The Cordova daily times., 1921-06-18
JOHNSON BILL
 WILL BECAUSE BITTER FIGHT
BY COL. WINFIELD JONES Special Correspondence)

day.
 The reason for the Johnson amend ment is the decision of the U. s. supreme court in the Newberry case, which decision declared that con- gress is without power to regulate primaries, at the same time to re- relieve Newberry of jail sentence for alleged fraud and corruption in the celebrated contest in Michigan in which the former secretary of the navy under Roosevelt defeated Henry Ford for the senate.
 The Johnson amendment will be fought bitterly by one group of sen ators, and as vigorously advocated by another group.
 The first group includes many of the old line "standpatters" and pro- fessional politicians who believe in the caucus system, in secret cabals where a few men are able to domi- nate conventions and select candi- dates against the will of majority of the people, and in fact to manipu- late political affairs, high and low so that the people have practically nothing to say and are kept in the dark. These men will oppose to the last ditch and the last cartridge the Johnson amendment.
 The second group believe that the states should regulate all primaries by law, and not by party government They are for the rule of the people and against the domination of the political bosses. This group will go ment through congress. Needless to l say the rank and file of the voters of both parties when they really understand the issue, will be for the Johnson proposal.
 But a constitutional amendment is very difficult to secure In the first place it has to be passed by a two | thirds majority of house and senate In the second place it must be rati- fled by three-fourth of the states. It took the women fifty years to secure the nineteenth amendment which en- franchised them. The anti-saloon league worked for twenty five years to secure the eighteenth amendment which made the nation dry So the Johnson amendment will have a hard time to get through congress, if it does get through, and an even harder time to be ratified by three-fourths of the states
 There are two principal arguments put forth by the proponents of the proposed Johnson primary law. One is that corruption and excessive expenditures for election of presi. dents and members of congress al ways exist under the present system. The other is that in some states there are no primary laws and in other commonwealths where primary laws do exist they are disregarded by political bosses whenever it suits their schemes or convenience. There fore an iron-bound federal primary law is needed
 There is one glaring example of the need of federal primary law, and that exists in the District of Col umbia, seat of the American govern ment In the district there are no primary laws of any kind. just as there is no suffrage of any kind. Consequently when delegates to na. tional political conventions are to be chosen there is always a great row, great bitterness of feeling be- tween factions, Democrats as well as Republicans, and a considerable amount of nude slinging. Two or three sets of delegates are "elected" or appointed" to the conventions and the result is always a contest before the credentials committee of the convention. The set of dele ates that happens to be for the presidential candidate whose friends at the moment control the credentials committee, are seated in the con. vention, and the other delegates are thrown out. The winning dele. gates then proceed to elect a na- tional committeem for the District of Columbia, and often as not the man chosen is obnoxious to all the other factions in the national capital. Sometimes it happens that the ere. dentials committee will throw out all the delegates and leave the ua. tional capital without any representa-