Year: 1867

Every honest and honorable man wishes
to see the present system of party primaries
improved or abolished and it is gratifying
to witness disposition to try and see if some
other plan to obtain the popular will cannot
be substituted for the corrupt and unsatis
factory system now in vogue. Party pri-
maries, even under the primary law, seldom
result satisfactorily only to the successful
nominees. They are in no way the sense of
the majority of the party. The unworthy
aspirant is as likely to win as the worthy
The best strategist at forming combinations
always takes the persimmon. The present
primary law is almost dead letter because
optional with the party and frauds under it
are by no means impossible. If the existing
law will reform the abuses of primaries, so
long as it is optional, those who desire the
advantages of the old system will not adopt
it. The Alta, few days ago, had leader
on this subject from which we extract the
following: yldu a.'


A more singing commentary upon the in
herent viciousness of the primaries could not
be penned. 1t is futile to expect voluntary
reformation there. No matter how tempt
ing may be the offer, no departure from the
old way of cheating, swapping, mining and
countermining, trading, buying and selling,
will ever be made. 1t is rotten to the core,
and had better be abandoned altogether. 1t
is entirely beyond repair or Improvements
Under such circumstances it is only natural
that the people should jump with alacrity at
any new mode of proceeding which promises
to secure anything like effectiveness for the
expression of the popular will with reference
to the nomination of suitable persons for
Office


In one of the counties of Pennsylvania they
have started an entirely new method, and it
is said that, so far, it has worked very ad-
mirably. 1t is simply the appointment of
Committee, who sit for a week, for the pur-
pose of receiving the ballots of all the mem
bers of the party which they represent, set
ting forth the names of the persons whom
the voter thinks should be nominated for the
office to be filled. At the end of that time
the ballots are all counted, and the person
who has the highest number of votes for
Sheriff is nominated for the Shrievalty the
person who has the highest number of votes
tOI 1ecCOIuCl 10 pun up lOi shtC OliOSi ohN oO
ON through the whole list.


There are no ward meetings, no conven
tions within conventions. The intricate
machinery now so etfectualy used or delud-
ing the masses is completely set aside, and
the popular voice is expressed with clearness
and precision. By this means the people act
without those brokers, or middlemen, gener-
ally known as politicians, who invariably
substitute their own interests for those Of
their principals. They indicate directly who
they want for the various public Offices,
which the exigencies of our form of govern
ment require. TO make il effective it
would be only necessary to provide for the
punishment of any member of the Committee
who should tamper with the returns, and for
the voter who should deposit ballot on the
side which in the general election he does
not intend to espouse.


The selection and election of public officers
are so intimately connected-in fact only
parts of one act-that no valid objection
could belurged against welding them togeth-
er after this fashion. One thing is certain,
that almost any mode of proceeding would
produce more satisfactory results than the
enc now in vogue. There is evidence that
we can neither patch up nor reform it. 1t
is corrupt past recovery. Some new ma
chinery must be manufactured, and it may
be that in this Pennsylvania invention we
have stumbled at last upon the true idea
1t is an encourage cement for progress in this
direction that we cannot possibly get up any
system that will be worse than the one with
which we are now trying to operate. Retro
gression is impossible.