The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-07-10

four wealthy candidates for governor
I Mccullough, Clement, Proctor and
Webb-spent, all told, according to
report fully five dollars per voter for
every vote cast at the September
election. Has this ever been exceed
ed under a primary system?
AS a matter of fact, rich candidates
will take advantage of their money
under any system, if permitted and
if they feel so inclined, The control of
this evil is a separate matter and it
Will be just as hard to control under
one system as another.
The primary system in itself is less
expensive than the convention system.
1t costs the 700 delegates who go to
the state convention from S. to $25
each, accordingto distance and person
al extravaganza or economy Add
/ this cost to the cost of caucuses, the
cost of congressional and county con
ventions and you have a total consid-
erably larger than the necessary cost
of direct statewide primary.
The argument put up in the session
of 1910 that the primary system takes
away any power from the small
towns is plainly erroneous. There is
not a county in Vermont where the
rural towns are not absolutely in con-
troll. The politicians and "fXers"
from the large towns have infinitely
more power under the present system
| by getting the delegates from the
small towns away from home and
winning them over by one means and
another. If all voters went directly
to the polls in their own towns, there
would be a minimum chance of man
ipulation
The strongest argument against the
direct primary mas been the failure
to prevent the voters of one party
from taking part in the nominations
of another party when that other par
ty has a particularly hot contest
This has been remedied in some pla-
ces by giving any voter the right to
challenge and then turning the chal-
lenge over to the party committee for
final action then and there.
The other chief argument used
against primaries is the money ques-
ton which we have covered above. If
the evil can be remedied at all. it
can be remedied just as effectively
under a primary system as under
caucus system Vermont needs a
corrupt practices act whatever the
system of nominations.
One other argument used against
the direct primary system is that it
does not get out the vote. The peo-
pie who use that argument We fear,
have never made proper compari-
son with the caucus system. In the
presidential caucuses recently held
in Bennington county, the total vote
in the four largest towns in the coun-
ty, Bennington. Manchester. Shafts
bury and Pownal, only a trife over
100 votes were cast out of possible
total Republican vote of approximate
ly 1000 Actually, only three and
one third per cent of the vote out
Compare this with our neighbor
state of Massachusetts,. Last fall, in
a red hot state fight, the Republican
vote in Massachusetts was $4,000.
In the presidential primary April 80,
the Republicans cast 174,000 votes or
above 50 per cent. Had the state.
congressional and county contests all
been grouped in one primary as they
should have been, the vote would
have been even larger. In no state
where we have noted the figures, has
the primary vote fallen below %
per cent and that is a much larger
figure than is ever gotten out of the
caucus and convention system.
Under a primary system, the max
ing of the platform is sometimes left
to the candidates and sometimes TO
the party committees. We are inclined
to favor the candidate system. They
are anxious for election and so will
naturally prepare an attractive plat
form and, having made the platform.
If they are elected, they can hardly
shirk the responsibility Of standing
by the platform they have themselves
made.
1t is not necessary TO apply the
primary law to representatives and
town offices, for in a local caucus
each candidate is voted on separate
ly i'm his own town and that makes
it direct primary in itself
The greatest advantage of all in
a direct primary system is that II
compels an appeal to the rank and
file of the voters. instead of to a few
politicians, henchmen and party wor-
kers. More ;han that, il is educat-
ional and brings TO each voter a re
sponsibility that he cannot shirk by
turning his duty over to a delegate
or delegates. 1t is said that it is
undignifed to appeal directly TO The
voters, but the safety of a republic
depends on the intelligence and pat
riotism of the rank and file and not
on any particular class
The primary systems in use are in
many cases imperfect Some Of the
states are this year trying il for the
first time and their laws are very
crude. In some cases. the provisions
are absurd. Outlandish and unfair
with the deliberate intention of dis