The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-06-13
THE DELICATE ELECTIONS


THE DELEGATE ELECTIONS.
TOMORROW will be big with the fate of the
ambitious Republican politicians of Philadel-
phia. We publish elsewhere sketches of all
the candidates for county offices, Congress,
State Senator, and State Legislature, and
when it is remembered that the people are
called upon to discriminate not only among
those who compose this formidable array, but
also among an innumerable army of aspirants
for the ward offices, some idea may be formed
of the herculean task which is thrust upon
them by the present system. As if this task
was not in itself sufficiently difficult, new
complications have been added by
the intervention of delegates, so that the
proposed nominees are at best voted for by
proxy, and the result of the canvass is involved
in such o maze of doubt, treachery, corrup.
ton, and confusion that only trained politi-
clans can understand it. The legal portion
of our political fabric all hinges upon this
extraneous machinery of the delegate cleo
tions and nominating conventions, which are
outside of the pale of law and beyond the
comprehension of citizens who do not make
them a special study. In this very confusion
the professional politician at once finds de-
light and profit. Useless to the community
for every good purpose, and anxious only to
revel as parasite or plundersr, his services
are uniformly called into active requisition at
the time when, by hook or by crook, by fair
means or foul, one man is to be picked out of
hundred thousand as the recipient of the
honors and emoluments of Office. News
papers have appealed for years to the bulk of
the party to attend these delegate elections
for the purpose of ensuring good nomina-
tions. Sometimes these appeals have not
been utterly in vain, but generally they are
disregarded and when we consider how fire.
quently well-meant and vigorous efforts to
promote reform have proved unavailing;
how much deception, rascality, and
corruption are commonly practised and
how fearfully the system fails to carry out the
ends it is professedly created to promote, we
can scarcely wonder at the prevailing disposi-
tion to leave the professional politicians and
their immediate retainers to fight out this
battle for the spoils among themselves. In
their chickering's, however, let them remember
that the time when they could positively en-
thrall independent voters is rapidly passing
away, and that if no other resource is left to
an outraged community it will deeply resent
bad nominations at the polls. If the people
are betrayed in June they have always a
chance of giving vent to their indignation in
October. Even the Democracy of this
city were invited last year to an entertain
ment too revolving for their not ver-dainty
stomachs, and the overwhelming defeat which
they subsequently received is traceable to
this cause. Let Republican wire-pullers be-
ware of attempting similar experiment upon
the masses of the Republican party. If they
make good nominations there will be an ex-
cellent prospect of the election of the Repub-
ican ticket. If they try to force notoriously
bad men upon the public, thousands of voters
stand ready to teach them lesson they will
not soon forget.