The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-05-01

take no other.

FreSS comment
Mott Pioneer Press: Everything
that can be said in favor of Mr..
.Buchanan, the insurgents candidate for
governor, can also be briefly spoken
OF L. B. Hanna-who also seeks the
republican nomination for governor.
And, in addition, it can be cited that
Mr.. Hanna is a man of public and
political experience through his long
service in both branches of the legis--
~lature and congress and ideally quail
fed to give North Dakota an efficient
and economical business adminis-
tration.
Grand Forks Heraid: In another
column appears a. communication from
s.. @. Fadden,, taking exception to the
instructions issued by the secretary
of state with reference to- the party
registration Of voters. The secretary
of state holds that no person who
is not registeFed-excepting those for
whom special provision is made in the
law BECAUSE Of absence or other specl-.
'N@ D6 lltttttd W NOIC
at the primary election.. Mr.. Fadden
thinks there is NO law for this, and
cites certain clauses Of the statutes
in support of his contention.
Mr.. Fadden apparently starts out
with the am misconceptions Of the
purpose OF the primary law that is en-
tertained by a good many other peo-
pie. He fails to recognize the fact
our primary election is intended, &C.
cording to both the discussions which
have attended, our primary legislation
and to declarations made in most of
the primary laws themselves, to take
the place Of and perform the functions
that were formerly intended to be
performed by the caucus and conven-
tom namely, the selection by the
members of a politician party Of the
officers and Candidates Of that party.
That is the purpose Of a primary law,
and It has no other purpose.
1t was the intent Of the old caucus
laws that only the members Of a party
charged with invading caucuses of
that party. Some more or less futile
attempts were made to render this in
tent effective. Provision was made
for challenging voters who were
charged with invading cauCuses OF
parties not their own, and a few other
restrictions were thrown around the
caucuses. Ih actual exueriencs these
proved to be a little value. They
were easily evaded, and in the absences
Of a registration system. or anything
corresponding to it. the packing of re-
Il NtthfinaVA nallpJ7Eoc hsr Iav,,zr.-r%-sr z.gE
Of democratic caucuses by repuhli-
cans were VIGOROUSLY common.
No effective means or preventing
this had been adopted when our first
primary laws were enacted. The uri-
mary election was expected and in
tended to be merely a caucus in an
other form, and following a. somewhat
different method Under the Old
method the party members met in
caucuses, which were held, not under,
the auspices Of the state. but OF the
party organizations, the eaticuses Of
each party being held as a rule, on
different dates, and elected delegates
to county conventions. The county
conventions nominated local candi-
dates and elected delegates to state.
judicial and Legislative conventions,
which, in turn, nominated the candi-
dates Of the party for state. judicial
and legislative Offices. Under the prf-
mary election system the proceedings
are held under the authority Of the
state, and the voters OF All parties
meet at the same place and on fhe
same day to deposit their ballots. In
stead Of electing delegates to conven-
tons which viii do the nominating
the voters vote directly on the eandf-
dates without the interpretations Of AM
further machinery. But, the fnten.
remains unchanged, that the republi-
can voters shall nominate the repabli
can candidates and the democratic
voters the democratic candidates. Ii
effect theTe are as many separate pTf-
mary elections as there are legal,
recognized parties. Each party groHl
fs expected to keep itself distinct iron
the others. Each ii provided with ii
own ballots. Each Is expected to us
those Ballots ana no others. Up to tn
present time the provisions for pro
teetlng each party from interference b,
members OF other parties have present
ed little Improvements over the pro
/ visions for h same purpose in the OIL
caucus laws. the last legislator
passed the registration law for til
We'll understood purpose Of providin
more adequate protection, and a gIanc
: at the act itself shows that Ii was III
: tended to provide d complete and ef
feetive remedy.
The law is very specific on the mai
! ter OF registration 1t provides ths
I so far as possible every voter sha
Have an opportunity to become proI
7 ef1g enrolled on the party list to who
lie belongs. 1t makes special proyisio
for the later registration OF person
II who may have been missed, or wi
!. were sick or absent when the assesses
called. Because 1t does make thes
s special provisions 1t Is clear that it
not intended that others than thoi
for whom these provisions were mat
shall be permitted to register. THAT i
te Iii is intended that every voter sfa
have opportunity to register, and tn,
sr II, having this opportunity, he refusl
ID to avail himself Of II. he shall not /
ID permitted to come In later and clai
ID any rights under the law