New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-05-05
Tgr sr.TE CENTRAL COMMITTEE.

There Is much misunderstanding among
some of our friends in this city as to the
proper duties and responsibilities of this
Committee. It's chief duty Is to call STATE
Conventions at such times as the interests Of
the party may require, and to promote the
party interests and organization through
out the State. Therefore, an because tits
q State Committee, and only State Com
mittee, all parts of the State should be
equally represented in it. Ten members
from the parish of Orleans and two from
each of the other parishes was satisfactory to
the country delegates; and as the vote OF the
country ordered the Convention, and also
ratified the Constitution, their wishes should
certainly be consulted. But the State Cen
trail Committee was ordered by the Conven-
ten to elect an Executive Committee Of
two from each Congressional District to be
subordinate 10 and to act for the Central
Committee. As the Central Committee
consists of more than hundred members,
scattered all over the State, it would be
impossible for it to assemble regularly once
week, or even once month, and there
fore the subcommittee was formed to act
for it in the intermediate times, and to call
special meetings in cases Of emergency.
The subcommittee was elected by the
State Central Committee, and met on last
Saturday evening and elected the Hon. o.
J. Dunn chairman and the Hon. Napoleon
Underwood secretary. In other States the
Republican State Committees consist Of
one or more members from each congress
sional district, as in the formation Of our
Executive Committee, and it is eminently
proper that it should be so.
Evidently each parish should have its
Executive Committee distinct and apart
from the State Committee, and, carrying
out this selceviient fact, the Convention
ordered the election and formation Of such
committees py the Republicans Of each
parish, of course net excepting the parish
of Orleans. a very great evil hereto
fore in our party organization has
been that the State Central Executive
Committee consisted mainly of residents of
New Orleans, whereas less than one
quarter ought properly to have resided in
this city. Against this evil the country, to
which we owe all our political gains,
strongly and very properly protested,
charging that the Central Executive Com
mittee acted as the Executive Committee
for the city and parish of Orleans; that the
country was not properly represented in it,
and that it could not properly claim to be
the Executive Committee OF the parish OF
Orleans and also Of the State. While there
was much force in these complaints, there
was no possible remedy until the supreme
power of party State Convention could
be invoked. No one not wholly ignorant
of party usage will question the power Of
the Convention 10 act in the matter accord
ing to its own good Judgment; and it has
now given to Us a party organization in
Louisiana almost precisely similar to that
in the other States. 1t has also limited the
period of the existence of The Committee
to one year, or less, a very proper thing to
do, as the Republican party does not, as
some seem to think. elect its committees for
life.
The Executive Committee for the city
and parish Of Orleans will of course have
the entire supervision Of matters in this
city and parish, and its members should be
selected with great care from among our
better and more reliable Republicans. It
is thought by some that the number Of its
members, the same as the representation in
the Constitutional Convention, is too small. If
this should be found to be the eRse the clubs
can by mutual consent increase the number
of their delegates, but it should be remem-
bered that a comm tee can be too large as
well as too small It should also be re-
membered that the chief and almost the
only duty Of an Executive Committee is to
call conventions the State Committee call
ing them for the State, and the parish COM
mittees for the parishes. In our State they
can also be made useful to the party by
being medium for the circulation Of DO
litical documents and information.