The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1945-04-06
Justice Adair Dissenting
(Conttnued from PACE One,

(OOntinUe0 from fa&e OneJ
H. P. Shelley, Helena; C. E. Sackett
Anaconda; NJ NJ Donoghue, Butte
w. M. Johnston, Billings.
This league is non-partisan organ
ization. Its object is to extend ant
perfect the direct power of the voter
over their state and local government
in all its branches and officers-tha
the people may rule.
We believe the approval of tn,
above four measures by the people
will provide practical methods b,
which the voters of Montana will b.
able effectively to use their supreme
power over the officers as well as the
laws of our state, county and city
governments and at the same time
have accurate and full knowledge O.
the subjects on which they act.
DIRECT PRIMARY LAW. The
purpose of the direct primary law is
to place the nomination of all candi
dates for public office directly in the
hands of the voters, thereby eliminat
| ing the complicated caucus and con
vention system The direct primary
destroys the power Of the corporation
controlled machine boss. Boss Tweed
once said: you may elect whichever
candidates you please to office-if you
allow me to select the candidates"
When the people nominate the can
didates as we'll as elect the officers
they have a government by the people
and for the people. No man would
think of having delegates or conven,
ton do his voting at the general cleo
I'tion, and it is even more important
that he do his own voting at the nomi-
mating election. Men have died for
the right to cast the ballot, and surely
the right to make the ballot is no
less valuable or sacred than the right
to vote it.
For more than decade the voters
rect primaries to the end that they
of Montana have been demanding di-
might, under the protection of the
Australian ballot system, nominate the
candidates for public office Both of
the great parties and most of the leg
islative candidates, year after year,
have pledged themselves to enact such
a law, but for reasons best known to
themselves, when entrusted with pow
er, they have disregarded the public
will. The patience of the public hav-
ing been exhausted, the initiative and
referendum have been invoked, and
the people may now secure these laws
by simply voting for each of the meas
ures at the election to be held on
November 5. Special ballots will be
provided for this purpose.
Primary election reform is sweep
ing the country. All but ten states
now have direct primary laws. These
backward states are Connecticut, Yer
mont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, In
diana, Delaware, North Carolina, West
Virginia, Utah, and Montana. And in
every one of these an effort is being
made to throw off the yoke of the
bosses.
The reader is urged to read the text
of each of the measures proposed
The first of these, the bill providing
for party nominations by direct vote,
contains the best features of the prim-
airy laws of Oregon and Wisconsin,
the two most progressive states in the
union. This bill has been passed by
many of the best lawyers of the state,
including Hon. T. J. Walsh, Judge
Edwin K. Cheadle and Hon. Walter
S. Hartman.
A direct primary law voted by the
people can be repealed only by vote
Of the people, while makeshift law
enacted by a special session of the
legislature could be repealed by the
following legislative assembly. These
initiative measures have been en-
1orsed by the Montana Federation of
Labor, by many local unions and by
he progressives of all parties.
Hon. William S. U'Ren, father of
he initiative and referendum move
nent in Oregon, and who was chiefly |
in drafting and securing |
he enactment of the direct primary |
aw in Oregon in 1906, considers the
aw proposed for Montana an improve
nent over the Oregon law, as is evil
fenced by the following letter:
Oregon City, Ore, April %, 1912
1r Miles Romney, Hamilton, Mont.
Dear Sir: l am glad to have the
God news of yours of the 18th inst.
think the Wisconsin plan of the
losed primary is better than ours,
nd certainly is for your state. I
nclose under separate cover copies
all the literature have on this