The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1916-08-25

just such men will hold over to man
age the party business.
AS we said in the beginning, there
are ten more days in which to select
precinct committeeman who will be
alive and honorable in conducting the
business of the party. 1t will be
necessary for each precinct to select
its mar for that place, n for each
party and to see that the name of
the man agreed upon as being cap
able and willing to serve is written
on the ballots by the individual voter
in the booth. 1t will require some
planning and working to do this,
for voters must know before they
receive their ballots just who they
are going to write in. If it is left
for somebody to tell them as they
approach the polls, anybody repre-
senting the most INSCRIPTIONS man
in the precinct might hand the I'M
informed voters the name to write
in and thus elect a very bad repre-
sentative. Disposing of that matter
is the most important thing the vot-
ers can do in the next ten days, and
the proper way to do it is to hold a
caucus or mass meeting and let it
be so managed that everybody has
a voice in the selection of candi-
dates. When it is simmered down
to two or three and it is impossible
to make it unanimous, then let it
be decided between them by the vot-
ing in the booth. This is the one
office that is not voted upon in No
-o-.I1u II Sc f11nI Lu JnfinO of fh0
primaries on the fifth of September,
and the one elected holds for two
years. There is no salary attached
to the office. He is simply the rep
resentative and manager for the
party in that precinct, and when the
county central committee meets to
adopt a platform and map out the
campaign work and agree upon the
plans and elect a chairman and Sec
rotary, he is one of the 20 e who
attend to it all, and you can't recall
him for two years if he fails to repre-
sent your ideas.
We believe the men who now fill
the positions of committeeman in the
Republican party are less to be blam-
ed for the bad state of affairs than
the leaders at the county seat. We
believe that many of them do not
realize that they are the Republican
organization in the county. We be-
lieve that many of them are so little
informed as to their duties and re-
sponsibilities that they do not know
they should demand right conduct
of the officials in civil offices and
that it is their duty to take action
to enforce it if necessary. We be-
lieve they have become accustomed
to leaving such things to somebody
above them, and not to act as indie
pendent citizens carrying as much
sovereignty in their birthright as
any other man. We believe they
think they have done all that was
required Of them, and we believe that
if the citizens of the precinct had
met in mass meeting and declared
against any certain wrongs and ask
ed the committeeman to go as their
representative to set matters right,
most of them would have acted glad
ly and courageously. But what we
blame these wishy-washy committee
men COR is that they wait for some
body else to prod them. Represen-
'~F
tative government ssume that the
man who is elected to represent a
community politically will be a live
wire end sufficiently awake to be UP
and doing before most Of the people
represented are aware that anything
is needed.
We admonish voters Of both
parties to examine into this matter
and see what kind of a representative
they have. It may be that the man
is all right but just lacks a proper
appreciation of his duty. 1t may be
that the teachings contained in this
article If presented to him would
make a first class committeeman Of
him. 1t is the business Of the voters
to study their men and not be fooled
twice by the same one.