Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 208, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1916 — Direct Primaries and the Short Ballot, Unlike in Principle, Can Not Be Joined [ARTICLE]

Direct Primaries and the Short Ballot, Unlike in Principle, Can Not Be Joined

By c. R. LANE

The eld convention system was abolished because the losers always thought they had been unfairly defeated, that they would have won if all the people had had a chance to vote for them, hi other words, the convention was corrupt and failed to record the people’s choice. The remedy for such wrongs —for the evils of democracy—was more democracy, in referring nominations to the entire party membership. Now that the primary has developed evils, and inasmuch as all but one of the candidates still continue to lose, the short balloters conclude that the evils can be cured by less democracy. They want to cut down the number of offices to be filled by vote of .the people* leaving the rest of the offices to be filled by appointment of the chief executive, mayor or governor or president. The theory is that the people cannot knowor be expected to know the score or more of men they must vote for, and therefore the lesser offices should be filled by appointment of those elected, who will be held responsible for the character and efficiency of the appointees. Could there be any better way to promote machine politics than to confer by means of the short ballot the combined powers and prestige of many offices on the one appointing power ? Will not the average voter rather delegate his political power to a convention composed of hundreds of taxpayers, rather than to one man anxious to remain in office? In any event, let us think clearly and be reasonable. Let us recognize the absurdity of shouting “let the people rule” by direct primaries in one breath and “short ballot” in the next. They lead in different , ' • v directions.