The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1912-05-08

to make the best possible nomination.
If parties are to be Irresponsible
parties" it must not be forgotten that
responsibility implies power, and is
impossible without power One of the
powers of responsible party must
be to govern ITSELF Another power
must be that of protecting itself from
outside interference.
We have nothing to say against the
independent voter. His position is
logical and, perhaps, praiseworthy, if
it is consistently maintained. But he
who denies his responsibility to party
should have no voice in party man.
agement. The passenger who merely
rides when the train schedule suits
his convenience is all right in his
place, but he has no place at the an
nual meeting Of the stockholders, or
at the meeting of the board of d.
rectors.
If we must have primaries the laws
governing should be of universal ap-
plicatiOn. If the federal government
has power to regulate national cleo
tons it has undoubtedly the power to
regulate national primaries upon
which those elections are based. If,
we repeat, we must have primaries,
they should, in so far as federal Off
GERS are concerned, be under one gen.
eral law, and that law should in every
possible way protect the integrity of
the parties and their right to seek
counsel only of themselves.
:: !: =
Three things have certainly been
proven by the presidential primaries
so far held. First, that the laws gov
erning them are crude and unsatis-
factory-Mr. Roosevelt will bear wit
states in which he was not victor.
Second, that the primary has a most
disastrous effect upon party unity. If
the primary bills were correctly
named they would be entitled "a bill
for an act to destroy political
parties" Third, they are very expens
i've. No man, unless backed by mil
lions of money, can make a presiden-
tial canvass under primary system.
Roosevelt could not make campaign.
1t is Roosevelt plus the millions of
Geo. w. Perkins that make the hack
to the people campaign possible. La
Toilette has fallen by the wayside,
not because he was not the logical
candidate OF the progressives, but be-
cause he could not command the
enormous financial backing necessary
to make campaign. 1t is cOnServ-
atively estimated that the Roosevelt
forces alone spent more than mil
lion dollars in the three states oil
New York, Pennsylvania and Massa-
chusetts. Two hundred thousand dol
lars was spent in Pennsylvania by
Boss Flynn, tile Roosevelt manager,
for the employment of messengers"
on the day of the primary at $500 perl
day. All this strife, all this lurid
campaigning, all this vast expense to
secure nomination which is all the
less worth having on account OF this
very strife and expenditure.
Iowa. under the old convention sys-
TEN, presents favorable contrast.
But little money expended, not con-
test before the credentials committee,
the least i'll will there has been for
many years, no charges of democratic
interference, no just reason to believe
that the verdict rendered was not in
accord with the wishes of majority
of the republicans of the state.
:: :: \
AS we said at the beginning of this
rather lengthy article, the issues be-
fore the people are fundamental. They
involve not so much the tariff, the
trusts or similar legislation as they
do the very basis of our government.
Whether it shall be the representative
democracy contemplated by our fore
fathers or the pure" democracy, the
democracy of Rome before Caesar,
and of France before Napoleon
TRICKS IN ALL TRADES.