New-York tribune., 1918-03-20

Many Leaders Disap,..
With Action Taken By
organizations Club
Absent From Meeting
Judge Hughes Said to opoo..
Return to Party conven. 4 =
tion System

Republican leaders Yesterday s..
great interest in the action Of the D.
publican Club at its regular mas..s; s'
meeting Monday night in urpin. ay
peal OF the present direct primar, ~ ~
Perhaps the most surprising fe,,r.
OIL the action was the fact that w..
members of the club known - A'as
favor of the present direct nominat,.
law were not on hand to make a,A,
Tor 1t, although it was quite pen.,.n.'
known that vote would be taken
Senator Calder, whenever he b.. :.
opportunity, has advised retention -
| the law, his friends said yestera.r
the ground that the party haa 49,
well under it, and that the nsoals Svis
seemed to think that while the low rs,p,s was
imperfect it still permitted a re..as mss
ably free expression of the desire. "t
the voters. Neither Senator Calder ros ~
Public Service Commissioners K,..n. aui
OF Brooklyn, were present on MonJ.s,
night, when the club took action on 81.
report of the Committee on stat ns Az
fairs, recommending a reneal ~ A. a..
present law. Chairman Koenie of tSs
County Committee also was absent
Squiers Led Opposition
The most vigorous opposition to III.
proposed, repea | Of the, laws was lsi;
by Alderman Arnon L. Squiers, vhs
! urged the stub to reffains from ssI. I.
ing for return of the old conyent;on
system. He said that asking for
repeal of the direct nominations law
at this time would be construed by
the voters of the state as a desire "a
get back to the practices which made
1t easy for the socalled "bosses" TO
manipulate the party machinery a,
will: He argued that the voters were
fairly familiar with the present sy,
tenn. that the new women voters hsye
studied it sufficiently to become fairly
familiar with it, and declared that i
make change now would be offensive
to the masses of Republicans who "a.
vor improving the existing law rather
than doing away with it. He said thai
in his judgment the Murphy SNYDER
bill. amending the present law, would
work we'll, and he urged the club to
approve that bill, instead of going on
record in favor of 1. return to the
convention system.
When an effort was made YESTERDAY
to see EX-Justice Hughes, his secre.,
tary said:
Judge Hughes very recently, in IN.
swer to request for his views on
return to the cid convention system
said that he was on record in conrec
tidn with the primary bilf favored by
him while Governor, and that his view.
had not materially changed since then
Public Service Commissioner Kracks
said that a return to the convention
system, as proposed by the action Of
the Republican Club, would be inter
pretcd as a reactionary step, and there.
fore was undesirable
Bennett Stands by Law
Ex-senator William NJ Bennett, whs
under the present law, defeated Mayor
Mitchell last fall in the primaries, said
that the law had justified the wisdom
of it's trainers
Amy primary law that will enable
tee plain people to express their po
litical preferences and do it effectively
IS worthy Of support in its essential
features" he said. "The farmers o.
the state, particularly this year, desire
direct nominations. as they are deter
mined in thirty or forty Assembly dis
tricts, to place in nomination, by pc.
tition, candidates that will really req
resent them at Albany The present
law, in its essential features, should be
, retained"