Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-07-10
i EfIPEIIS APPEAL
SATURDAY, So: July 10, 1876.
ppInaRY ELTCTIoNs.

There Il no daI ger OF corruption III
Office so long Is good men are selected
A. delegates to nominating conventions.
In other days s few ward tricksters and
pcthouse politicians manipulated the
urinary meetings, and the result was
had men were elected to Office, and the
tsx-payers were robbed audplundered.
But things have changed. Every
where the best citizens are interesting
themselves in the election Of delegates
and the nomination Of unObiecuOnable
candidates. The most tender and
thoughtful parent should have no more
so!icitude for the future Of mis- child than
the citizen ought to have for the COM
muUity in which he lives. We are
lead 10 these remarks by reading the
following communication in the New
York Tribune, from q citizen Of Mem
phis:
To the Editor OF the Tribune:
Your correspondent, "a. II. c."
whose communication appears in the
Tribune Of June 25th, asks chow can the
honest men, whom he estimates as
comprising three-fourths Of the Republic
can party, nominate upright men for
public Offices" and complains that the
remaining One-fOgrth of the party "have
all the arrangements made" The Dem
ocratic party in Tennessee, Of which |
am a member, nominate their candi-
dates by g convention Of delegates
chosen from the body OF the people.
While under this system, which l con-
- n aviG fp
nominating good officers, corrupt men
may creep into the convention, still, il
there is any serious lack Of integrity
among the delegates, the fault can be
laid at the doors of the voters who sent
them there. l would like to say to "a.
II. C." that a fruitful cause Of the evil
OF which he complains is the apathy of
the masses good citizens who "dislike
TO dgbble in ward politics") at the pri-
mary elections. POllute the streams
from which your wateT-cOurses flow and
the rivers they form will paTtake Of the
same character. Purge your primary
elections Of their vicious elements, and
the whole body polite will revive.
A. W. OTIS.
MEMPHIS, July l, 1875.
These patriotic words contrast most
favorably with that class Of business
men who are too pure, or who have not
time, to wade into the dirty pool of poll
tics. Heretofore many OF those who are
best qualified to vote intelligently, did
not vote at all, and thus large proper
ton OF men who were fitted for Of
flee would not take it, or could
not get it. But all this will
change when the best citizens
act upon the suggestions Of Mr.. Otis,
and see to it that good men exercise
their influence in the primary meetings,
the nominating conventions, and on the
day of election. The public has but lit
tie ides of the number that refuse to vote
in every election. For instance, on the
thirtieth Of June, 1870, there were In the
United States 9,439, 2O6 males over
twenty-one years Of age, of whom
S. 425, 94l were citizens, native and
naturalized. At the Presidential cleo
ton in November, 1872, the aggregate
vote polled, including fraudulent votes,
was only $500, 600, leaving about % per
cent. Of the voters not voting. The
Chicago Tribune presents some in
teresting tables relating to States
and prominent cities, showing
the exact figures at various
elections, general and local. These ia.
bles show that the failure Of large pro-
portion Of the voting population to ex-
ercise the privilege of suffrage is general
in all parts Of the country and in every
locality. A large proportion Of these
nOn-vOters are in the cities, and that
proportion would seem much greater
were not the number Of actual votes
pOlled largely increased by the frauds
which are not practiced and not possible
in the rural towns and precincts. The
DOn-voting class in large cities is made
up largely Of merchants and their clerks,
who are engaged in business remote
from their residences. Another class
are the mechanics and I8borers who live
IN the outer wards, and who are at work
st distance from their voting places.
Another class is composed Of those who
look upon voting as personal struggle
with professional voters, and avoid a
contact by not going to the polls. To
these are added the aged and in
firm. But there will always be
found at the polls the politicians, who
are active because it is profitable to be
so. This class is numerous, active and
formidable. 1t is made up of office
holders and Office-seekers, including in
this definition those who make, or ex-
pect to make, a profit cut OF work or
supplies rendered to the government in
any Of its branches. The men who he. |
lOrg to this class can afford to give to |
the accomplishment of their purposes as |
much time, thought and energy as other |
men usually give to their regular bust /
ness. But while they are quite as act |
i've, they are much less scrupulous than |
most business men, and this for the res-
son that they are seldom compelled TO
deal with men whose interest is as de- |
fined and great as their own. 4 mer- |
chant who is willing to cheat is brought |
face to face with the man whom he tries |
TO cheat, and who has the same motive |
TO prevent that he has to perpe-
trste the fraud. But the professional
politician who desires to "fx" a prima-
~ or 8 convention, in order to secure
the nomination OF a bad man, usually
encounters either languid sort OF anna
teur opposition, which he makes light
o., or else the opposition Of men Of his
OWE kidney, whom he can manage by
bullying, bTibing or deceiving them.
The fact that the character Of our elect
ed officers is determined not so much at
the polls as in the caucus and the pri-
mary, makes the work OF the profession
Al politician so much the more easy, and
that of any disinterested citizen who
to make a contest with him
50 much the more difficult. But the
above letter to the Tribune from Mr..
Otis, Of this city, and the general inter-
est which the people have manifested in
elections, indicate most plainly that the
day is fast approaching when honest
men will control elections instead OF the
dishonest Office seeker.