,
and report to the next regular session
of the Legislature, by bill or other
wise, the result Of their investigations,
and said committee is authorized to
sit during the recess Of the Legisla-
ture.
Said committee shall be allowed per
diem of four dollars per day each for
! the time actually employed in the
matters herein committed to them.
and actual expenses paid in travelling
to and from the places of their sit
tings. The first meeting OF said com
mittee shall be at time and place to
be designated by the clerk OF the
House who shall notify each member
by mail; and then the committee shall
fix the times and places for subse-
quent meetings, and the chairman
. shall give each member reasonable
7. notice by mail Of each meeting. A
majority OF the committee shall con-
stitute a quorum.
Resolved, further, That until the
; coming in f said report of said com
mittee that no further legislation upon
the subject of the Governors call
shall be entered upon, except an ap-
preparation bill to pay the mileage
and per diem of the members and the
per diem of attaches of both Houses.
This resolution, of which Mr.. Gilke-
son claimed to be the proud father,
was placed before several conferences
of the House and Senate, where strong
! opposition was manifested Efforts 20
bind the solid Democratic vote of the
two Houses in favor OF the resolution
were unaYailing. Twenty Democrats.
free from control OF the Watson-Chil-
ton combine, and who stood to the end
for the redemption of party pledges,
stated they would leave the confer
ences if any effort to bind the Demo-
Gratis in favor Of the subterfuge. was
pursued. So strong was this opposi-
ton that the effort to bind the Iegisla-
tors through a caucus vote, was aban-
doned as a dangerous proceeding.
On the 18th day of May. the record
discloses that Mr. GiIkeson opposed
the motion of Mr.. Hubbard to have the
Hubbard resolution, declaring it to be
the sense of the House that a primary
bill should be passed, taken up for
immediate consideration. On the next
day, the 18th of May, Mr.. Gilkeson in
troduced his resolution to kill the
primary bill, and then moved that ref
erence to a committee be dispensed
with and the resolution taken up for
immediate consideration. a little
thing like consistency did not bother
man OF such pure motives as Henry
| Gilkeson who demonstrated that he
was in the clutches Of the bosses Of
his own county, while they, in turn,
were controlled by the watson-ChiI-
ton combine.