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Indiana University 
of representative government is superior to the principle of 
direct democracy in party affairs, and that it is only by the 
conferring together of party representatives in a representa- 
tive convention that the best candidates may be selected to run 
on the party ticket. 
The opponents of the direct primary 'were successful in 
securing the adoption of planks in both the Republican and 
Democratic platforms of 1922 against the direct primary law. 
They are as follows : 
Republican: Whereas, The Direct Primary Law was enacted by the 
people thinking it an improvement over our former system, 
And Whereas, It has been fairly tried and found unsatisfactory. 
Therefore we advocate the submission to the people of a proposition 
for its repeal. 
Democratic: We recommend the passage by the next legislature of a 
bill repealing the direct primary law and further recommend that this 
bill be submitted to popular vote in order that the people may express 
their views concerning the primary law in the light of their experience 
during the past eleven years. 
Following the conventions of April, 1922, the friends of the 
law, including especially the League of Women Voters and 
the Maine Federation of Women’s Clubs, made their voices 
heard so emphatically that the legislature which convened in 
January of 1923 refused to repeal the law or to submit the 
question to a referendum, the planks of both parties to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 
Attempts were made by the advocates of repeal in both the 
Democratic and Republican conventions of 1924 to secure the 
adoption of a repeal plank, but public sentiment had convinced 
the platform committees that it would be wise to remain si- 
lent on the question. 
The legislature during the 1925 session gave careful con- 
sideration to the demand for repeal or vital modification of the 
primary law. The several proposals were finally compro- 
mised in the so-called Oakes-Anthoine BiW‘ The bill aimed 
to restore the delegate nominating conventions, state, district, 
and county. It contained thoro-going provisions regulating 
the election of delegates to such conventions. It provided, 
however, that a defeated candidate who received “twenty per 
cent of the total number of ballots cast for all candidates for 
the nomination for which he was a candidate” might appeal 
Senate Document, 269 . 
