himself to abide, not by the selection of the electors of the State, but
by the selection of the electors of his party[36].

The name of a candidate for the United States Senate did not, under the
original Wright-Stanton bill, go on the final ticket. His choice was
confined to the primaries and was at best to be regarded only by the
legislators of his own political faith. The People of California were
not to be given a direct vote in the selection of United States
Senators, as are The People of Oregon.

If the framers of the Wright-Stanton Primary bill thought that their
compromise on the United States Senator feature of the measure would
placate the machine, they were much disappointed. The machine fought the
arrangement for popular selection of United States Senators within party
lines as positively as it would have combated the Oregon plan itself.

Under either plan, the machine recognized there was always danger that
the selection of a United States Senator would actually be made by The
People. This would mean loss to the machine of Federal patronage, and
Federal patronage is the sure rock upon which the machine in California
is founded. Indeed, had either plan been incorporated into law, the
re-election of Senator Frank Flint would have been made practically
impossible. So the machine fought the Wright-Stanton plan as stubbornly
as it would have opposed the Oregon plan.

On the other hand, the best supporters of the Direct Primary idea were
much disappointed that the Oregon plan had not been incorporated into
the bill. Not a few of them grew lukewarm in their support of the
measure. The extreme partisanship of its provisions and the failure to
provide for popular selection of United States Senators hurt the measure