The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 26, 1916, Page 14

(Continued from page 12) mitteemen” and “majority- county pro- posal committeemen.” - The persons elected from the precincts in each party for these positions constitute respectively the majority and minority county pro- posal committees, or county conventions. In turn, these county minority and majority committees of each party chose delegates to represent the wvarious counties in state party minority and majority proposal committees, or state conventions. Thus each party has two conventions instead of one, both in county and state. Thfitvis, if there is a minority and -majority faction in each party. If not, then of course only a majority committee for county and state is chosen. Mr. Richards says that when the act gets into operation there will always develop a minority in all parties, so that there will most always be the two kinds of conventions in each party. MAJORITIES AND MINORITIES - CHOOSE PARAMOUNT ISSUES Each of the majority and minority county and state “proposal committees” decides upon one “paramount” issue which it wishes to place before the rank and file- of the party, and both the majority. and minority committees in each party chose candidates for county and state offices to be filled at.the com- ing election. At the primary the ballot of each political party contains three columns of names. The third column contains the county committee whom these majority committées wish to see become the can- didates of their respective parties. Thus, the majority committee in county and state of the Republican party places its candidates in the third column of the Republican party primary ballot, which is handed to every voter who has regis- this ¢ tered in the Republican party and who birthy _ goes to vote primary day. The second : column contains the names of the county statut and state candidates of -the» minority Ref committee of the Republican party. The long 3 first column contains the names of any put tk independent Republican candidates who const# wish to contest with the regular minority the re or majority selections for the party as a'g - nomination. = At the top of the minority laws, and majority columns appear the para- majori mount -issues of the majority and to whi minority candidates. The issues must Civil se be stated in not more than eight words spoils. and each of these two columns has three stantia such issues, one national issue, one state as app issue and one county issue, each decided to men upon by the representative minority and ofima]s majority- state or county committee, as as nota - the case miay be. % “Thus the party voter in each pohtlcal '""POLIT] party at the primary chooses between TO DE . 3t least two, and perhaps three or more ~:_. candidates for the party’s nomination for But each office, and in voting for a candidate brought the voter is also voting for or against The inil issues, national, state and county, stated ered a1 - at the head of each of two of the decision; columns. The : first, or independent legislatu - . column, does not state any issues, but ticians r the candidates who run independently for on the p the party nomination must-have a para- vents its mount issue, which they set forth in their competer petition for the privilege to Tun -~ are ofter.. mdependently e VOTERS WILL NAME - privilege. ~ CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT f“t of tli In presidential years:.the. minority, eaz;s h " majority: and independent candidates for :::d € T party preferment for president of the Party - ynited States are also. voted: upon, and Eoneyt 2 the electors in each party also choose €M 10 | Jelegates to the respective-national con- lz)::ir man ventxons, thus retammg the prestdentxal ; ism:n O~ primary system. ~After the ballot is' made up and before the primary takes place a series of public debates takes place between candidates. “Fven persons who aspire to. party nomin- ations for president of the United States must come to the state for at least one DR party :preferment. The number of ~debatesi and place is fixed by law, the intention” being to have debates in the -principal: centers of population.. The independent candidate for any party omination for any office has first right f challenge. He can challenge either ',he does challenge, the: opposition candi- date must meet hun and debate the para- at a proper time frames a platform and' candidates of the majority state and . - ‘primaries. .. for compulsory debates between the can-- debate ' with opposing candidates for _must resign office. 5 Mr. Richards explains that he is not 'pohtlcal partleqlnd leaders i mount issues on which each are running, or his name comes off the ballot and the proper party committee choses another man who will accept debate. ‘ If the right of challenge is not exer- cised by the independent candidate, it passes to the minority candidate, and then to the majority candidate. provisions are such that no candidate can avoid facing his opponent and meet- ing the issues directly before the people: Mr. Richards thinks these debates im- portant. He says there will be keen inter- est in them and that they will awaken the voters to the issues, minimizing apa- thy among the people at elections and preventing any-dodging of iSsues by can- didates. They will tend,he thinks,toward eliminating personalities as the chief ° issues in campaigns and make office- The. Cheating the Sovereign People _ent sense. He says the parties under this ‘law will be absolutely representa- tive of 'the people. There will be no gang or political ring in the party. Party committee members can be recalled by the rank and file at any time and new party committeemen or -officers elected. Mr. Richards believes that elected officials should be responsible to the party that nominated and elected them. With provisions assuring that the party machinery is absolutely ‘ responsible and responsive to the will of the rank and file of the party, he believes that the party. recall, by judicial trial, is the best remedy for public officials who have betrdyed their trust. It will make parties responsible for the men they have’ put in office and the men in office respon- sible to-the party, creating an obligation 5 Philips Avenue, seeking 4 matter of advocating and dis- cussing issues, and will give candidates votes on account of important issues advocated. He claims governments in the United States -are irresponsible, for one reason, because office holders are elected on their own personalities instead of on issues. The provisions of the Richards’ act certainly place all the stress on the issue and none on the personality of the candidate. In fact, Mr. Richards has made it a crime to use personalities against a candidate. You can argue that John Doe is unfitted to sit in the legislature because he opposes the single tax, for instance, but you can not argue, either on the street or in newspapers, that he is unfitted because his son was sent to the reform school,because his wife drinks beer or because John Doe himself, 10 years ago, was arrested for horse stealing. You are liable to jail if you do and- get caught at it. Even if it’s true you can’t use it against the candidate. ' “ISSUES” TO BE PLACED AT HEAD OF BALLOT After the primaries have been held and each party has chosen its paramount issue and candidates for each office to _be filled, the ballot for the fall election is made up. Each party Has a column on the ballot, as at present, but besides the party name it has at the top also the paramount issues which the rank and file of the various parties have chosen at the Again there is the provision didates of the various parties and the threshing out of the 1ssues before the people. Other nnportant ‘features. of the law are the provision fox party recall and party indorsement for party appoint- ments by party candidates elected to office. The candidate, after elected, is made responsible: to his party, instead of to the people as a whole. On proper petmon of the rank and file of the party in the:state, or in the county, if it is a county: office, or on a two-thirds vote of the party committee, any elected official must face trial by the party committee. He can be tried -for failure to stand by the party icsues, for negligence, ineffic- iency, malfeasance in office, or any other betrayal of his trust. The party com- mittee : becomes ‘a -court and - takes evidence under found gmlty the official proceeded against making - elective officials’ respons le to court = procedure. I ities will be the basis on which men ‘are Zé«i Yo office. He says the system oux Falls, S. D. on each side that will be beneficial to the people as a whole. COMMITTEES TO RECOMMEND OFFICE APPOINTEES The appointments of: an elected can- didate of any party can be recommended, if desired, by the party organization.. Provision is made for. the party com- mittee' to meet and receive apphcatmns for positions under officials in office of the party in power, from the governor down. The party committee recommends party men or outsiders, if desired, for all the appointments, and these recom- mendations are transmitted to the elected party man. This, Mr. Richards says, will end the spoils system as it at present works. It will prevent personal machines and it will assure, he thinks, representative party men, whom the rank raik and file of the party can trust, being - given the important - appointive positions. He makes the elected party man responsible to the party, and the party responsxble to the people. - In the case of appointment by the president of the United States of post- masters, the local organization of the party in power at Washington, D. C., holds a primary, provided by law, and the rank and file of the party indorses a candidate, whose name is sent, with the recommendation of the party, to the president of the United States. Mr. Richards says no president will overlook an indorsement of this kind by the actual rank and file of the party. He believes it will eliminate the present condition of having gang politicians. handling the patronage of a state for personal benefit. . This is only a brief outline of the pro- vmons of the act. Mr. Richards says it means the organization of political parties on an intelligent ‘and orderly plan, makmg them responsible and responsive. He 'says that govemment under this way of threshing out issues, - selecting candidates and electing them, will be government by the people. He points out that everything works back to the people for, authority. The people choose the issues and the candidates, the party officers, etc., and can remove or change them ‘at any time. He claims governmeént will be. so representative that there will be no need of the initia-- tive and referendum. If the people really “want ‘a law, he claims they can get it quickly, because the ‘party officers and elected officials- under this system will qmckly respond to the will of the people.” ehmmated that issues and not personal-- He says the spoils - system :will be - will not crush or steam-roller a man with: a good idea, as at present. A-man with an issue has opportunity to get it before the people. The law provides that when an independent candidate with an issue gets 10 per cent of his party vote * for office, he becomes automatically the mine . ority candidate at the next primary for nomination, if he desires, and' he . then has a party organization back of “him and better means of. publicity to push his issue, and perhaps win the party in- dorsement on it. Then his issue becomes the party issue and-has a place at the head of the party column on the general election ballot in the fall, while his name appears at the proper placé in the col- umn below. RICHARDS TELLS VIRTUES OF HIS PRIMARY LAW “The big advantages of- the law are- .that it forces a clash of principle, both at primaries and general elections, and it is only by such clashes that the truth is brought out,” says Mr. Richards. “It makes issues and not men important, and because it does, it works up interest in issues. and candidates supporting issues, and tends to do away with indifference on the part of the people. You can trust the people absolutely, if they are given fair opportunity to study the issues and fair machinery to make their will felt. “Nonpartisanism that merely makes the race for office a.race between men on their personality is bad. Party gov- ernment is the only foundation for ree sponsive and responsible government, but it must be by parties that are in ab- solute control of the people, as this law will make them. And the parties, not the candidates or elected party men, must be responsible to the people. You _ in North Dakota found the direct pri- mary law you have there, like the one we have here, inadequate. The political gang was still there and on the job. You had to organize a great, mdepen~ dent voters’ league to bring out issues and principles the people wanted. Your elective machinery was inadequate to do it. You made issues the thing, not men, “Of course, you indorsed men you knew sfood by those issues and who will carry them out in office, but it was the great issues and principles your organization 'stands for that have won for it, not the individuals who happen to -be indorsed to carry them into effect. Under the ordinary primary law, although a ma- ° jority of your people -wanted these things for - years, they. could not get them. The primary law you had did not bring out men with these issues, re- sponsive and responsible to the people. - “Why not, now that your league is in power, change your primary and election machinery up there so that you will have responsive government. "I don’t say my law is exactly the proper thing. But ! study the question. It is the most im- portant thing you can do, because when you get the right kind of primary and election machinery you 'can get easily anything else the majority of the people want. Even then you can 'still have’ your league, if you want it, and it ean accomplish its purpose much better un- der a law similar to the Richards law than under the old style of du-ect pnm— aries.” NEED GOOD COURT A The decision of the capital removal - case shows what may be expected. of 'the’ supreme court of the state. The people - cannot rule until a court in’ sympathy with the people is-elected.” It-would be the height of folly to elect a’ governor of the people, and leave in’ power 'a: court— that is determined \the people ‘shall not rule. ~ ‘Elect the- peoplea candxdntes. YORK CITIZEN. ] FRAZIER HAS BACKBO‘NE - Mr. Frazier made the most phenom- i3 enal run in the last primary .campaign ever made by a man in this state. From comparative: obscurity he arose through the aid of the Nonpartisan League, to the highest pinnacle. of publicity. He drew a larger vote than ' all’ the other gubernatorial candidates: making a clean sweep ‘throughout the state and carrying every county but two. He i8 a farmer 'to ‘the fi&ckbohe, an able ta!k