Back to the Republic/Chapter7
Chapter VII
THE SHORT BALLOT
THE only way to secure the short ballot is to make the ballot short. The Constitution provided for a short ballot. The republic itself is the short–ballot plan.
The short ballot necessitates divesting the form of government of all elective officials other than the executive and members of the legislative body and abandoning all forms of the initiative, referendum and recall.
Nearly all of the short–ballot proclaimers are rabid advocates of all manner of propaganda that makes the ballot long. At a so–called national convention held recently at the Sherman House in Chicago for the ostensible purpose of organizing a new political party, the self–appointed delegates of that convention resolved in favor of the short ballot and in the next breath declared in favor of the initiative, referendum and recall. Their conduct was about as consistent as it would be for delegates to a prohibition convention to shout for temperance and then guzzle whiskey between shouts.
We have four types of government in this country: national, State, county and city. Each has separate and distinct functions to perform, and yet we are in a constant turmoil of confusion because we do not consider them one at a time and also make each type adhere strictly to the standard form. We carry on national, State, county and city elections at one and the same time, so that the issues are confused and candidates for local office are carried through on the national ticket regardless of fitness or standing on local questions.
It is high time that we should undertake the adoption of a clear, concise, comprehensive and constructive plan that would make for economy of energy and expense; for real efficiency in service and administration; for effectiveness in expressing the will of the people and securing results that mean real progress.
The following plan, if carried out, would accomplish that and secure the short ballot:
Separate the affairs of nation, State, county and city and consider one type of government each year.
Fix a time for holding one primary and one election each year, as indicated in the outline which is here presented:
Primary Day
1925—Hold primaries of all parties to select delegates to attend State Conventions and nominate Governor and Lieutenant Governor and delegates to attend district conventions to nominate condidates for the State Legislature.
1926—Hold primaries to select delegates to attend County Conventions and nominate candidates for President and members of the County Board, and delegates to attend congressional conventions and nominate congressmen.
1927—Hold primaries to select delegates to attend City Convention to nominate Mayor, and delegates to attend ward conventions to nominate aldermen, and delegates to attend district conventions to nominate members of the State Legislature.Election Day
1925—Hold State election to elect a Governor and Lieutenant Governor and members of the State Legislature who shall have power to appoint all other public officials of the State government.
1926—Hold county election to elect President and members of the County Board, who shall have power to appoint all other public officials of the county government, and to elect members of Congress.
1927—Hold city election to elect Mayor and members of the City Council, who shall have power to appoint all other public officials of the city government, and to elect members of the State Legislature.Note.—Article XVII, amending the Federal Constitution to provide for direct election of U. S. Senators, should be repealed and the original plan provided by the Constitution should be restored.
If the State governments would repeal the confused primary and election laws which are now upon the statute books and each State would enact a primary and election law somewhat in accord with the foregoing plan, it would save much time and money which is being wasted by electors and taxpayers and would greatly reduce the danger of demagogues and encourage the selection of much better public officials.
It would have a very wholesome influence on the confused thinking of this generation if the tremendous truth could be forcefully clarified that God Almighty placed a tremendous responsibility upon the wise exercise of the law of selection. It makes little difference in what field of activity that great truth is applied; whether in the selection of the right husband or wife, the right surgeon or doctor, the right engineer or architect, and emphatically is this true in the selection of public officials. There is no progress in any field of activity where democracy or direct action prevails. The men who wrote the Constitution understood the importance of providing for the wise exercise of the law of selection. This plan provides that the people may select delegates in their own communities, where they are acquainted with them, to attend conventions for the purpose of selecting candidates and writing the platform upon which they will make their campaign for election and which they would be pledged to carry out in the event of their election.
Under this plan the elector would not be required to vote on more than three or four names at the national, State, county or city primaries and elections.
No other public officials should be elected. All other officials should be appointed on the basis of efficiency by the various national, State, county and city officers chosen by the people to represent them.
In order to obtain the short ballot we must cease electing public officials that should be selected by appointment, and stop submitting proposals to popular vote that should be determined by the legislative body.
The most efficient way of conducting business on a large scale has been found to be through a corporation managed by an executive and deliberative body, chosen by the stockholders, with power to appoint heads of departments and their subordinates on the basis of efficiency, and with power of removal when advisable for the good of the service.
Each of the four types of government, national, State, county and city, is a corporation for public service, and the standard form provides for the nomination and election of an executive and legislative body by the people, these officers to be given full power of appointment and of removal and to be held responsible for the quality of public service just as the elective officers of private corporations are held responsible to the stockholders for quality in private service.
The people are interested in good government just as they are interested in good engineering, good surgery, good music, etc. Good service is secured; not in the discussion and decision of questions concerning which little generally is known; but in the selection of those who do know.
The plan makes possible a calm and deliberate discussion of issues pertaining to the four types of government. It would also tend toward the development of more competent men to serve in both elective and appointive positions, and furthermore it would aid in developing specialists.
Under this plan the children in our public schools could study with understanding, not only the form of our government, but also the machinery for making it work successfully, because the plan is not only clear, concise, comprehensive and constructive, but it is so simple that any one can understand it and our youth could be fully equipped for the duties of citizenship when they become of age.
Our colleges and universities could teach their students the meaning of a republic and how to administer government in accordance with the plan of a republic, and equip students who have a taste for public service with information that would make them useful instead of cramming their heads with unsound theories and impractical suggestions which give them no concept of what a republic is or of its plan of government. The graduates of our State universities receive sixteen years' education at the expense of the State, and for that they owe the public, which pays the bill, at least the return of intelligent and effective citizenship.
If this plan were adopted foreigners who come to this country would gain a clearer conception of the genius of our government in four years than they now acquire, in the present mixed state of affairs, in twenty years.
At this time, too, when women are taking on the added duties of citizenship, they could give much better coöperation if the machinery of government were simplified and clarified.
This plan would save millions of dollars annually to the taxpayers, to say nothing of the millions it would save to the public officials, who are now required to make campaigns for elections, and who should be selected by appointment.
It would stimulate and clarify the work of our government and make for real progress in the solution of many of our most complex problems.
It would assure the preservation of this republic, based upon the Constitution, and maintain the judiciary unimpaired at this time when we are threatened with mobocracy and recall.
It would meet the demand of the most radical short-ballot advocates and simplify to the point of efficiency and effectiveness the vote cast by an elector.
It would give us the Short Ballot.