Arizona republican., 1914-09-12
A war of all against all.
 Latin Proverb.
Tho Fault Net in the Primary


 Some of contemporaries are complaining with a degree of bitterness the operation our primary system Of course, it's defective, and cannot yet point definitely the defects but chief blame any unpleasant results of it's opera tion last Tuesday lies with the people and with the system. The primary is instrument, and if it is used with discrimination by good citizens the results are apt not to be the best It appears that than half the registered voters of Arizona did not the primary.
 We accurately anayze from any avail able statistics the character of those who did not use the primary. A great many good citizens did use it, and We feel almost equally that every ignorant voter, every vicious citizen who not restrained by the bars of the penitentary and the jails, also did. We believe that every bum was at the primary, that every drunkard who was still animate enough to be dragged out of the gutter and stood upon his feet, there and expressed the will of American soverign.
 If correct in these surmises, the average of the citizens who absented themselves from the primary is high We think that if We had list of all the and women who did not vote it would comprise the of at least 30OOO men and of good character and intelligence It would be list of which could all be proud would contain the of good citizens, good in every
  of selecting public servants. is therefore, no wonder that sometimes the best candidates placed before the people for nomination not nominated when half the ef-respecting people do not go to the polls.
 And, it often happens that all of the best and intelligent people who do attend the primary sufficiently interested and are, therefore dis eliminating They for this that candidate, oarelessly for other than his peculiar fit ness for the office for which he has put himself for ward. But when they are interested, they vote in tegenty and right.
 We have fine illustration of that in the for F. A. Jones for corporation commissioner He was perhaps, the only candidate in the entire list whose fitness really considered by any con- siderable number of voters. This very interesting fact is shown in the from forty-two of the fifty one precincts in this county Of all the can- didates in contest in which there were six com pettors. three to be chosen. Jones the high over all the others by majortes ranging from 400 tc 1900. There only one influence in his behalf and that that of the business men who knew what they wanted. There were interests private and factiOnal against him. Yet in the returns We have mentioned he stands third in the long list of all the candidates for and county offices If the same discriminating for Jones had been discriminating all the other candidates, the results would have been quite different
 The primary system is Its complete suc- depends upon the development of the voter. We'll get used to it after while and closely scrutiniZe men who present themselves for office The utmost scrutiny is needed for under pri- mary system any man can come forward. In the late primary we had several men whose announce ment of their candidates regarded by the pub lie a good joke. Yet these men received fattering votes, and of them nom- mated through the sheer careessness of voters Those who made no showing complicated the sit defeated.
 We have men running for office who could not have been nominated, who could even have ha6 look k-in," in a convention They would have beer laughed out of it. Convention bosses had nc scruples, but they had wisdom They had tC make good showing of fairly good candidates o their party would suffer defeat. As a result hat a much higher class of nominees than ap have under primary system. The trouble with the convention nominees that though the. were strong men and fairly competent they had als been selected with reference their quality a machine timber.
 Therefore, we would go back to the conven tion system, but look forward hopefully to tn time when a great majority of the voters will mak an intelligent and discriminating of the primary
 Our War Correspondents