The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-05-01
A Democratic Convention That May Become
 Historic


 The Democratic Convention which assemblies in this City, to-day has most important function to at critical period in the history of the United States The delegates to their labors in patriotic spirit and the determination to do what best for the Amer people.
 The duty to be performed, aside from certain minor matters party mechanism is the selection of IA dele gates to the Baltimore convention, which will nominate the Democratic candidate for president of the United States candidate who is generally looked upon vic tor, in advance of his election
 Connecticut is a small state. Yet it's participation in government not small for its population of more than million makes it ninety of the Union, and no inconsderabe fraction of the greatest nation earth
 The convention in which the Connecticut delegates will participate will differ in certain fundamental and important particular from any other National Democratic Convention ever held
 the presidential primary has been adopted into the political machinery of states, and in such states the task of selecting presidential nominees has been taken from conventions and given to the people who, by their direct vote choose delegates and instruct them what can didate they shall support
 This method is superior to the convention method because it enables the actual choice of the people of state to be registered and is not subject the convention system to the bias of leaders and the influence of special interests of various kinds.
 And the preferential system of nominating is also better because it gives each voter opportunity to cast HIS ballot directly for the man of HIS choice.
 This system is logical outcome of earlier chan ges that have been made in the of nominating candidates for president
 The Constitution prescrbes that each State shall Zap point, in such it's Legislature may direct number of electors equal to the number of the states resentaves and senators in congress- It the purpose of the constitution makers that these electors should tually elect the president and they did for time Moreover in the beginning, the voters themselves had very little to do with the selection of the electors and most of them chosen by the legislatures of their several states method which continued by South Carolina until the civil
 The Preferential Presidential Primary is seen there fore to be the logical outcome of movement to make the people directly and certainly the makers of presi dents and this movement has been progress for than hundred years
 It possible and probable that the present conven- ton destined to be historic in that may be the last candidate for the office of chief magistrate of the nation
 It is scarcely conceivable that Connecticut will rely upon the convention system of making nominations for
 The Commonwealth that Hooker founded is in haste to change her institutions but she has been consd erng the direct primaries method since 1905 and in the Democratic State Convention convened in 1910 to no ate state ofcers went definitely record for direct primaries law.
 So potent this recommendation that the majority party in the last legislature compelled to resurrect the report of the Direct Primaries Commission which had ported in 1909 and the bill recommended by the Commis for the institution of the direct method of nona- tions passed the Senate, but failed in the House.
 The views of Connecticut voters not he only forces which are making for this change Political leaders bepnnng to understand that those states which % into national conventons representing the direct will of the voters, will be influential and important than those which merely record the views of convention
 The difference in public interest in the two methods is shown at the minute The action of the voters Mas sachusetts has been watched throughout the United States The action of Connecticut has hardly been toned
 Because the people of Massachusetts give the judg ment they have been privileged to meet the presidential candidates face to face to learn their views at first hand and to see what of men they are.
 But in this state where more be done by talking quietly with this that leader with two three whom the people know nothing of candidates for presidential nominations seldom If they talk to it is from the platform of passing through
 The other day. in fact, one candidates republican candidate long enough to fling at the people of Connecticut the biting taunt that it worth his while to stop in the state, because, he said The po ticans make the nominations and not the people,"
 While this newspaper is far from sharing extreme view is the fact that nominations by direct choice bes-because they record each voters will and actually and truly show public opinion and the state of the party