The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1926-10-01
THE Direct PRIMARIES


The subject Of the primary system of party
nominations is coming more and more into public
mind
This system was supposed to put government
into the hands of decent and dependable people;
cure every disease which tainted the tissues of
the body polite.
But the "cure all" has aggravated rather than
alleviated the diseases.
Instead if killing the political baciH it stimu-
lated and fed them-instead of being a weapon
with which to fight the giant industrial organi-
cations and the, money power, it seems to be an
instrument which only powerful industrial Organi-
cations and the money power can operate
Investigation of the the primary elections in
of the states has disclosed that it costs mil
lions of dollars for the few votes that were gar
nered.
In many communities not as many votes were
cast as there were officials employed in the vot-
ing places.
Instead eff eliminating fraud from politics, ex-
perience has proven well that the primary system
invites fraud and at times it almost has the APP
pearance of making fraud necessity This is
true when voters are persuaded to vote for can
didate without any showing of reason for the act
But the worst about the primary system is the
destruction of interest of the voters or party
HiSiIpC1S III JHe SelecICn OF candidates. ms
system has disfranchised the electors by robbng
them of all interest in who the party candidates
may De. 1t has done more to promote indiffer-
ence than all other influences combined
And why have the citizens lost interest in the
primaries?
Because it is a personal affair There are no
issues to interest the voters. The system has
brought about the substitution of personalities
Tbo
sponsored travels about asking Tom, Dick and
Harry to vote for him because the candidate hap
pens to want office and chance to get his
nose in the political feed trough. The voter does
not know the candidates and cannot pick between
the horde Of office seekers. He is not interested
in as individuals. He is interested in what
teh is going to do when he gets into office
what he is going to do for him, the voter Ma
turally the voter looks to the party and not to
the man, to principles and not to personalities.
Therefore he does not take the trouble to vote
At the general election, the issue now are gen.
orally again personal. The voter can choose be-
tween the candidate presented by both of the
parties, knowing full well that neither of them
mean word they say and that after election is
over, being responsible to nothing but the freaks
of fortune, the elected one will do as he pleases
though he violates the most sacred of party
pledges
The primaries has broken down party discipline
entirely. In a republic such as ours or in any
other democracy there can be no responsible gov
eminent except by party.
Only party carry out policy or pro-
gram
Individuals cannot function in a government
with functioning in party first. And when per-
sons instead of party win elections there cannot
be anything else than chaos that we have now.
Men of ability and pride will not go before
the people asking for their votes on purely per-
sonal grounds. AS result only adventures and
self seekers and cheap political fakirs avail them
selves of the primaries and run for nominations,
espousing any popular fad that might secure a
vote
So the calibre of the men in office has degen-
Grated steadily since the party primary was
adopted
Those demagogues who are now in office who
would never have been nominated for any office
by any representative body of men acting on be-
half of party, are for the primary system.
Why should they not be? 1t is the vehicle of
their success. Without it they would not be.
The primary system is the product of suprem-
acy of the "good man" idea, over the party idea;
the supremacy of personalities over principles.
1t is time the people returned again to the
party idea-that they again vote for the party
instead of the man; that principles be put first
and men afterwards.
That is the only way we put statesmen in
office and demagogues cut.
That is the only way we will restore interest
in politics, as we'll as responsible government.
The hope that the thoughtless public places in
individuals has done and is doing more than any
thing else in the United States today to prevent
the destruction Of the two corrupt, defunct, out
of-date old parties and the growth of new parties
rejecting and representing the economic interests
of its members, than all other factors put to-
gether
Yes, the primary system is another light that
has failed
ENTER GENE-EXTT JACK