The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1912-05-15
WEDNESDAY, MAY IL. 1912.
H~AND.PlCkED DELEGATES.

~ 10 UCA10VCu Vo0U VuO "
presidential nomin atoms In the pres
ent campaign will result in the elm.
ination of one of the worst features OF
machine politics-the packing of con-
ventions with delegates who were not
chosen by, and are not representative
of, the voters. These machine meth.
DDS are not confined to any one po-
litical party; the bosses In each OF the
organizations work along similar
lines to accomplish the results they
desire.
In Montana the operators of both
the republican and democratic ma
chimes have made frequent use of the
Manipulating method OF choosing
delegates to party conventions. In
some cases the work is done by local
committees, in primaries or at meet
ings of q county central committee,
but in all cases the Manipulating
process is q violation Of the theory Of
government by the people.
An instructive exhibit of this hand
picking feature of machine politics
appears in . news item from Glasgow,
which says the Valley county central
committee mel q few days ago and
appointed twenty-four delegates to the
state convention. The minutes of the
meeting as published, show that the
selection of delegates was made by q
subcommittee of three, who proceeded
authority from the two
republican voters in Valley
county-to name delegates who will
represent them 10 the state conven.
ton. No effort was made to ascer-
tain the presidential preference of
these voters; the views of the delega.
ton possibly may reflect the prevail
ing sentiment among Valley county
republicans, and possibly not.
Under certain conditions, when there
is only one candidate recognized as
10 the race for q presidential nomin-
alton, the presence OF q few hand.
picked delegates in q convention
would not be of serious consequence:
but in q contest between two or more
aspirants. each commanding the cup.
port OF q largelpercentage of the rank
and file of his party, the delegates
that are hand picked may be the de-
Gliding factor in awarding the presi-
Dental nomin alton. Such q stu alton
Obtains today in both the republican
party and the democratic party, and
those who profess q desire to respect
the wishes of the voters should GER
tsinly make an effort to ascertain the
nature of their sentiments.
1t must be ladmitted that in some
former campaigns many of the voters
have not responded to invitations te
participate inlthe preliminarie attend
ing the nomination Of their party can
didate for president. Their failure &c
attend precinct primaries showed lacl
OF appreci citation of the duties of citizen
ship-s condition which contributes tc
the success Of machine methods. Thu
apathy of these voters, their refusa
to take part in political contests tina
affect the welfare of others as we'll 81
themselves, affords an excuse for thu
centr aliza alton of power through which
the schemes of selfish interests ar,
operated.
In the event of the en- actment of re
form legislation.by popular vote mex
November, there will be provided
means Of protection against tn
schemes OF machine politicians; bu
the extent of the? protection will de
pend upon the extent to which tn
voters avail themselves of it..