MODIFICATIONS OF THE DIRECT PRIMARY-CONSTRUCTIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE
Owen, Robert L.
Modifications of the Direct Primary—Constructive and Destructive An Answer to Vice-President Dawes By ROBERT L. OWEN (Former United States Senator from Oklahoma) The reactionary forces in this...
...M. L., Jr...
...Dawes' arguments against the direct primary are familiar, there is a new note sounded in his article, of significance as coming from him...
...Dawes has ever raised his voice in favor of it...
...Dawes, at the opening of his article, pays at least some deference to the soundness of the people's judgment I may, without impropriety, call his attention to the fact that in the past five years at seven elections in six different states the electors voted upon seven concrete propositions, all of which involved the question as to whether they would maintain their direct primary as it existed or modify it in the direction advocated by Mr...
...Absolute Majority Theory Unworkable IN LAYING down the postulate we must have "not the judgment of a portion of our qualified voters, but the judgment of all of them represented by the position of the majority when all have voted," Mr...
...As a result, progressive leaders in both political parties were led to demand the direct primary system as a better means of coping with the special interests and to make it more difficult for them to filch governing power and divert it to their selfish purposes...
...This tends to make the campaign efficient and very cheap, and if properly supported and developed, would make the wholesale use of money in advertising the merits of candidates unnecessary...
...Dawes' Objections Met HIS objection to the direct primary—that poor candidates are excluded, and that an enormous amount of money must be spent, vanishes with an adequate publicity system...
...It is hardly necessary to recall his own vigorous references to "the existence of political rascals," and certainly the friends of good government are not called on to be silent when he lends his great name and his high office as the Vice-President of the United States to the restoration of a discredited, corrupt, political system which will give the "political rascals" far greater opportunities to steal the powers of the government then they now possess...
...His own sincerity is not in question, but the fact remains that it does take less money to buy a convention than it does the voters in Pennsylvania, for example, (a case of which he has probably lately heard) and those who wish to buy a senator-ship would assuredly much prefer the convention as more economical and more "practical...
...Dawes' position...
...Than fly to others they know well of...
...They preferred to depend upon private agencies which they could manipulate and control, and have frowned upon, aborted, ami in most cases, defeated any publicity method of this sort...
...Boss Tweed's Position BOSS TWEED well said on a famous ocea-sion, "Let me nominate the candidates and I c;tre not who elects...
...I might add that in several other states proposed constitutional conventions were voted down with even greater majorities because the voters were aware that an attempt would be made to deprive them of the direct primary and other forms of self-government...
...These states were Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and Arizona...
...Voters Still 2 to 1 for Primary BEFORE discussing these needed safeguards, let me point out that imperfect as it is, and lax as they may have been in many instances in discharging their civic duties, the mass of the voters, as far as they have had opportunity to express themselves, are overwhelmingly in favor of retaining the present primary system as against any form of return to a convention system which deprives them of the power to nominate candidates by their own direct vote...
...The American people do not want dictators...
...The issue was presented to the voters of Maine at a special election October 18...
...His complaint against the appearance of so-called "blocs" has no place in thfs discussion, for the bloc system is based on sectional o>r group interests and would exist under the convention system...
...but this is not a reason why we should deprive those wh j do vote of exercising the vital function of selecting candidates...
...Might I venture to suggest that the Vice-President of the United States in his consideration of the intricacies of the structure of government, devote his mentality to a careful analysis of Mr...
...I desire to call sharp attention to these considerations which have been wholly overlooked by Mr...
...The interests have opposed it and it is not of record in the knowledge of the leaders in this movement, that Mr...
...The Convention IS Cheaper MR: DAWES says, "It is intimated that those who desire to see the primary system modified, do so because it takes less money to buy a convention than to buy off a majority of those voting in the primary...
...namely, a return to the convention system...
...Dawes mean to assume that th?re are like powerful interests in this country who will use their wealth and influence to throw us into a dictatorship if they cannot control the bloc system and the primaries of Illinois and Pennsylvania, for example...
...His success was achieved iiy the gun and the bludgeon...
...Mussolinism...
...Moreover, if voting be a virtue and a civic duty—and it is—-Mr...
...His suggestion that the primary promotes a multiplicity of candidates would be largely obviated by the short ballot...
...0 THE END that American voters may be stimulated to the better discharge of their civic duties and that greater efficiency in government may be obtained, Vice-President Dawes has added his influm_r ence to those who are urging a modification of the Direct Primary...
...WHILE Mr...
...Charles A. Beard states in his recent great work, published by Maumiilan...
...Dawes have us expect a military dictatorship to arise in America...
...I\he Rise of American Civilization," it is shown "that no more than ONE-FOURTH of the adult white males in the country voted one way or the other in the elections at which delegates to the state ratifying conventions were chosen," and that "according to a cautious reckoning PROBABLY ONE-STXTH of them—namely, 100,000 —favored the ratification of the new form of government...
...A Corrupt Practices Act with Teeth SECOND: An absolutely necessary safeguard to the direct primary or any election is a stringent and" properly drawn Corrupt Practices Act providing among other things, that no candidate beneficiary of serious corruption shall be seated, and for penitentiary sentences for gross violation by political managers and large contributors...
...The Department of Efficiency in Government of the National League of Women Voters has recently published an extremely valuable pamphlet upon nominating methods written by Helen M. Rocca, which shows evidence of balanced judgment and very considerable research...
...the destruction by terrorism of political democracy, of trade unionism, of the co-operative movement, of freedom of speech, press and assemblage, and of academic freedom...
...and in cases where one pamphlet is found insufficient, the system could be easily expanded to include two or three, or more if necessary...
...The writer further points out that if we were to abolish the direct primary for non-voting, it would be equally as logical to abolish the general election for the same reason...
...Under the leadership of Governor Ralph O. Brewster the repeal of the Maine Primary law was defeated by a 2 to 1 vote...
...Why Conventions Were Abolished THE judgment of the people upon the convention method was rendered after three generations of experience...
...He would do better to advocate a policy that would excite the personal interest of the voter, and a policy which would make it easy for the voter to exercise a franchise when circumstances make it difficult for him to do so, such as voting by mail...
...It would seem obvious to almost any student of theoretical or practical politics that Mr...
...He demonstrates that the opponents of the Primary are opposed to all other progressive measures which give the people greater control of their government...
...a situation so acute there as to have resulted in the abandonment at least temporarily of parliamentary government in Poland, Italv ami Spain...
...The general elections were those of 3922, 1924 nd 192G...
...Charles E. Merriam of Chicago University, in his notable book, "The American Party System," published by Macmillan, when he says, "P'undameri'tal to any satisfactory progress in the development of desirable nominating systems is the short ballot . . . The complications and confusions of the long ballot will entangle the voters to the advantage of the machine which understands its intricacies far better than the individual voter can have time to do...
...And he resents such a "low grade of argument" as this intimation would be...
...Moreover the writer points out that "those who for this reason advise a return to the elected delegate convention system fail to take into consideration the fact that the direct primary invariably - brings out a much larger vote for candidates than was cast for delegates under the convention system...
...He is entirely wrong in advocating a policy which would make their voting ineffective...
...He proposes a return to the convention system which has been discredited and abandoned in almost every state in the Union...
...Vice-President Dawes has been a leader in the assault on the direct nomination of candidates by the people...
...Dawes should have exercised more care and a little more attention to history...
...Does Mr...
...Tweed's views and the experience upon which they were based...
...Third: The third essential is the short ballot...
...In thirty years of active political life I have never met an opponent of the direct primary who offered a substitute remedy for the evils of the convention system or a constructive criticism of the direct primary itself...
...Nay moie...
...By their vote for over one hundred years they have fought to secure one method after another by which to check the corruption of government by men of weafth...
...Since it is manifest that the American people will not return to the convention system, and since better government is a desirable end to achieve, I have the honor to invite the assistance of the Vice-President in securing and trying out an efficient system of self-government before returning to the obvious eorruption os conventions, or resorting to the perils of a dictatorship...
...Plea.se tell us more about it...
...Dawes and his colleagues...
...The consolidated voteiupon these several measures in those states stood, Yes_____________ G8G,987 . No __________________1,322,196 THE Ohio vote last year stood 405,152 Yes to 74,'?,r?13 No...
...Dawes Forgets the "Jokers" THE machine politicians, defeated in their •attempts to block the coming of the direct primary, then employed their most skillful and most powerful efforts to abort it and in most instances they have succeeded by inserting "jokers'' and "modifications" in these laws which have impaired their operation and prevented their proper functioning...
...There are other safeguards which might be mentioned, but the three suggested will go far toward remedying, as far as adequate political machinery can, the evils common to American politics which still persist under the primary system...
...We might all deprecate the failure of some of the citizens to vote, but it is fatal to democracy to deprive thorn of their power on that account...
...I quote his exact words: "Largely because of the primaries in their present form, therefore, we are threatened with a regime-of the bloc system in Congress, from which, if it is not arrested, we are in danger of a break-down ifi parliamentary efficiency which today is such, an outstanding characteristic in the government of European countries...
...The Vice-President cannot foreclose the argument by this suggestion...
...As Dr...
...Senator Owen's able discussion of the subject is most valuable and timely and will be of great interest to our readers.—R...
...The direct primary is only one more in a series of such efforts...
...Evidently we have here from Mr...
...seem to :,tio\v something very important and dangerous, Mr...
...As former Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, has well said: "The fact of this weapon of control (the direct primary) gives to the voters a consciousness of power and responsibility...
...And since Mr...
...The corrupt use of money in the primary should be made a criminal offense, as in any other function of government...
...that to abandon the Primary is to repudiate the fundamental principle of self-government...
...Mussolini would have remained a harmless agitator tad he not been financed and reinforced by the "j.sted interests, the militarists .and reactionary .tatesmen of Italy...
...A majority of more than 330,000 against the convention systcm.with 82% of those voting for governor voting on the question...
...It has been and is, the greatest danger to the success of the American Republic...
...Our experience with the direct primary is relatively short and we must not forget that the major part of this experience has been had under the tremendous excitement and disturbance of a World War and its aftermath, which drew men's attention from domestic affairs...
...It is pertinent to inquire from what source .vould Mr...
...As to Non-Voting BUT y Dawes complains tiiat the poop1e do n ote in as high percentage as they should, and in this he is quite right...
...The voters in these states had had experience with the direct primary and had knowledge of its merits and demerits, its successes and its failures...
...Dawes' remedy is far worse than the disease he contemplates...
...The remedy is worse than the disease...
...Former Senator Robert L. Owen in the article that follows vigorously upholds the right of the citizen to express his choice of candidates by ballot at Primary elections...
...No man would be barred because he was not rich, no corruption would be justified under color of educating the voter...
...Dawes, one of those high-sounding assertions which prove too much...
...Progressives of both parties have strenuously fought for the short ballot...
...Have the machine politicians under the direction of the special interests ever favored this very economical and efficient method of educating the voters...
...The faithful enforcement of the laws against corrupt practices is essential and more easily applied under the primary than under the convention system...
...It is strange that our Vice-President does not pour the vials of his wrath upon the men who furnish unlimited money to corrupt the electorate instead of berating the primary...
...Returning now to the additional safeguards and adjuncts to the direct primary system advocated by progressives, but fought everywhere and always by the machine politicians who proclaim so loudly the failure of the direct primary, there is to be noted: Needed Safeguards FIRST: An Adequate Publicity System by which the voters may have at least relatively accurate information upon the qualifications of candidates and the pros and cons of issues at stake...
...I have no doubt but what a vote of the entire nation would reveal, as in the states already cited, a vote of 2 to 1 or more against return to the convention system...
...The people desire peaceful democrat ethods of government...
...The importance of this assurance should not be overlooked in any discussion of the apathy of the electorate...
...I invite the attention of Mr...
...Modifications of the Direct Primary—Constructive and Destructive An Answer to Vice-President Dawes By ROBERT L. OWEN (Former United States Senator from Oklahoma) The reactionary forces in this country have been conducting a campaign against the Primary election...
...In Pennsylvania, they defeated Governor Pinrhot's proposal for the Publicity Pamphlet, as well as seven other measures for clean, honest elections, and then controlled the nomination by unlimited use of money...
...Neither must we permit ourselves to overstate the extent of this non-voting, as is the fashion just now...
...Had that been the requirement, Abraham Lincoln would never have become president, and a vast, vast majority of Republican candidates, to say nothing of Democrats, would never have had an opportunity to warm an official seat...
...They have not...
...There can be no point to the Vice-President's i-itation of European experience unless he anticipates the same thing may happen here unless we mend our ways as he would have us...
...that by buying votes, by trading votes, by promising offices and future advantages, and by other secret and devious methods, an organized and unscrupulous few could easily and cheaply circumvent the unorganized and frequently unsuspecting convention delegates, with the result that the general public was cheated out of its right to select representatives who would serve the common welfare...
...If things do not go right, they know that the trouble lies with them...
...Our course lies forward, not backward...
...Dawes' article in favor of restoring the convention will meet with great favor in some powerful quarters and will be extolled as the voice of a prophet come to judgment, but it is an open attack on the popular government system, and against this effort on behalf of the National Popular Government League I enter my vigorous opposition and denounce the Vice-President's proposal as opposed to the public interest...
...It would have defeated the adoption of the Federal Constitution itself...
...yet their judgment stood 2 to 1 against Mr...
...Dawes would make it impossible for the people to exercise th:s virtue and this civic duty in the most important part of elections—the nominations of candidates...
...Dawes has referred in his article, to ply their trade...
...They found the system had been corrupted by intrigue and bribery...
...It is as logical as to charge the laws against burglary with being responsible for thieves...
...The proposal to turn that function over to a very small group means, if our experience counts for anything, that the "political rascals" would select the candidates and permit the people to confirm their, choice...
...I heartily endorse ths position taken by Prof...
...As a beginning—inadequate to fill the great need to be sure, but still founded upon right principles—is the Publicity Pamphlet, published by the state and distributed to each voter, say thirty days before election, in which the friends of each candidate at actual cost could state their qualifications...
...Dawes, his friends and all others to this pamphlet and to the evidence submitted therein of a large number of instances wherein the vote of the primary was surprisingly high, equal to if not surpassing, the vote of the general election...
...Dawes in his article...
...In speeches and articles in the press he has attracted attention and comment because of his high offirial position...
...These voters know .jvhat the convention system is and, paraphrasing Hamlet, that knowledge makes them Rather bear the ills they have...
...For its successful working, a direct primary law per must not only be clearly and adequately drawn, but the process must be protected and supplemented by other legislation...
...After experimenting with the convention system for^more than three-quarters of a century, the American people rejected it for the simple reason that it offered too great opportunities for the "political rascals" to whom Mr...
...His objection as to the corrupt use of money-disappears with the Corrupt Practices Act properly drawn and enforced...
...Dawes is entirely right in urging the people to vote...
Vol. 19 • November 1927 • No. 11
