D
TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE. JUNE 7, 1903.
How the Candidates for President of the United States Are Nominated
VERT fourth .year th national
committee of th grest pollt.
leal partlea meat, usually In
Washington and usually In tha
month of December, to formu
lata tha calla for tha presl-
nominating conventlona Al-
E
dentlal
moat . bafora
tha signatures to tha
ealla for thaaa convantlona are dry tha
state eommltteaa and the dint r let commit"
tees of tha various parties arc railed to.
rather to arrange for auta and dlitrlct con
ventlona to aelect national convention dele
gate. Aa aoon aa tha calla or theaa atata and
alstrlct ronventlona ara out tha party com
mittees of tha different counties, or other
subdivisions of tha atata. Ret together and
provide for tha choice of delegatea from
their respective counties to tha different
atata and congressional ronventlona. The
oalla of the county committees are Issued
to the different precinct committees or
precinct hnada, who In turn summon tha
voters of their respective voting dlstrlcta
to assemble In caucus or at primary elec
tion to choose the delegates who are to
apeak for the-.n, and to Instruct them how
they want them to apeak.
The promulgation of the calls of the na
tional committees, therefore, like the press
ing at an electric button, starts up tha
whole gigantic machinery of party organi
sation, communicating the motion from tha
top down, from wheel to wheel and cog to
cog, until It reaches the Individual elector
of each party, who In theory, at least, de
cides tha destinies of candldatea aa well aa
cf tha nation.
Every Intelligent American cltlsen knows
that he never casts a vote for president or
Vice president. He knows that the pJ
dent and vice president are chosen by
presidential electors, bound by aoma aort
of unwritten law to vote for the nomlneea
of their respective parlies. But few realists
Just how tha force of public opinion Is
centered and fixed to bring about thla re
sult ; namely, that all tha republican presi
dential electora ahall vota for one and tha
aama man, and that all the democratic elec
tors ahall vote for one and tha aame man.
Tha power behind thla unwritten ' law Is
tha party organisation representing tha
great political divisions of tha people, made
affective by their nominating conventions.
When tha national committee, which la
the board of directors, of one of these
great political parties convenes to arrange
tha detalla of tha nominating convention,
great amphaala la laid upon tha fact that
tha republicans ara to meat In Chicago on
June IV, or that tha democrats are to moat
In Denver on July 7, yet the time and place
of holding' tha convention ara tha leaat Im
portant points to ba determined.
The Kg
it Am Asnor
lean lostHotloa.
. Theaa nominating conventlona of the great
.' political parties are Institutions peculiar to
our American republic, gradually evolved
to meet tha exigencies of tha unique '
method provided by our constitution for
choosing a new president and a new vice
president every four years. Our first presi
dents were not formally nominated at all,
but received tha votea of tha presidential
electors of their respective partlea by a sort
of spontaneous common consent. Later tha
nominating machinery consisted of resolu
tions of Indorsement of a "favorite son" by
tha legislature of his state, or Ita delega
tion In congress, emphaalsed by repetition
In other legislatures or mass meetings, and
still later It consisted of a caucua to which
all tha members of congress of tha aama
political affiliation were Invited. Tha con
gressional caucua could at best poorly rep
resent tha rank and file of tha party, be
cause It Included only members from those
atatea and districts which were represented
ta congress by members of that polltloal
faith, and left entirely unrepresented those
states and districts whose congressional
delegations were made up of members of
other political parties. That these eruda
methods of choslng a party standard
bearer ahould prove unsatisfactory and
eventually break down wa Inevitable.
The genesis of our national nominating
convention, modeled after almllar conven
tions In the states, dates from 1832, when
tha first democratic national convention
waa held. In which each atata waa given
representation and waa allowed tha aama
number of votes as waa accorded to It In
the electoral college. The first republican
convention was held In 1866, without any
uniformity of representation or manner of
choosing delegates In reality a mass con
vention with few of tha southern states
participating. Not until the convention of
1M0 did thq republicans give a voice to tha
territories and to the District of Columbia,
. which were still excluded from the demo
cratic organization. Today both the great
political parties are truly national organise,
ttona to the extent of participation by all
who profeas allegiance to their principles
without regard to residence In the atatea
of tha union, which alone have votes In tha
electoral college.
Baale of Representation.
It will be found, however, on close In
spection, that the theories of organisation
back of the two great political parties
differ precisely as do their theories of gov
ernment. The .republican party ta central
ised In structure, yet with Individual re
sponalblltty, while the democratic party
placea emphasla upon atata sovereignty and
leavea to tha subordinate organisations of
tha different states a large measure of
autonomy. Mere reading of the calla leaned
by the national committees will show, In
spite of similarity In the apportionment of
delegatea, a certain significant divergence.
Tha ratio of apportionment adopted by the
republlcana Is four delegates-at-large from
each state, two delegates for each repre-seotatlve-at-large
In congress, two dele
gates from each congressional district,
each of the territories, each of the insular
possessions, and the District of Columbia.
The democratic apportionment entitles each
tata to double the number of Ha senators
and repreaentatlvea In congress, aril earn
territory, the District of Columbia and
Insular possessions, except the Philippines,
to alx delegatea. Thla makes tha member
ship of the coming republican convention
constat of ) delegatea, with 1 tha neces
sary majority to nominate, and the mem
bership of the coining democratic conven
JVItTHUII C. SMITH,
Omaha.
r
GEORGE 1. (SHELDON,
Cass.
tion to constat of 1.002 delegates, with 608
the necessary tlo-thirds majority to nomi
nate. '
Thla basis of representation has never
been completely aatlsfsctory, and Is ad
mittedly open to serious criticism. This Is
particularly true with 'respect to the re
publlcana, because. In almost all the atatea
known aa the "eolld aouth," the republican
organisation la chiefly a paper organization,
maintained by federal of flceholdera and
those who aspire to federal office, together
with a few negro republlcana, who are not
permitted to cast a ballot In the election.
It has been mathematically computed that
tha vota of a republican In certain southern
dlstrlcta In Its proportionate influence upon
the party nominations la equal to from ten
to fifty republican votea In the northern
atatea. Thla situation la likewise prollfio
of double-headers and contests, and chargee
and eounter-chargea of corruption, which
would be largely avoided If the basis of
representation were more in conformity
with the numerical strength of the party
In the different states and dlstrlcta.
Repeated but unsuccessful attempta have
been made to remedy these defects by
changing tha baala of representation. Tha
most serious attempt came In the meeting
of the republican national committee held
In 1883, where two proposltiona were pre
sented for consideration one, retaining the
four delegatea-at-larga for evh state and
one delegate for each congressional dis
trict, and giving an additional delegate
for a certain number of votes for the re
publican candidate at tha preceding presi
dential election; tha other, retaining the
four delegates-at-large and one delegate
for each congressional district, and giving
an additional delegate for each republican
member of congress. Tha last proposal
of thla kind waa aubmltted at tha meeting
of tha committee In 18S9, but It waa not
pressed, and tha committee four years
later took another step toward further
var-wetghtlng the provinces by Increasing
tha representation of tha territorlea and
tha insular poasesstons from two delegatea
to alx delegates atep which was re
tracted by tha committee at Ita meeting
last December.
It ahould be explained that the propor
tional baala of representation thus con
tended for prevails In both partlea within
tha atatea in tha makeup ot stste conven
tions, although no party baa had the cour
age to apply It to Its national convention.
It ahould further be explained "-that tha
defense ot the present disproportionate
basis rests upon a plea that in thoaa atatea
and districts where tha party la In the
minority participation In tha conventlona
Is the only privilege which its members
enjoy, and that In this way alone ara able,
by directly Influencing tha selection of tha
party nominee, to have anything to aay
In the choice of a president.
The unit of representation In the demo
cratic national councils Is the state, and
each atate la left untrammeled to choose
Its delegates as R pleases and to aubject
them to auch Instruction aa may be desired.
The state la the unit of representation In
tha republican convention only for dele-gatea-at-large,
and the congressional dis
trict Is the unit of representation fer the
district delegatea. The republicans, further
more. Insist that whatever method of
choosing delegatea may be adopted, tha
republican electors of each congressional
district must be permitted to choose the
delegates to represent their district without
Interference by republicans ot other dis
tricts. Tha "Fait Rule."
All this was fought out and definitely
established In tha republican convention of
ISM. when what Is called the "unit rule.
which haa prevailed In democratic conven
tions from the first, waa rejected, and tha
principle of Individual responsibility af
firmed Resolutions of Instruction, there
fore, adopted by a republican state conven
tion apply only to delegatea-at-large,
chosen by that convention, and not to tha
delegatea chosen to represent the various
congressional districts of the same state,
who are subject only to the Instructions
duly given by the republican electora of
their respective districts. While the dele-gate-at-large
or the district delegates ara
answerable to the republicans of their re
spective states or districts for fidelity to
Instructions, the republican national con
vention will not assume to enforce obedi
ence to Instructions by any delegate who
aeeka to break away from them. In a
word, a delegate to tha republican national
convention may vota hla peraonal prefer,
ence oa any question and have It so re
corded Irrespective ot conditions Imposed
W. N. HVSHK
Norfolk, Neb,
Nebraska Delegates-at-Large to the Republican National Convention
i I
J
VICTOR ROSE WATER,
Douglas.
upon htm by his constituents.
In the democratic national convention
precisely the opposite rule prevails, and tha
convention itself will require the execution
of any mandate properly given by tha
democratic 'atata convention by which tha
delegates are commissioned. To be mora
explicit, the unit rule which governs In tha
democratic organisation requlrea all tha
votes of any state, which haa so ordered,
to ba caat aa a unit as tha majority of tha
delegatea may decide, and the only record
which an individual delegate la entitled to
Nebraska Delegates to Republican National Convention
EBRA8KA will be represented
at the Chicago convention by
alxteen delegates, four choset
at large and twelve from th
congressional districts. A
similar number of alternates
N
have been chosen. In order to ensure full
representation for the state at the con
vention. Tha delegates chosen to represent
the state at large ara: Governor George
L. Sheldon, Senator Norrls Brown, Victor
Roeewater and Allen W. Field. Tha al-ternates-at-large
are A. C. Rankin, I. G.
Baright, M, R, Hopewell and Paul H. Mar
ley. The delegates from tha congressional
dlstrlcta are:
First Cenator Elmer J. Burkett. J. H.
A rends; alternates, J. A. Mcl'herln. Nor
mrn Musselinan.
Second M. L Learned, A. C. Smith; al
ternates, J. E. Wilson, John White.
Third W. N. Huse, Frank P. Voter; al
ternates. J. C. Elliott, John Wright.
Fourth T. K. Williams, Samuel Rlnalser;
alternates. W. D. Galbralth, John Skinner.
Fifth A. W. Sterne, J. C. Gammlll; al
ternatea, A. J. Jenison, C. W, Kaley.
Sixth O. O. Snyder, W. A. George; al
ternatea. T. H. Doran, H. J. Wlsner.
George Law son Sheldon, governor of Ne
brs.Mka, la a native of. the state of which
he is the chief executive. He waa born
near Nehawka, Neb., May 31, 1870. He waa
brought up on a farm, receiving hla early
education in the schools of Nemaha county,
and aubsequently attended the Nebraska
State university, from which ha waa
graduated In 1892. He later took a post
graduate course at Harvard. He was twice
elected to the state senate from his native
county, and always took a foremost part
in the politics of his county and state.
Ha waa nominated for governor of Nebraska
in August, 1906, and was elected to that
high office by an overwhelming majority.
He waa a member ot Company B, Third
Nebraska volunteers, during tha Spanish
American war, and waa elected captain ot
the company.
United States Senator Norrls Brown of
Kearney is a native born lowan. Ha waa
born in Jackson county In 18(3 at Maquo
keta. He graduated from the Iowa State
university in 1SS3, receiving the bachelor's
degree, and two years later the master's
degree. He was admitted to the practice
ot law in Iowa In October, 1883; moved to
Kearney, Neb., In the spring of 1SS8, and
there served as county attorney of Buf
falo county from 1892 to 1S9; as deputy
attorney general of Nebraska, 1900 to l'JOt;
and as attorney general, 1904 to 1906, when
he waa elected to the United States senate.
His term ot service will expire March S,
1J1A
Victor Roaewater Is a native of tha city
of Omaha, having been born here in the
E. J. BURKETT,
Iiiiculu. Neb.
T. T. VOTER,
Laurel, Met,
ALLEN W. riKLD,
Lancaster.
have Is tha record of the poll of tha delega
tion that determines whether ha is in tha
majority or in the minority.
Tim and Manner ot Chooslnaj Dele-
gates.
. Almost as Important aa the Uma fixed for
tha meeting ot tha convention Is tha time
fixed for tha lection of tha delegatea.
Bafora tha convention system was fully
developed, and even tn its early stagee,
there waa no time limit to tha projection
ot presidential candldatea. Tha president
year 1871. Ha la tha son of tha lata Edward
Roaewater. Ha waa graduated from tha
Omaha High achool in 1887, and la also a
graduate ot Columbia university. Ha be
gan newspaper work on The Bee In 1833, .
and In 1896 waa made managing editor of
tha paper. At the death of his father ha
became editor of Tha Bee. In 1899-7 ha waa
a member of tha Board ot Regents of tha
University of Nebraska. Ha waa for many
years a member ot tha Omaha Publlo
Library board. Ha Is a member of tha
American Economta association, American
Library association, Nebraska Historical
society. National Ctvlo federation, presi
dent of tha Columbia University Alumni
association, special lecturer on municipal
finance of tha University of Wisconsin and
author of numerous works on political and
municipal economy.
Allen W. Field of Lancaster county waa
born in LaSalle, 111., November SO, 1853.
He removed at an early age to Tabor, la.,
where ha attended the- common schools.
Removing to Nebraska, he entered tha Ne
braska State university, graduating there
from' In 1877. He took up the study ot law
and was admitted to practice In 1879. Ha
was aiacted to tha lower house ot the Ne
braska legislature in 1883 and waa re
elected In 1884, and served as speaker of
tha lower bouse during hla laat term. He
waa appointed city attorney -of Lincoln In
1886, and in 1887 ha waa appointed to tha
district bench by Governor Thayer. He
waa elected district Judge that same fall
and served for four years. Ha waa again
re-elected, but resigned, to enter the
race for congress In 1892. Ha was defeated,
and then resumed tha practice of his pro
, fesslon. Ha is a member ot tha law firm
of Field & Brown of Lincoln.
United States Senator Elmer Jacob Bur
kett of Lincoln la a native of Iowa, haWhg
been born In Mills county In 1867 on a farm.
He ta a graduate of Tabor college, Iowa;
of tha Nebraska Bute University College
of Law and received the degree of I L. M.
from the latter Institution, beginning tha
practice of law at Lincoln, in 1S93. Ha was
elected a member of the Nebraska leglsla-
ture In 1S9 aud was elected representative
to tha Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh. Fifty
eighth and Ftfty-nlnth congresses, resign,
ing after the latter election to succeed
C. H. Dietrich In the United States senate,
taking hla seat March 6. 1906. Hla term
wUl expire March 8, 1911.
J. H. Arends ot Syracuse waa born in
Germany, but came to America In 1866 and
to Nebraska ten years later. Thirty years
ago he moved from Nebraska City, where
he lived when first coming to tha state,
to Syracuse and engaged in tha mercantile
J. H. ARENDS.
fiyriicuae Utah. ,
T. E. WTUJ JAM3,
. Aura,
ial electors In the early days were In many
casea not chosen by tha people at all, but
were appointed by the legislatures of tha
different states with great irregularity aa
to time. There waa no uniform day for
choosing presidential electora until a law
enacted by congress In 185 settled upon
tha first Tuesday after tha first Monday in
November preceding tha expiration of the
presidential term, and made It the same
for tha whole country. - Bouth Carolina ap
pointed Ita presidential electora by ita
legislature up to and Including 1880, and
bualnoss, In which he Is still engaged. Mr.
Arenda haa alwaya been a republican and
has invariably taken an Interest in local
politics. Ha was elected to the state senate
In 1898 and re-elected two yeara following,
and made an enviably record while serving
tha four years In tha upper house of the
atata assembly.
Myron Leslie Learned was born February
19,1866, at South Vernon, Vt., and went to
the publlo achools at Northhamptom, Mass..
until he was 16 yeara of age and received
hla diploma from tha Boston University
Law School In 1887, taking tha two yeara
course in on year, lie bung out hla
shingle to practice law In Northhampton,
where ha remained for one year until the
call of the west brought him to Omaha to
go into partnership with John L. Kennedy,
which he did in July. 1888. This firm was
together until last year, when they dis
solved partnership, Mr. Kennedy going Into
the Brandela bank and Mr. Learned re
taining hla offlcea In the Bee building.
Mr. Learned has been chairman of tha
Douglas county central committee and a
member of the state committee.
' Arthur Crittenden Smith was born In
Clnclnnatus, Cdurtland county. New York,
October 13, 1863, and moved to Council
Bluffs in 1868 at the age of 6 yeara. He at
tended the public schools of Council Bluffs
until 1879, when he went to PhlUlps acad
emy at Andover, Mass., being graduated
in June, 1SS3. He waa graduated from Har
vard In 1887 and then returned to Omaha,
where he has been connected with the M.
E. Smith Dry Goods company ever since.
Mr. Smith Is one of the publlo spirited
men of Omaha, who 'give freely, of their
time and money for the publlo weal. He waa
presidential elector from Nebraska In 1904
when Roosevelt waa elected, and is at
present a colonel on Governor Sheldon's
staff.
W. N. Husa of Norfolk was born In New
York, came west, first to Minnesota and
then to Nebraska, locating at Ponca, thirty
six years ago. He assisted hla father in
the establishing of the Ponca Journal
shortly after reaching that town, and in
1888 inpved to Norfolk and bought tha
Dally News, which ha haa since edited.
He la also tha editor of the Nebraska
Workman, official paper of the Ancient
Order United Workmen for the state. Mr.
Huse has been a life long republican, but
his political experience has consisted en
tirely In supporting the candldatea of tha
party and in upholding tha principles of
republicanism. Ha haa never asked any
political preferment and has never been
(Continued oa Page Three.)
MYRON L LEARNED,
wins in
A. W. flTPTRNH,
Grand Island, Kea
: " t Vvt
NORRTB BROWN,
Buffalo.
even as late a 1878 Colorado, ' which had
Just been admitted into the union, waa
permitted to make legislative appointment
of ita electors because it became a atate
too late to submit a choice to tha people
that year. For a long time, too, presi
dential electors used to be chosen In some
states by districts, but since 1878, although
in no way required by the constitution,
complete uniformity has ben effected
whereby the presidential electors are all
chosen at large In each state at a popular
election held oa tha same day throughout
the union.
The time tot choosing the presidential
electors must naturally have something
to do with tha time for making presidential
nominations and likewise with tha time
for choosing delegatea to tha national
nominating conventions. Andrew Jackson
started out on his first winning campaign
as soon aa ha found that John Qulnoy
Adams waa given tha preference over him
by tha house of representatives, to which,
the presidential election of 1824 had been
thrown by the failure of any candidate to
get a majority of the electoral votea. He
was formally nominated by tha legislature
of Tennessee tn October, 1825, over three
years before tha electoral college waa to
meet. The later tendency haa been to
shorten presidential campaigns, with the
consequence that since reconstruction days
tha republicans have made their nomina
tions regularly In June of the year of the
presidential election, to ba followed within
a month by tha democrats. Tha practice
has also grown up for tha committees to
Issue their calls not earlier thin the preced
ing December, and although delegates have
been chosen before the promulgation of tha
call, tha party machinery aa a rule Is not
set In motion until after this official notice
la given.
Tha republican organisation haa gona atlll
further by setting mora definite limits to
the time of choosing delegatea. Delegatea
to the coming republican national conven
tion, to receive recognition, must be chosen
on not less than thirty daya' notice, inot
earlier than thirty daya after the daU of
the call and not later than thirty days be
fore the data of tha convention. It hap
pened that at the time tha republican
committee met last December two dele
gates had already been chosen by one
Michigan district and aix delegatea by the
territory of Alaska, who were practically
ruled out by thla time limit, which forcea
tha republicans of those jurisdictions to go
through tha form of choosing their dele
gates again. The purpose' of tha seoond
time limit Is to prevent sharp practice on
the eve of a convention, without ample op
portunity to Investigate contests or Irregu
larities and to make sura that tha dele
gatea presenting credentials ara rightly en
titled to bold the seats and cast the votes
to which they lay claim.
While the democrats, proceeding on their
atatea' rlghta Ideas, give free nand In the
manner of selecting national convention
delegates, the republicans Insist upon cer
tain forms of procedure. Th delegates-at-large
must be chosen by popular state and
territorial conventions, to be called by the
various state commltteea In conformity
with their established rules, and the dis
trict delegatea ara to ba similarly chosen
under direction .of tha dlstriot commltteea
' Tn the southern states, where the ' repub
lican organisation la mora or less Imper
fect and In which, many hopelessly demo
cratic dlatrlots ara without republican
committees, tha atate commltteea take
oharga for all tha districts and aee to it
that the necessary conventions ara held.
For the Insular possessions and for the
District of Columbia special machinery Is
created to take In hand the local organisa
tion and enable the republicans there to
select their delegates. Until the call last
Issued for the coming republican national
convention It waa required that district
delegates be chosen "In tha same manner
as is required for the nomination of can
didates for congress," but, because of the
Increasing number of state lawa regulating
party nominations, and In soma esses mak
ing nominations by direct primary vota
compulsory, this limitation haa been elim
inated and In Its place authority Is given
for the election of both delegates-at-large
and district delegates from any state "In
conformity with the laws of the state In
whloh the election occurs, provldrd tha
state committee or congressional commit
tee ao direct."
Effect of atate x Primary Laws.
How far state legislation may regu'ata or
Interfere with the choice of national e in
vention delegates baa raised a question
O O, SNYDER,
O'NalU, Nah,
suggested by theee new laws of far retch
ing moment and full of future possibilities.
At th meeting of the republican national
committee thla question wae referred t.. i
special committee, consisting of three eivl
pent lawyers of national reputation. Aft..,
careful Investigation these lawyers unani
mously readied tha conclusion that the
national nominating conventions are en
tirely extra-legal Institutions, In no way
subject to legislative control by cither s ate
or federal governments. They take th.i
View that th only personage officially
known to th law or th constitution in
connection with th choice of president and
Vlco president Is the presidential elector,
and that tha delegat to a national nom
inating convention holds no official posi
tion, has no legal status and no enforceaMo
responsibility except aa that responalMlHy
may be enforced by party discipline. Tliey
admit that tha officers of the different
party commltteea and party organisations
within tha several states are subject t.
tho legislative and Judlciat Jurisdiction of
those states, and that the complication of
tha party machinery, which usually Join
together the choice of national convention
delegates and the nomination ot candidates
for offlco, makes exemption from atat
control difficult. If not Impracticable, and
for this reason the national committee put
It bark to the state and congressional com
mltteea to determine how far the manner
of ohooslng national convention delegate
ahould conform with tha laws of their re
spective states.
Even as It Is, it will b ImposalM to give
strict observance to aoma of these atata
laws If th conditions of the call for the
republican convention are to be mad
paramount. In Mississippi, for exam
ple, the lawmakers have decreed that
all national convention delegates ahall
be chosen at large In ona atata
convention. This state law would not only
contravene the republican unit of represen.
tatlon, which Is the congressional district,
but would permit combinations to glv all
th representation to one or two districts
and disfranchise the republicans In all tha
other districts. In "Wisconsin, again, tha
law provides for the election of all the dele
gates by direct primary vote In the stat
or district, aa the case may be, and the ap
pointment of all. the alternates by th atata
committee of each political party. Inas
much aa tha alternates may upon contin
gencies become the principals, this method
would permit the naming of alternatea who
could never ba otherwise elected, or who
might all live In one district, thus making
possible tha disfranchisement of the repub
licans of on or moro districts. Undor tha
call the names of no alternates from Wis
consin can be put on th temporary roll ot
the coming republican national convention
unless their credentials show that they
have been chosen by th republican elec
tora of tha district which they claim to
represent.
If th atate law governing nominations
and primary electlona war uniform from
on end of the country to tha other, most
of these conflicts would be obviated. Yet
th fact remains that, although a largo
number of states have already put upon
their atatute booka lawa to regulate the
nomination of candidates for office, almost
.all of them expressly exempt from their
provisions the choosing of delegates to
national nominating conventlona, and leave
It to the political commltteea to arrange
for choosing these delegates aa their party
custom and precedent require. Even in
tates like Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Mis
souri, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Washing
ton, which have gone farthest in th move
ment for direct primary nominations, the
regular primary election is set fof a date
coming after the usual time for presidential
nominations, with a view to separating a
far as possible the choice of candldatea for
state and local offlcea from national poli
tics. In still other states national conven
tion delegatea are being chosen by direct
primary in ona form or another, as lmpro
' vised by the political commltteea or aa pro
vided for by the state for use at the option
of auch commltteea. Thla is what Is being
don In California and In certain districts
of Ohio, while th state primary in Ohio
was to take the popular expression, not as
to delegates, but squarely as between
aspirants for th republican presidential
nomination.
The enactment of direct primary laws by
so many states and their possible applica
tion to tho machinery for th nomination
of presidential candldatea suggest still an
other inquiry, to which, however, th an
awar cannot yet ba given. Attempt have
more than once been mad to remov th
objections lodged against our electoral col
lege system and to satisfy tha demand for
a more popular election for president by
amendment to the federal constitution, but
without making noticeable headway. Th
nomination of candidates representing poli
tical partlea has really brought th choice
of the people down to a choice between two
opposing tickets. If w could make sur
that th candidates nominated by th re
publicans and democrats, respectively,
really represented the cholc of th Indi
vidual membership ot tha party, the test
of strength between the two would coma
closer to giving us a president chosen by
popular vote. . Will tha new developments
In primary legislation work out eventually
Into a national primary election for th
nomination of presidential candidates?
Soma progress haa certainly been made
toward atate-wlda primaries to select na
tional convention delegatea, and her and
there to Instruct them aa to popular prefer
ence of candldatea. There seems, however,
to be no authority able to provide a na
tional nominating primary, unless it b
decreed and put Into operation by an en
tirely new development of our' national
party organisations. ' I
After the delegates are organized In na
tional convention they are a law unto
themselves. Although It follows precedent,
' the national convention Is the highest
tribunal of the party and endowed with
plenary power. Ita official notice of nomi
nation Is nowhere recognized In law, but It
carrlea with it tha moral certainty that If a
majority of tha presidential electors belong
to that political party Ita nominee, his life
being spared, will become president of th
republic for th ensuing four yeara.
Victor Roaewater in the Review of Ravlewev
y - V
W. A OEOROB,
Xintaaa liow. Nv
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