Barton County democrat., 1914-08-21
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE

primary is over and our Republic
can friends are Sorely disappolnt-
ed at the result although they are
making a desperate effort to con-
!ceal their chagrin. NOtwlthStand-
ing the fact that woman have been
enfranchised, thus doubling the
number of voters, the total Repub-
1ican vote has fallen short of the
total Republican vote of two years
ago, while the total Democratic
vote at the recent primaries in
creased by thirty thousand.
The much talked of slump" in
the Democratic vote did not ma
terialize. An increase of approx
imately 10000 in the Democratic
vote while. the Republican vote
fell short several thousand, tells
The story. Our Republican friends
attempt to gloss over these facts,
but they stand cut nevertheless
as significant of what the peo-
pie are thinking about.
1t is noteworthy that up to date
the Capper publications have not
been boosting Senator Curtis. The
fact is that the old line Standpat-
terS not only broke the Capper-
.BriStow combine, but defeated ev-
cry so-caHed Progressive Repub-
lican where therewas a contest.
OF course Capper will have to
~come across" and support Cur
his and CaIderhead and all the
long list of StandpatterS he de-
: nOunced two years ago, and even
as late as last year.
Already the Kansas City Jour-
nal has denounced Capper as un-
: republican and unworthy of Re-
publican support, which is an in
dication of what the standpatterS
will do to Mr.. Capper in Novem-
Der. On the other hand, if Mr..
: Capper comes out strong for Cur
It's; he will ALLEVIATE the Progress
!sive element of his party and they
will go to Hodges or to Allen. On
the morning after the election the
Capital can print what it said of
BriStow some time ago -"Was
!. 'eVer a man deserted in night
with more brutal franknesS, to
put the matter politely"
% That eminent Standpatter, S. NJ
Brewster, who has just been NOM
mated for Attorney General by
the Standpat Republicans of this
state, gives over a large part of
his. political speech to explaining
why the Republican members of
the 1913 House of Representatives
defeated the Initiative and Ref
erendum Resolution.
The explanation is very SIM
f. pie. 1t was because the Republi-
!. can members of that legislature
were controlled by Standpatters
like S. NJ. Brewster and Robert
Stone, who are opposed to the In
.'itiative and Referendum in any
form. But, of course, these gen.
: tlemen as politicians, know that
they must make some excuse to
the people for their actions, and
hence it is necessary to make long
:, and unintelligible explanations of
their conduct.
The Kansas City Star gave Tue
real explanation in its issue of
March 3, 1913:
THE REAL EXPLANATION.
"The Kansas legislators who
voted against the initiative and
referendum amendments pro ,ot.
ed by the Democrats and apptrv.
ed by Governor Hodges made an
explanation of their votes and had
it written in the house journal.
There was no necessity for
those who voted for the measure
!. to explain their votes.
why should it be neces .ary
fora representative to explain his
vote if he is voting for the thins
: ne promised to give the people
who elected him?
"The trouble with those who
voted against the initiative and re.
ferendum in Kansas is that they
were voting against the measure
they promised the people they
would vote for. They explained
their votes by saying that they
would vote for some other ini
tlatiye. The some other in thi,
case happens to be an amendmert
that is filled with 'jOkerS' and i