Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-05-18
EVENING CHAT

[ EVENING Chat
Men who observe the trend of poll
tics and the working out of schemes
for registering the popular will are
looking forward to to-morrow's pri-
mary election in Pennsylvania with
far more interest than any similar
election in a generation, not so much
for the results of the contests for the
nominations or for elections to seats
in party committees, but for the man
ner in which the new system works
out. To-morrow'S election will furnish
the first Statewide direct primary for
the highest offices in the scheme of
government in the second greatest
State in the Union and the first pri-
mary of any magnitude to be held at
this time in May. Interest in the
working out of the election centers, of
course, in the expression of the popu-
lar will, and for the first time, at least
in the life time of many men active
in affairs, we have had candidates for
nominations touring the State with all
OF the Vigor and accompanimentS of a
campaign Immediately preceding a
general election. The strenuosities of
these contests have, moreover, cast
into the shade even some of the dele
gate elections of the year that saw
Wilson elected President and Pennsyl-
vania go for Roosevelt. The whole
country is watching Pennsylvania for
Il practical try-out of the direct pri-
mary for United States Senator and
State officers. this State having the
second largest number of voters in the
Union and said voters having been
worked upon for months to get them
interested enough to go out and mark
ballots. Other States are also watch
ing the manner in which the nonpar-
tisan judicial law is tried again, the
results last year having been a sur
prise. Sister commonwealths are like
wise observing the manner of enforc-
ing the enrolment act. And lastly,
Washington is watching for a sign of
the feeling of the great mass of DEM
ocratic voters toward the national ad-
minlstration, whose concern is shown
by the presence on the stump of three
Cabinet officers. In 1882 and 1890
Pennsylvania elected Democratic Gov
erpors and Democratic Presidents fol-
lowed two years later. In 1886 and
1894 the State went Republican. What
happened in 1888 and 1896 is we'll re-
membered. Now here is a primary
system which offers a means of gaug-
ing feeling within a party and first
class family row to make the out
come still more source of anxiety to
those along the Potomac and of In
terest to the nation.
William Maclay and Robert Morris
went to Congress with the very first
certificates of senatorial election that
the Comm onwealth has given, but
when the members of the Assembly
were chosen there was nothing like
preferential primary and they were
elected largely on personal grounds.
Since then the senatorial togas from
the Keystone State have been in poll
tics. Tomorrow. for the first time,
the people will nominate party cam
didates for Senator and next Novem-
Der they will elect them direct for the
first time. Only the siX-year term re-
mains of the original provisions for Sc
lection of Senators and it is wonder
that escaped. So, for the first time
candidates for the United States sem
atorship will be directly nominated
just like candidates for common coun-
Gilman used to be chosen in the
Fourth Ward and candidates of sew
eral parties for Governor, Lieutenant
Governor and Secretary of Internal
Affairs will be selected in the same
primary election, thus doing away with
the old system of nominations by
State conventions as effectively as the
selection of a United States Senator
by the Legislature was abolished. 1t
is really an astonishing thing when
people of Harrisburg, the seat of SO
many conventions and scene of so
many senatorial elections, think of it.
Methods of hundred years, whose
results have been worked out in our
n itx- 1, Il
down to the basis of a primary cleo
ton. True, the election is now in the
hands of the State government and
the political parties have little to do
with it, but the fact remains that in
it is the old primary to which
We used to go around to vote on Sat-
urday nights, only its scope has been
beyond what anyone expected
a decade ago, and a whole day is
given to it. and the same machinery
that records the freemans will, ETC.,
in November will voice the desire of
the adherents of party in the month
of May.
What adds to interest is that the
State will select four candidates in
each party for Congress-at large in
addition to the thirty-two district
In this contest the same
unusual conditions prevail. In years
gone by nominations for Congress-at-
large, which are the means whereby
the State gets its proper number OF
seats while the problem of redistrict-
ing to meet the census is worked out
were conferred on willing workers or
as rewards for conspicuous party SER
vice or to add prestige, if needed. No
one recalls any very serious contests
for the nominations at State conven-
tions. But here every party has a
field of candidates and the campaigns
are as wide as the State and, in some
instances, very vigorous.
What interests us most and interests
the people of many counties, too, is
the nomination of candidates for the
two appellate courts. In 1918 the
judicial selection act had
a unique test in the selection of two
Superior Court judges. This year men
will be chosen to one seat on each of
the higher courts. Chief Justice Fell
will retire and we hope to see Presi-
dent Judge George Kunkel elected his
successor. In the Kunkel campaign
the true nonpartisan spirit has been
especially in the home county
of the candidate, the best guarantee
of his standing. On the Superior
bench Judge Frank NJ. Trexler comes
up for denomination, having been
named to fill the vacancy caused by
the death of General James A. Beaver
In each case the two men receiving
the highest number of votes go on the
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