Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 March 1902 — The Right Method of Electing Delegates. [ARTICLE]

The Right Method of Electing Delegates.

The Republican heartily commends that feature in the call for the Republican county convention which provides that the convention shall elect the county’s delegates to the various district and state conventions still to be held. Namely the state convention, the judicial convention, and the joint representive convention. The plan was adopted at the demand of every member of the new county committee who was present when the county chairman and secretary were elected, and when the time, place and manner of the county convention was decided upon. It is not a new feature in this county, by any means, and in many counties is the settled policy, and in other states, notably Illinois, we think is the almost universal rule. The method relieves the voters from the annoyance of being called upon to attend several primary conventions, almost always at times when they are busy and can not spare the time, or elae when the

roads and weather are bad, Bat the best result from this method of electing . delegates to the various conventions, is that it tends greatly to secure party harmony. When a separate primary is called for every convention, then is when the heelers and schemers get in their work. The word is passed quietly around among the friends of some particular candidate and enough of them slip in to run the primaries. Then the friends of other man or men get mad and the seeds are sown for plenty of fights and discords and revenges, for several campaigns to come. But when only one county primary is held, all the voters then turn out and take part, and no one has any grounds to oomplain of a snap judgment having been taken on him. The whole thing is fought out at the one time, with everybody’s friends and backers present to do their share, and when it is all over no one feels that anyone has grounds for complaint.