Great Falls daily tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1895-1921, 1920-08-31
PRIMARY POST MORTEMs

The Helena Independent is out with an editor
ial in which it places the blame for the nomina-
ton Of B. K. Wheeler at the door Of the Montana
Development association, an organization of
some four thousand merchants, which it charges
went in to nominate Joe Dixon on the Republi-
can ticket and defeat Mr. Ford, and so withdrew
votes from the Democratic primary which would
otherwise have been cast against Wheeler. The
Independent charges that Herbert Mcleod OF
Mssoula and Messrs Sander and Selvidge were
the trio that engineered this deal with disastrous
results to the Democratic party and the best in
terests of the state. We do not know much
about the facts as set forth by the Independent,
but whether it's premises be true or not, we do
not agree with it's conclusions. 1t was not the
Montana Development association or any other
association or organized group Of individuals
that was responsible for the failure of the reg
ular Democrats to nominate Mr.. Mcdowell Tor
governor on the Democratic ticket. 1t was the
fault Of the individual Democrats of the state.
There were enough Democrats In the state OH
on summer vacations, or business and pleasure
trips, or who neglected to get their names on the
registration list, to have nominated Mr.. NC
DoWell had they cared enough about their poll
tlcal duty to see that their vote was cast. Ihere
were enough farmers and farmers wives to have
done the job had they not considered that It was
more important to cut their grain or get IN a
few loads of hay than it was to register their
political convictions. 1t was largely indifference
and the spirit of 'et George do it" that resulted
in the regular Democratic ticket going down to
defeat before lot of political porch climbers,
who entered their organization and took posses
sion Of it in the absence Of the real Democrats
whose house it was.
The Dunn-Townley organization made no such
mistake They worked like beavers. They have
been at it for months in the country and the
CITY precincts. They brought out to the polls
every vote they could control, every voter they
could hoodwink by their class conscious propa-
ganda. They fully realized the value of organl-
cation and propaganda. They spent dollars on it
where the regular Democrats spent dimes. Be
sides, they had a large number of enthusiastic
volunteers who worked for their ticket without
financial compensation under the impression
that they were going to gain economic and class
benefits by the election of their ticket at the
primary election. They won because they de-
served to win so far as organization went. They
worked hard and work tells in politics as we'll
as at the carpenters bench or the hay field IN
producing results and achieving success.
There is not much use in crying over spilled
milk, or in making political post mortems. But
lust to point moral, we Of the opinion that
the regular Democrats could and would have de-
feated the bolshevik outfit that captured their
organization at the primaries on August "a, if
they had cared as much about success and work
ed as hard to attain it as the leaders Of the SO
called Labor-F armer party did to attain success. |
Therefore, our conclusion is that the individual
Democrats are the proper ones to blame for
present conditions and not any organization.