The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1912-09-20
eminent of our country.

. BlHuieHL Ol OuT COuutTy.
The Direct Primary Law was born
to rectify this error and to correct
this mistake; to give the people them
selves the power to name their own
servants. and to outline their own
political promises. IdahS has beeH
among the progressive states and has
ben among the first to adopt Il dir
ct Urinary law. Its intelligent IT
! i2enry demanded voice in the gov
eminent of the state, and the direct
primary law of the state is the re-
| suit of that demand. Our direct pri-
mary law is among the most perfect
and workable laws in the United
States. 1t is carefully drawn, and in
tends to bring about the direct rule
of the people. The spirit of this law
is that the people shall rule.
The law provides that the large
parties of the state shall hold dir
ect primary upon certain day, to-
wit. the thirtieth day of Jly; that
weaker parties who, we're not desir-
Gus of awaiting themselves of the dir
ect primary law should hold con-
vention to name their tickets, the
said ticket or tickets to be named in
convention upon day certain, to-wit
on the thirtieth day of July. The
quetsion naturally arises why the Leg
islature provided that the smaller
parties should hold their convention
upon the same day that the larger
parties held their direct primary.
A moments reflection will reveal
the purpose of this provision: To per-
nit convention to be held after a
direct primary, would be to permit
the organization of d1sgrunted and
disappointed politicians, for the pur-
pose of revenge upon the parties IN
which they we're defeated In other
words, to permit a ticket to be named
after the date set for the primary
and for the convention would be to
thwart the will of the people as ex-
pressed in the primary. In state
where the strength of the two major
parties is about equal and where act
i've primary campaign is naturally
made, to permit disappointment and
disgruntled politicians to name a
ticket after the people had express
ed themselves at the primary would
be to place the balance of power in
the hands of such disgruntled and
disappointed people and permit them
instead of the people to select and
elect a ticket of their own making.
After the date set in the law for dir
ect primary and convention of course
no further direct primaries or con-
vention can be held. Thus any tic
ket named would be directed by a
few persons, and such ticket would
possess all the evil, and make pos
sible all the outrages that the old
convention system permitted and
condoned.
The issue then is whether the peo-
ple themselves shall rule or whether
dissatisfied and disgruntled politi-
clans and office-seekers shall be per-
mitted, by a system in variance of
the spirit of the direct primary law,
to set at naught and vitiate the will
of the people as expressed in their
primary elections. To permit such
coudse would be to do violence to
the direct primary law and to revert
to a system freighted with more dan
ger and promising more evil than the
old convention system. The time
has arrived when true progressives
who champion the peoples rights
and who believe that the people are
sufficiently intelligent and patriotic
to govern themselves should insist
that the primary law which has come
to us through political battles with
greed, shall be robbed OF It's virtue.
The question is whether victory won
at so costly a price shall be given
away. whether the heritage of the
people shall be scattered by ambit-
ious bosses.