Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1919-04-13
WHATS THE MATTER WITH
OUR POLITICS?
I'VE TRIED TO PURIFY OUR
PARTIES BY FORMULA AND IN
A SENSE SUCCEEDED; WE
STERiliZED THEM, AND METH.
Err HAS FUNCTIoNED IN ANY
VERY LIVELY WAY SINcEv
By WILLIAM BARNES JR

THERE Is nothing vitality wrong in
i the American ideal of government,
but in Its process there is much that
Is wrong. This is recognized by al
most everybody. Our free institu-
lions are not serving the purposes for
which they were created We have
hedged them about with all sorts of
precautions but the more we hedge the
less they seem to work Time was
when we feared that congress might
run amuck. Now our only fear is
that it won't run at all.
In spite Of reforms our courts con-
tinue to stall. They are so choked
with procedure that they can't pro-
coed, Very much the same thing is
the matter with our politics. We tried
to purify politics by formula. In a
sense we succeeded. We sterilized our
political parties; but the disinfectant
killed most of the germs-good and
bad-and neither Of the parties has
functioned in any very lively way
since.
| In politics and government both we
have aimed at democracy and bagged
a lot Of formulas. We ordered gov
eminent by the people and received an
overwhelming supply because of red
| tape. Now We are complaining be-
cause our government is too rigid. 1t
surely is, but what else could be ex-
pected? To keep 1t from going wrong
we tied it down. To get it to go at
all we must now cut some of the
strings.
1
around ideas 1t is unscientiflc, to say
the least, to hope that ideas will
gather around political parties. To-
day both the Republican and Demo-
cratic parties are organizations, but
not organisms. Who shall constitute
their membership is determined by
law. How their government shall be
| formed is also matter of statute.
| There must be state committee, or
| ganiZed in such and such a way, os-
| tensibly to keep any group, represent
| ing some concrete political principle,
from control of the organization. We
| forget that it is really no concern of
the people as a whole who controls
any particular political group. What
the people are interested in is the tri-
i umph or defeat of the idea advanced.
The people should make the nomi-
nations" has been the cry of a GER
tain school of reformers. No, the
members of the party acting through
their agents should make them. In
order to find out whom the people
| want it is absolutely necessary to do
the nominating first by groups. The
only alternative Is nomination by ac-
climation of all our citizens, and that
surely cannot be compelled.
The people do the electing. Any one
who can get the floor should have the
right to make nomination. 1t is up
to the people to make their rules of
order and thus determine who shall
get the floor. But the members of any
one political party are not the people.
Each party should be permitted to
make it's own rules.
Suppose a political party should try
to function on the principle that all
motions and nominations should be
made by the whole party membership.
Within a party the party members are
the units, and it is absolutely neces-
sary that the conflicting units shall
take the initiative before the voice of
the whole party can be determined.
In a national election the various po-
| litical parties are the units and it is
absolutely necessary that these groups
shall get their motions and their nom
| nations before the people in order
that the people may make any choice
at all.
This misuse Of the word people" is
very largely responsible for the polit-
ical and governmental bankruptcy to-
day. For, while our so-caIIed ballot
reform has not accomplished the i'm
| possbk. and brought about "nomina-
tons by the people," it has made it
possible for exceptionally wiIful mi
| norities to control our politics.