Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-03-21


Oahu at the Biieu theater. He will
lat the performance this evening.
and by third lot as Democrat, he.
would undoubtedly make the required
certificate on each nomination paper,
showing himself to belong to, and a
part and parcel Of. and to believe in
IAN Of the three parties named. Not
withstanding this thrice-repeate dec
laraticn OF being party man, he
would, should he fail to make a choice
between the three charmers, be dub
he'd by this merciless law as nonpar--
Itisan.
As TO independents.
The new law evidently has it in for
1.-THE Independent candidate Anyone
lpiaced in nomination at the primaries
as .'nonpartisann must secure at the
primary election at least 90 per cent
lcf the registered vote cast before he
lmay be a candidate at the election
lin November. Then. again, when a
candidate comes into the. primary as
La party man. and does not receive the
highest number of the party vote, he
lis compelled to take his medicine. He
4 is not permitted to go before the
voter at election as an independent
AS to the primary election itself, no
provision seems to have been made
to separate the sheep from the goats
A voter, duly qualified, may at these
iprimaries select Smith as the proper
Republican candidate for delegate.
Jones as the proper Democratic can
didate for mayor, and Thompson as a
good nonpartisan candidate for sher-
iff When he trots into the sacred
silence and seclusion of the primary
election booth, he can change his poll
tics as raDidlv as does federal office
holder In this respect our new law
differs radically from that of many
states. In which declaration of party
/ principles is REQUIRED of the voter, and
the right to make selections at pri-
maries limited to candidates profess.
ing his political faith. The result of
the Hawaiian law, ii will at once be
/ seen, places it in the hands of por-
ton of one party to name the can
didate Of the other. For instance,
a general, implied understanding
amongst number of Republicans that
/ a strong candidate for given office
on the Democratic ticket should be
4 beaten for the nomination. would lead
them to vote at the primaries for a
weaker antagonist, resulting, perhaps,
in the naming of Democratic
candidate for that office who had re-
| ceived a minority Of the real Demo
cratic vote This evil is by no means
imaginary So often has the plan
above outlined been resorted to on
the mainland. that recent legislation
uniformly tends towards partisan pri-
maries.
About Conventions.
Does the law eliminate party con-
yentions for tho naming of candidates
tc' be voted for at the general cleo
ton? On its face it does, and there
eppears to be but little question that
the law viii stick as to the county
and legislative candidates As for the
candidates for delegate to Congress,
I. some doubt has crept in. The Or
ganie Act of the territory provides in
4 Section IS, that the delegate shall
} be chosen at an election to be held
! on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November of every evan
/, year, and at such places as shall be
designated by the secretary of the
TERRITORY, An amendment to Section
s.. adopted in 1906, provides as fol-
lows:
Tho legislature of the territory
Il of Hawaii shall have the right
i to alter or amend any part of the
election laws of said territory, in
4 Guiding those providing for an
election of delegate to Congress,
and its action shall be the law,
, with full binding force, until al
tered, amended or repealed by
y Congress.
The new primary law makes provi-
sion in Section Is that any candidate
receiving the votes of majority OF
the registered voters at the primary
election in September shall be held
to be duly and legally elected to the
office for which he is candidate at
the primary.
The question naturally arises MS
to what the ruling should be should
one of the candidates for delegate at
the primary received a majority OF all
iof the votes cast. Would the Organic
Act requiring the election to be held
in November be construed in such a
manner as to make imperative the
i provisions Of the primary act, in case,