Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-04-23

f1uence IL for peace. Under ali the
circumstances. his selection by the
7 lican party. for the office of president
/ able.
While the business of this conven-
ton is with national politics. IL seems
that this is proper time to refer to
certain state matters and particularly
to the probable future Of the party.
Direct Primaries.
1T is conceded that tn. direct primary
Is a satisfactory means for nominating
county officers. There is widespread
criticism, however, of the direct prf-
mary for state officials. Except for the
office of governor, the individual voter
has little opportunity to make an in
telligent choice OF candidates for state
loffice. But this is no more true of the
direct primary than of the general
election. AS a natter of fact, there will
| lie no real campaign in Idaho. this year,
except for president and governor. The
balance of the ticket will be elected
regardless of candidates, since the in
dividuaI voter lcks opportunity for
l
remembered that o. " Allen, state
treasurer, would have lead the Re-
publican ticket two years ago, had not
his shortages been discovered in the
midst of the campaign. We forget that
under our system of state boards, the
governor lie a minority member of the
state administration. assert that the
Progressive remedy must be in favor OF
the short ballot rather than back to the
convention system. Thu recent Twin
Falls convention seems to illustrate the
old convention system in good working
order The newspapers tell us that the
Roosevelt sentiment was overwhelm-
/ ingly strong. 1t seems unfortunate,
however. that the entire delegation Sc
lected to the Chicago convention, with
one or two possible exceptions, should
have been selected exclusivel.- from
those who supported Mr.. Taft in 1912.
Future of Progressive Party.
I'VE still believe that with the pass
ing of the tariff rs a political issue, a
political realignrlent along progressive
and conservative lines is inevitable. In
any event, the members of the party
will constitute an Independent body of
thinking voters with the power, through
concerted action, of securing desirable
| Legislation through either of the old
parties. To accomplish this result, we
must not only maintain organization
but from time to time agree upon a de-
finite program.
The Short Ballot.
TN the immediate future. believe
we should work for the short ballot.
There is an universal demand for In
creased efficiency in government. The
| European war has brought into strik-
ing contrast American and European
methods of administration. Republican
France has not suffered by comparison
with autocratic Germany. In our coun-
try, from the very beginning, we have
attempted to select expert administra-
tive officials by popular vote. From
attorney general down to county sur
veyor the voter Is supposed to pass
personal Judgment on the technical
qualifications of. the candidate. Wher-
ever democratic government prevails in
| 4urope, whether IN France, Switzerland
or England, our system has been dis
cagded and the yoter elects only repre-
sentative officials, End t',ese in turn
have the duty of selecting all adminis-
tratiye officers. We have also inherited
from the remote part, our two house
legislative system, with all OF its in
efficiency. This subject has been ably
treated by former Governor Hodges of
Kansas in the Saturday Evening Post
/ quote from his account of the pro-
ceedings of the last Kansas legislature:
The speaker announced: "A bulk
roll call and bulk reading of bills"
and, calling a dozen owners of basso
voices to the stand, each member was
given bill tfat carried an appropria-
tion for some state institution or state
department. rs every one ready2" csk-
ed the speaker, A dozen members with
dozen bills answered AYE, aye Hir!"
One for the money, two for the show.
three to make ready-and four, they
go!' shouted the presiding officer. They
sang and mumbled and shouted the
words on the pages of the typewriter
bflls-sach reading from a different
Dill, with separate provisions
The roll was called and a deliberate
body. of law makers placed its deliber-
ate approval on measures that called
for the expenditure of one and one
third million dollars, appropriated In
bulk FORM In a duration of possibly ten
minutes OF time
Governor Hodges refers to like
scenes occurring in the state legisla-
lures of dozen other states He SAYS
that commercially It is better to be a
page than It is to be a senator In KAN
sas After questioning the right of one
person, the governor. to veto the will
Of a deliberatiye body. he says:
Instances of laundering and crudftv
are not sporadic nor occasional; the
statute books of all the states are fri
Of them. With these Objectionable
eruditfcs OF the bi-cameral system so
apparent. can it be fairly maintained
that the two-h" sc legislature system
has realized in practice the things most
ulated in its favor? The system is II
logical. unbusinesslike and Impractical
| II 1t could have been improved 1t would