Iowa territorial gazette and advertiser. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa Territory [Iowa]) 1840-1846, 1844-02-24

members, consisting of Senators and
Representatives, were the immediate
organs OF the State legislatures or The
People: were responsible 10 them req.
| peclvely; and were. for the mos. part,
OF high character. standing and talents.
hey voted per capita, and, y ha, is We.
ry Important. they represented fairly
The relative strength Of the respective
States. In all these important par,icu.
lars. j, was all that could be desired
'or dominating body. and formed a
striking contrast TO the proposed Con-
vention; and vet i, could not be borne
by the people in the then purer DAYS Of
the Republic. /, acting with General
Jackson and most Of the leaders Of the
party at that time. contributed 10 pu, /.
down, because we believed il to be la.
BILE to be acted on and Influenced by
the patronage Of The Governmen,-an
objection far more applicable to Con-
venlion constituted as the one propos.
Ell than to Congressional caucus
Far, however, was il from my in,cn-
non. III aiding to put,ha, down, 10 sub
sti,ute III its place wha. regard az am
hundred times more objectionable in
every point Of view. Indeed. if there
mus, be an intermediate body between
The people and the election. unknown
10 the Constitution, it may be we'll ques.
TONED whether a better than The old
plan OF a Congre ssional caucus can be
devised. araae bsr,s
In taking the ground have. in favor
OF maintaining the RICH, secured TO The
smaller States by the compromise of
the Constitution, am ac,uated by no
partisan feeling or desire to concilia,e
their good opinion. If the case was
reversed, and the rights of the larger
instead Of the smaller were invaded,
would, with equal readiness and firm.
ness. stand up in their defence. am
the partisan of neither one nor the 9TH
er, but simply supporter of the Con.
sli,ntion, and wha, believe to be Jus,
and fair. regard the Constitution as
the only ark of safety for all; and be-
lieve tina, in defending i, defend the
interest and safety Of each and 1.-THE
greater as well as The smaller: the
States invading the rights Of others. as
we'll as the States whose rights are in.
vaded.
have laid down the principles on
which rest the objection in question,
with the Limitation that the relative
weight of the States should be main.
tanned. making due allowance for their
relative party strength. The proprie.
ty OF the Limitation is so apparen. that
but few words, inillustra,ion, will be
required. The Convention is a party
Convention, and professedly intended
to take the sense of the party. which
cannot be done fairly if States having
bu. little party strength are put on an
equality with those which have much.
II that were done. the result might be
tina. small portion of the party from
States the least sound, politically, and
which could give but lil,e support in
Congress, might select the candidate,
and make the President, against great
w tlC SOVuuCSt, VII WtlICil IfSI
President and his administration would
have to rely for support. All this is
CLEARLY too unfair and improper to be
denied. There may be grea, difficult
~ in applying remedy in Conven-
ton, but | do not feel myself called up.
on TO say how i, can be done, or by
what standard the relative party strength
Of the respective States should be de-
termined; perhaps the best would be
their relative strength in Congress at
the time. In laying down the princi.
pie, added the limitation for the sake
of accuracy, and show how imperfec,ly
the party must be represented when it
is overlooked. l see no provision in
the proposed Convention to meet it.
But, in order to realize how the Con-
vention will operate, il will be necessa-
ry to view the combined effects of The
objections which have made. Thus
viewed, il will be found that Conven-
ton SO constituted tends irresistablv 10
centraliza;ion-.cen of the
control over the Presidential election
in The hands of a few of the central
large States at first, and finally in pc.
litical managers, Office holders, aud Of
fice-seekers; or, TO express it different.
ly, in that portion Of the community
who live, or expect TO live, on the Gov.
eminent, in contradis,inction 10 the
great mass who expec, to live on their
own means or their honest industry
and who maintain the Government, and
politically speaking, empha,ically the
people.
That such would be the case NAV be
inferred from the fact tina, i, would af-
ford the means to some six or seven
States lying contiguous and not far
from the centre of the Union to control
the nomination. and through that the
election. by concentrating their united
votes in the Convention. Give them
the power of doing so, and i, would
no, long lie dormant. What may be
done by combination, where the temp.
talion is SO great, will be sure ere long
to be done. To combine and conquer,
is no less true as maxim, where pow
er is concerned, than TO .'divide and
conquer Nothing is better establish.
ed than shat the desire for power can
bring together and unite the mos. dis
cordant materials.
But the tendency TO Capitalization
will not stop there. The appointment
| -c 4 Il