Can the statute of primary elections be sustained?

I think the statute of primary elections can be sustained, however, where political parties voluntarily take advantage of it; that is to say, political parties may have their organizations and primaries outside of the statute if they choose, but, if they adopt the statutory primaries held at public expense, they become subject to statutory rules. This admission does not render the views expressed as to the power of the legislature to control political organizations irrelevant to the discussion of this case; for, if the subjection of the political parties to the provisions of the statute is voluntary, we may assume that the legislature did not intend to deprive party organizations of powers that they formerly had, and seem almost necessary to their practical administration,-powers which they would not be likely to surrender, even for the advantage of holding their primaries at public expense. In analogy to the case of a corporation, the ground for the expulsion of a member must be a cause arising since his election, at which time first comes into being the duty of the member to the committee. People v. Medical Society, supra; Fawcett v. Charles, 13 Wend. 477.[164 N.Y. 352]The order appealed from should be affirmed, with costs.