The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-05-07
IN. Pnnarr sItsssIsn

ne MNAA I'rAArI aA-4l-- --N~N0 10
b. very much dislppoiuied az the ac-
zion taken b. the Republicans a.
their recent mass meeting On burlinE
ion and Il undertakes 10 belittle the
attempt THAI Has originated there DO
crca-e some machinery, either az
fcial OF unofficial. whereby the desire
of The people 20. a direct primary. ~
pressed &c strongly NJ the March ref
Crendum. might be- gratihed. SAYS
the contemporary. What the commit
tee proposes is . preferential prim-
ary which would be- equivalent 10 and
no different from the old time caucus
10 be- later followed b. conventior
This would simply mean repetition
uf old abuses that have caused revolt
aud lad 20 tbs emphatic demand Tor
the al ect primary.
This is somewhat sudden inteili-
rence. The committee has as yet
made no report: has as yei had no
time in which even specifically 10
survey tho field. Yet the contempor-
a-v Is In an haste 10 condemn, so has
o.. IN fact. that one wonders what the
moving power IS. The status 81 this
matter ls TO be- found. not In The
Journals sage observations. but rath
cr IN the resolutions adopted az the
darlington conference. The first res
olution may riFhtmlly be considered
rs a diplomatic hin. 20 Cove nor
Fletcher. and reads as follows.
Resolved. That IN considering The
necessity OF calling an extra session
OF the legislature the governor give
due weight 10 the great necessity OF
enacting a direct primary law. the
the passing of which this gathering
n Republicans earnestly favors.
The minute TIA. resolution was
PASSED. just so soon had the Republi.
can party. Insofar as 30 was represent
cd ~ the meeting. demonstrated 10
desire to keep faith with the people
and bring about the change which
the electorate so earnestly desires
Il had done all that IL could do to In
luce the one man who can make b.
possible for the people TO secure a di.
rect prima y law, to set the neces-
sary machinery in motion. II had
done enough then and there to justi-
~ Itself and its position. coupled with
certain connections with which II Is
credited. moves the contemporary C
kick as much dust over the real ,rah
as II possibly can.
But the Republicans went even fur
Their Perhaps they were afraid that
the peoples desire for direct prim
airy law would not be gratihed. tha
the one man who can open tho way
would not feel inclined to say the
word. Whatever the moving power
was. the Republicans took Il upon
themselves TO create what would be
lacking in case legislative action was
not forthcoming. They would pro
vide. as well as they might in an I'M
official way. some method approXlmat
ing the direct primary plan as nearly
as possible. and tc this end the fol
lowing resolution was adopted.
Resolved. That the meeting here
present request the Republican state
committee to carry out the viii Of the
people to have primary law and APP
ply the same so far as practical, to
the next general election"
Could anything more than this be
asked by any reasoning man? What
possible criticism can The Jou ma
find In that declaration? None. The
Messenger win answer. il justice is
to prevail in the consideration. Act.
ing upon this resolution. the state
COR mlttce adopted these two ro1clu
tionc:
"Rosols ed. That tho Republican
state committee having in mind tbs
recent declaration Of ;he voters OF
the state OF Vermont in favo- of di
rect primary law. hereby pledge theiI
efforts toward carrying out the ex
| pressed wishes of the people as tc
! the manner Of the nomination Of can
! didates so far as the same may be
done by the committee under exist
ing law or under law which may b,
enacted hereaftc' ard to that end tn,
committee urge cooperation of all Re
publican voters and especially of al
persons who are or who hegeaftei
may bee andidates for nomination by
the Republican party at the APPROACH
ing primaries; land be Il further
Resolved, That a subcommittee
of three members be appointed by
he chair TO work in conjunction with
a special committee already selected
by Il mass meeting OF representative
Republicans this day to devise plans
for accomplishing the above purpose
and to report with recommendation
a. subsequent meeting Of the com
mittee."
That is the status of the matter
despite The Journals protest to The
contrary. 1t is all too early to say
that the committee has no. provided
real primary" But does the con
temporary expect? Does il imagine
that the STATE committee can do the
work of the legislature and furnish q
real primary Legislature and furnish
real primary law? Surely such a
belief would be absurd Governor