following: first, a permanent State tax commission; second, county assessment or at least rigid county supervision of local assessment; third, a direct State inheritance tax; fourth, a State income tax to take the place of the flat rate of five mills on moneys and credits; and fifth, a constitutional amendment making possible the exclusive State taxation of certain public service corporations at the average rate of tax levied on general property throughout the State. All of these reforms were either definitely recommended or suggested by the Special Tax Commission, 1912, a document which should be read carefully by the Committees on Ways and Means of the present General Assembly.

THE IOWA STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND MECHANIC ARTS AMES IOWA

JOHN E. BRINDLEY

THE OPERATION OF THE PRIMARY ELECTION LAW IN IOWA

The Iowa primary election law was enacted in 1907; it was first used in 1908; and it has been the means of nominating State and local officers seven times. In view of recent demands for the repeal or modification of this law it may be worth while at this time to review its fundamental features and discuss its actual operation.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW

The chief features of the Iowa primary law, as originally adopted and subsequently amended, may be summarized as follows:

1. The law is compulsory and State-wide for all State and local offices (except judicial and municipal offices) filled by popular vote at the general election in November.

2. It provides for a popular choice of candidates for presidential electors and United States Senators. Delegates to the county conventions and party county committeemen are also chosen at the primary.

3. All parties participate in the primary on the same day, at the same place, and use the same ballot box.

4. Judges and clerks of the primary election are chosen in the same manner as for general elections and with the same compensation.

5. The Australian ballot is employed - each party having a separate ballot - with an arrangement for the rotation of the names of candidates.

6. Party affiliation is determined by the elector's oral choice of ballot, which choice is made a matter of record.

But party affiliation can be changed by filing a declaration of change with the county auditor ten days prior to the primary election, or by taking an oath, if challenged when offering to vote, that one has in good faith changed his party affiliation.

7. Candidates for nomination must file nomination papers from thirty to forty days prior to the primary election, depending upon the office sought. These nomination papers must contain the signatures of a certain per cent of the candidate's party vote, depending upon the office sought. Nomination papers of a candidate for United States Senator, Elector at Large, or a State office must have the signatures of one per cent of his party vote in each of at least ten counties and in the aggregate not less than one-half of one per cent of the total vote of his party in the State as shown by the last general election. A candidate chosen from a district composed of more than one county must have the signatures of two per cent of his party vote in at least onehalf of the counties and in the aggregate not less than one per cent of his party vote in the district. Candidates for offices filled by the voters of the county must have the signatures of two per cent of their party vote in the county.

8. To secure the nomination a candidate must receive at least thirty-five per cent of all the votes cast by his party for such office. The choice in case of a tie vote is determined by the board of canvassers by lot; and vacancies are filled by the county, district, or State convention if they occur before such conventions are held; if afterwards, they are filled by the party committee for county, district, or State.

9. Delegates to county conventions, as well as members of the county central committee, are chosen at the primary election. The county convention, composed of the delegates chosen in the various voting precincts, is empowered to

make nominations of candidates for the party for any office to be filled by the voters of a county where no candidate receives the prescribed majority at the preceding primary election. The county convention selects delegates to nominate the judges of the district and supreme courts, and it also selects delegates to State and district conventions. Moreover, any of these conventions may adopt resolutions or platforms.

10. The nomination of candidates by petition is permitted under certain conditions. It was in this way that the names of Progressive candidates were placed upon the official ballot in 1912.

11. Penalties are imposed for misconduct on the part of officials or for certain corrupt practices.

Such in brief are the provisions of the Iowa primary election law. When enacted, primary legislation was one of the local issues upon which the "Standpat" and "Progressive" wings of the Republican party in Iowa were divided. The Progressives heralded the passage of the law as one of the greatest political reforms ever accomplished in Iowa; while the Standpatters declared that it was passed only to serve the ambitions of leading Progressives and that it would never work well in practice. The first use of the law in 1908 was made the occasion for one of the bitterest political contests in the history of the Republican party in Iowa.

At its first session following the adoption of the primary law the General Assembly in 1909 amended the act in seventeen different sections. Most of these amendments, however, did not materially change the character of the law, as they related chiefly to procedure or were designed to make certain features of the statute more explicit. Subsequently, however, but few changes have been made in the lawindeed, none of prime importance.

OBJECTIONS TO THE PRIMARY

Since primary election legislation was a vital issue in State politics for a period of over ten years prior to its enactment, it is not surprising that biennially, following the primary election, many of the arguments originally advanced against it, as well as new ones arising out of the operation of the statute, were advanced as reasons why the primary law should be repealed or at least very materially modified. In 1920 it appears that the attacks upon this legislation were more vigorous and determined than usual. In fact, so wide-spread was the discussion immediately following the primary of that year that both the Republican and Democratic parties felt called upon to make mention of the law in their State platforms.

Thus, the Republican State convention of 1920 declared that "actual experience has demonstrated that great evils have arisen in the use of the present primary law of this State. It has been given a fair trial and found to be unwieldy, expensive and unsatisfactory. We favor its repeal, and the substitution therefor of such primary legislation as will guarantee to all voters the full right to take part and be heard in the councils of their party, and will provide for them an opportunity for free and fair expression as to both candidates and measures."

Judging from newspaper comments it is doubtful whether this declaration to repeal and substitute has met with the approval of the rank and file of the Republicans of Iowa. Some papers declare that the primary should be corrected and retained; others urge caution in approaching the subject, lest matters be made worse.

The Democratic State convention of the same year was outspoken in its adherence to the primary system: it declared that repeal would be a backward step, and charged the Republicans with a desire to return to the old and dis

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