The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-06-06
NOMINATIONS ny POPULAR

this year the plan OF making party
nominations by the popular vote. The
same course has been adopted by the
Democracy of Barbour county, and, as
we learn from the county newspapers, Is
being contemplated in Jefferson, and
probably in other counties in this State.
There is much to be said in favor of the
plan as compared with the convention
system, aud wherever it has been tried
land it is now becoming quite common
in other States, } it has been found to
work so satisfactorily that no one talks
of abandoning it for return to the old
plan of delegate conventions. In q
minority party, where there is no very
earnest or determined strife for the
nominations, almost any plan OF making
ticket that is beforehand sure OF de-
feat, may be ,resorted to aud allowed
but where q nomination is well nigh
equivalent to election and there are
many aspirants for position, 1t IS
not only right but necessary that the
selection of candidates should be made
in the fairest and most impartial man.
ner that can be devised.
One Of the evils of the Convention
system is that the township or ward
meetings are usually controlled by the
friends of a particular candidate for
a particular office. A delegation is
sent to the County Convention to assist
in the nomination OF a single man and
when this has been accomplished the
delegates are as likely to misrepresent
the wishes of their constituents in rela-
ton to the nominations for other offices
as they are to do their will. Having
been selected with reference to single
office, they have no means of knowing
what the sentiment Of the people is
with regard to the availability of can
didates for another office. 10 this
county, for instance, the nomination for
Sheriff is the position Of most interest
and Importance, and yet there are
other offices to be filled, upon the proper
discharge OF the duties of which much
Of the prosperity and convenience OF
the people depends. The township
delegates are, however, usually selected
with reference to the Sheriffalty alone.
and hence the Convention has no in
structious from the people with regard
10 the other officers OF the county.
In addition to this, there is usually
somuch strife engendered in township
meetings and nominating conventions,
that many of the best men of the party
are unwilling to attend the one or be
sent as delegates to the other. Feuds,
of long standing and great bitterness,
often have their rise in these conven-
tons; the defeated candidates are
nearly always prone to accuse their OPP
ponents of fraud and unfairness; and
the members Of the convention, no
matter how fairly and conscentiously
they may have discharged the duty
committed to their trust, are liable to
encounter the ill-will of the dsap-
pointed candidates and their respective
friends. For this reason there are very
many who stand aloof from both the
primary meetings and the convention,
and, having in no manner participated
in making the nominations, do not feel
any very strong obligation to support
them in the general election. The
defeated candidates themselves, grasp
ing eagerly at anything which may be
tortured into a semblance of fraud, and
unwilling to believe that they have
been fairly beaten, are apt to seek
revenge by opposing the election of the
nominee, and thus disintegrating the
party.
These difficulties are almost entirely
avoided by the popular vote. Each
Office and each candidate has an equal
chance. The Democrat expressing by
his ballot his choice among the candi-
dates for Sheriff, may also designate
the person whom he thinks best fitted
for Prosecuting Attorney, Recorder,
County Clerk, or for any Of the other Of
fees for which candidates are to be
chosen. By keeping the polls open,
under proper regulations, for half a day
or more, aud thus consulting the COM
venience Of citizens, many hundreds Of
voters will cast their ballots who would
not attend a primary meeting at all
aud who would not, by any other plan,
participate in making nominations.
Having voted for achoice of candidates,
these gentlemen will feel themselves
virtually bound to sustain those upon
whom the majority Of the party have
agreed. The defeated candidates them.
selves, having submitted their claims to
the tribunal whose right to decide is
unquestioned, and the voice of the ma
jority having declared for their oppo.
neuts, will be much more likely to &C
quiesce gracefully in the result, and
labor honestly and earnestly for the
success of the whole ticket than when