The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-08-02
DIRECT
 PRIMARY VOTES IN EIGHT STATES.
.New York Times.)

JN6W Ork 1luISSs1 Is the primary election system a good system? Is it not. in fact, a very bad system? It has proved to States, meaning the States of the South, for in these it has destroyed the right of individual Judgment, ele- Yated small men to office, greatly in- creased the cost of running for office, and therefore opened the way for the use of money in the selection of cam didates, multiplied the machinery of without improving the fitness and character of those chosen for public station.
 Compare the men who now rer.Ak.ent these one party States in. the official life of the States and the Nation with the men who were selected by the old convention or town meeting meth can be only one conclusion, if in these days the tree is to be judged by its fruit
 It. is claimed for the primary sys- tenn that it will give the voters great CT opportunity to make thenselvea felt, to express their choice for those whom they would like to have as their representatives, but the facts until now do not warrant this conclusion, Take the returns of the primaries held in eight of the States this year, for the purpose of illustration, and they show that while in these States at the last general election 4.977.574 votes were case, in the primary elections the total vote aggregated only 2,625,775 that is to say, nearly one-half of all the voters did not take part in the
 In California 1se, ,9es votes were cast in the primaries for the Republican and Democratic candidates, as com pared with 342, ,43O votes at the general ing themselves from the primaries.
 Tn Illinois 721, TOP votes were boiled at the primaries; in 1908 the, total vote for the Republican and Democratic candidates for President aggregated 1, ,O8O, 724 4-absent from the primaries, 359 OPP voters.
 In Maryland 11341S votes were cast at the primaries; in 1908 the vote of Maryland for the Republican and Democratic candidates for President was 2S2, ,421-absent from the primar- ies, 119,0O3
 ! In Massachusetts, 222,S45 votes were boiled at the primaries; in 1908 the vote was 421, 509-absent from the .pri- maries 199.164.
 In Nebraska. 109,S16 votes were cast at the primaries; in 1908 the vote was 25s, ,096- absent from the primaries, 14& &2sO.
 In Ohio 55O,oOo votes were cast at the primaries; in 1908 the vote was l,O75,- 03S-absent from the primaries. though two of the candidates for President were Ohio men, 525,033.
 Tn Oregon 8S, 499 votes were cast at the primaries; in 1908 the vote was 100.579
 In Pennsylvania the vote polled at the primary was 620,000; in 1908 the vote was 1.194. 557-absent from the primaries, STA, ,5I.
 Tn California the proportion of Re- publican votes cast at the primaries was 66 per cent; of Democratic votes A per cent In Illinois the Republ1- can percentage was 69 and the Demo- cratic percentage 63. In Maryland the Republican percentage was A, the Democratic percentage 54 In Massa- chusetts the Republican percentage was GA, the Democratic percentage 32. Tn Nebraska the Republican percent age was 47, the Democratic percent age 39. Tn Ohio the Republican per- centage was 35, the Democratic per centage 69. In Oregon the Republican percentage was 113, the Democratic appear that a good many Democrats voted for the Republican candidates. In Pennsylvania, the Republican per- centage was GA, the Democratic per- centage g.
 All of which proves that the pri- mary does not bring out the full vote of the people in party contests ap- pointed for the purpose of naming the candidates of the parties for the office of President at best it can be re- garded only as a means, and not altogether satisfactory means, unless it be guarded by very strict legal pre- visions, of ascertaining the drift of rr~%-- { vA1 rot h than toward principles or policies.
 In the one-party States the primary system has generally resulted in the nomination and election of men of sec ond or third, rate ability. The pr1- mary election is really the election, the general election being held only for the purpose of confirming the work done at the primary. In these States the primary is binding upon all who take part in it. The candidates are required to pledge themselves to abide by the result of the primary, and the voters of the party feel in Donor bound to sustain the result.
 The effect is that the voters who do not belong to the party in power have practically no means of making their strength felt, whether it be great or small. In these One-party States it has been the habit of some voters to vote with the dominant party at the general election for local and State officers, and for the candidates of the opposing party for President and Vice President. In State and local mat, ters, they are Democrats; in Natlonal affairs, they are Republicans. with the result that they have little or no ln- fuence in either local or National pol itics.
 Take the State of South Carolina, for example, as it appears to be the most terrible example of all. Two years ago Cole LA Blease was nominated for Governor at-the. Democratic primary