The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1858-11-17
The Caucus system. lac 'The-
ory and Practice OF BOltEnS.

to be a necessity III our poiiticsti 'ii''eu'n0
rv and NAV now be considered perrna-
nently established institution. 1t is
system, capable, doubtless, OF gross per-
version and that it is, too often, made
subservient to tho designs Of schemlng,
and unprinciplcd politicians, is fact we'll
known to every one who chooses to know
ANYTHING about such matters. And it
very common thing, especially aooiit
election times. to hear great deal OF
sweeping and bitter invectivc against the
"rotten caucus SYSTEM" as it is termed.
It is very convenient theme, ottentlmes,
for disappointed ofice-seekers' and defeat
ed candidates; and at the Same t;me,i is
often bitterly condemned by honest, woll-
meaning men and for apparently good
reasons.
The mere fact of the abuse of the sys-
: tenn. however, is no argument against Its
use; it certainly does not obviate Its ne
| ee,sitv, nor docs it, by any means, prove
that corruption is inherent in it. We
suppose that any plan, however perfect
; in itself. would, under some circumstances,
be fable to perrersion, and we fail to per-
n cievo any better method of asccrtaInng
: the preferences eff tho people, IN the mat
, ter of selecting candidates &e.. than the
one now uniyer ally adopted.
n Admitting these premises, then, it be-
,e comes the duty of every citizen to under
W stand the uses ana abuses of the system
D. of caucuses, and to act in such manner
As that it shall not be perverted from its lie,
a. Ultimate ends. The question for us tc
i consider, then, is, How shall we obviate
the objections to the system of Primary
h. Elections, in other words, how proven
m | them from looming the instruments 0
Of, designing men for tic furthsrance OF thei
,r. own selfish ends, regardless of the fate o
he principles or the interests OF the commu
IN nifty? In our apprehension, the only safe
5 guard Of its purity consists in the sntett'
BE- qeace and vigilance Of the politically hor
in est and well-meanng portion OF voters
me It is lamentable fact that very lare
70 proportion of the best class Of citizens Sc
nm dom or never attend q caucus and the
perhaps stay 1T home on election day
refuse to vote, because, as Is somet TN
the case, the nominations "aoers not
to be made. This is not only foolish b
wicked. Caucuscs are too often compf
the ed chiefly of loafers, wire-rufers, ofhf
= seekers and their hangers on and it won
,las, be unreasonable to expect harvest OF Il
OF from q thicket of thorns. And tho
ross men Who allow them to be made up
the such material by neglectng to take a
lure part in them themselves, and then
sum corruption; and decaim against the
ere tenn, and refuse to vote, simply stull
It OF themselves. To say the least, they are
yer' much in fault as anybody. No citi'
bu- can evade, or absolve himself from the
Tor sponsbility that inures to him as avo
elec- and we repeat it that it is not only IL
cage but a sin to stand aloof, or fail to take
ation intelligent part in whatever measures
opes' Germ onr welfare as body polite
there # !, one of the most hopeful signs
' y the times, that tho people are becon
'1pe more alive to their duties in this mat
,cted. Hitherto they have been contentto let
very leaders mark out the ground and lay
ats to the work, which they were blindly to
n rs ~, form, ON election day. Especially
oa,,ld this been true Of the Democratic pa
,rean- No matter how fercely they might q
coun- rel in the caucus, no matter how
cra's' the pill, or how nauseous the dose, W
With q x,t ,resc
lie him INC Deliocf"''o I>'''
- when i camo to be embodied in the
,ro 40 of regular nominations they wero
,,..oa to swallow it with an avidity and una
.>ftba ity, which, we venture to say, has no
r,;or allel in the history of parties. This
nrove throughout the long life of the Demo
los ma ic party, has been its bulwark of sire
Do,r We have often heard good republican
n eret that this was not true of the IL
deenlv lican party. For our Part, we r.
II u;sld that it is not. We regard it as the
with. guaranty of its purity ofprineple al
# com. strongest assurance of its integrity Of
{ ,,f,;cs> pose that it is composed of such mat
=. 49,. that it cannot be made blindly to
for tho the behests of party leaders. Bolt
nd two not only q great privilege, but Pc
o not TO duty whenever corrupt and amt
reliable leaders attempt to make party tie
"a Pros principles mere stepping stones te
90 ,n, own preferment. The pest has bee
ropaa g phat;ca'ly a year of boiling, and "
sen him most singular about it, is that it ha'
al nj confined mainly to the Democratic
,opez to This is a truly Ell coaraging and sign
IS SEN fact.
IT shows that there is point