The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1928-11-23

pSidtic ihtdty III INOith SLUtiid
Iolic vote In Florida or Texas.
The Primary Election Law of
North Carolina was ostensibly de.
signed to end boSsism and corrup-l |
tion in State politics and giyel
every aspirant for political office sl
direct appeal to the people for no,ni-l
nation. Under the old conventiOrI
system few political ringster;j
would hold county convention antl
nominate ticket from slate madt /;
up by the boss or bosses of the coun- 4
ty. If you aspired to office you hat
to stand in with the county boss t
get your nomination. Sometime,
you bought you. nomination OUT
right by paying the boss flat pricel
or by agreement to give him per-
centage from the salary or einolu-
mentS you would derive from thtl
office. More often you secured you'll
nomination by reason Of your ability,
to deliver votes to the boss and byi
a tacit or implied understanding
that your office would favor thsI
friends and schemes of the boss ancl
his machine. If you were scruipu-I
lously honest and not open 10 trad.
ing with the boss politician or poli-l
ticians. you were out of luck.
AS. a rrie, few citizens ever saYl
the inside Of q county convention
Conventions were duly advertised
but the masses of the people do not:
like to tax their minds with the In:
tricacies of political machinery and
the people stayed away from the:
conventions. Boss rule was made;
easy by public apathy and lazlnesst
The Primary Election Law chang!
ed all that, by enabling any man;
who chose to run for Office to an,
nounce his candidacy and go square !
ly before the people, The. Primary
election was good thing in this
respect. And it was an essential
thing in a State in which there was
formerly virtually but Che political
party. With no Republican opposi-I
tion TO speak Of. a convention ruled
Democratic party could put up al
yellow dog for an office and elect
him. without fear of Republican,
opposition, the Democratic bosses
did not have to weigh the qualifica-i
tions of candidate for office. They
corld nominate any old hack or mis-
fit with assurance that he would
be elected just as the national
Republicans to-day can nominate
any old thing for President and set
away with it. 4. - MS
But under the misrule OF State
Boss F.. M. Simmons, the Primary
Election Law in North Carolina
was never all it was designed TO be.
To begin with. the Republicans
never paid any attention to It, and
went right on nominating then
candidates in conventions in the
usual way. The Democrats alone
held a primary. And the orders OF
Senator Simmons, specific or i'm
Piled, we're that any Republican who
would support the Democratic State
ticket should be permitted to regis
ter and vote in the Primaries. z
The law provided that only bora
fide Democrats should vote in a
Democratic primary, but there was
nothing in the law to define what
was a Democrat. The registration
books provided a column in which
the registrars were required TO set
down the political affiliation Of the
voter registering SO that poll holders
would have a record of who were
Democrats and who were not. But
registrars generally did not inquire
into the politics of any registrant
| An examination of a number OF
registration books in this county
only this week reveals the fact
that registrars in this county have
never paid any attention to this
! important requirement of the law
, There is nothing in the registra-
tion books to show whether the
registrants are Democrats, Republi-
cans or Prohibitionists. s ,.. asl
Thousands Of Republicans have
regularly voted in the Democratit
Primaries In North Carolina without
being challenged and in the recenl
election we saw voters by the ten,
of thousands who had voted In tht
Democratic Primary go to the poll,
in the regular election and v0t,
l Continued on page eight