The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1918-04-25
Republican State Committee
Head Says Fusion Means
Confusion.
WAR IS NO EXCUSE
Asks When Democrats Ceased
to be Partisan; Since Wis
consin Election?

There will be no bipartisan ticket
in Idaho in the campaign Of 1913"
So says s. d. Taylor, chairman of the
Republican state central committee
in reply to overtures open and Sc
cretive which the Bourbons of the
state have been making since they
conceived Of the idea of putting up a
Borah-Nugent ticket I'm order to avoid
senatorial contest this year.
"A bipartisan ticket would not be
practicable" says Mr.. Taylor, seven
If 1t were desirable. A fusion ticket,
in its final analysis, would necessar-
lily be hand picked ticket, selected
by few politicians. 1t is unthink-
able that the people of Idaho would
stand for such thing. The history
of political fusion has been political
confusion.
SeriOus-If True.
"'rte bipartisan idea as advanced
is always coupled with the observation
that a political campaign would di-
vert our energies and our attention
from war preparations. This would
be serious If true, but In fact 1t does
not require any great amount of ener-
gy to go to the polls and cast your
ballot and have your vote recorded,
and instead of diverting attention
from war prepare tions, 1t is more like
ly to direct attention to them.
THE claim that there should be no
politics during the period of the war
Is fundamentally wrong. The laws
Of the land and the spirit Of our free
institutions enjoin certain political
duties on every citizen, war or no
war, and the citizen who fails to per-
form those duties is not conserving
good government Good government
is an essential toward winning the
war. If good government Is best ad-
vanced by having 'hand-picked gov
ernors, congressman and United States
senator's then the whole American
idea Of representative government Is
wrong. BY the way, what has become
Of the political slogan that used to be
advanced with such fury-Let the
People RuleT
Is Political CamOufiage.
There may be some simpleminded
persons who honestly believe in q BIZ
partisan ticket, but there is much evil
dence that the idea Is principally sup
ported for political camoufage to put
some fellow over who could not be
elected upon his merits nor the merits
of his party. No man who believes
in himself and his party would be
afraid to come before the whole peo-
pie of the state of Idaho.
let no one be deceived for a min
ute that this fusion idea is a matter
Of patriotism, so far as 1t applies to
its big push. 1t is politics Of the
most subtle kind-the very thing that
1t processes to wish to avoid. If there
were no senatorial situation In Idaho,
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scorn It, Idaho is Republican state
There are two United States senator's
to elect, and Borah is considered to be
over the top. BY what process OF
reasoning does the great personal and
political popularity of Senator Borah
republican, entitle the Democrats
to the other senator?
What About Solid South?
when did the Democrats cease to
he partisan? 1t certainly must have
been since April 2, the date. of the
Wisconsin election. 1t has not been
observed that they are conceding any
senator's to Republicans in Democratic
states-the war situation does not re-
quire bipartisan ticket in such
statesi Democrats are not at all
afraid that political campaigns in
Democratic states will divert our en-
ergies and our attention from war
preparations, but their solicitude for
Idaho is sublime-nerve.
THE best thing that can happen for
Idaho-and the thing that will hap
pen-and the course that will make
Idaho strongest to concentrate and ex-
ert her war energies, so far as poll
ties is concerned, is to hold our elec-
tion in the usual way, each party
nominating its strongest men, upon
the platform of its choosing, and with
their records of achievements and
} failures submit the cause TO the whole
people The best wins"
| -RIIY RONDS-