The Orangeburg democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1879-1881, 1880-03-26
Political Rinqs.

uti Political Rings. iu.l" "r
Our County Chairman will doubt.
less take steps 10 call convention
Of the people at mn early day for the
purpo.c Of clccting delegates TO at-
tend the State Democratic meeting
in Columbia to be held OH Tuesday
lst June proNimo. These cohvcn-
tons arc absolutely necessary for two
potent reasons: All the people can
not meet together TO lay out plans
and determine the line of conduct Tie
party must pursue +; if such a meeting
were possible it would he too nm
wicldy for y fair discussion, in SO
short q time, of the topics brought
before it and would necessarily be un-
satisfactory in its deliberations and
results. The business Of the entire
people must be cntrustcdto a'fcw
chosen representatives who meet, dis
cnss at length and delermine upon
such policy as may he thought nee
cssary for the successful conduct, Of
lhc campaign. The greater the ratio
Of the representation the more com
plc,cly viii the sentiment OF the pcoplc
be represented and The less powerful
will he the influence Of rings or
cliqucs. The converse Of this is
equally true with q small ratio OF rep
resentation. At the beginning, there
fore, Of The Campaign let every Demo
crat enroll his name upon the list Of
his Township club, that the rcprescn-
tation in the County Convention may
he full and complete. There are
many good aud truc citizens who
think their attendance nt club meet
ing is small matter aud by their ab-
sence sacrifice the public, good to
their private interest. There ere 9TH
crs who think too lightly Of ;hcir own
influence and, because they cannot
speak, are content to remain at home.
Still another class will not join or at
tcnd because they cannot boss the
machine, and by such u course Of con
duct actually oppose thcpar!y with
WHICH they consider themselves iden-
phed. From among these classes
come all the complaints about bad
infringement, ring rule, Court House
cliquos On! political lrickcry. Party
division and independent movements
ind lind their source aud support right
here, and often defeat may be altrib-
utch to the lukewarlnncss of those
who refuse to lake part in club meet:
ings. :, It's often the case that doZ-
cpl citizens meet at The appointed
time, read lhc, call OF TIE County
Chairman cpd then inquire among.
tkemsclves, who will attend the Coun
y Conveplion. Men arc, appointed,
because they have business in town
ana II IS convenient. Such delegates
spend moro timc on The streets al
tcIding TO private business than in
the convention room, leaving the af.
fairs OF Lheira constituents to be at
tended 10 by u few who take all inter
esL in such things. Others sit taround,
listen and sometimes vote, but never
utter word in behalf of their sec
tlons interest; and thus n few wire
pullers manage the convention while
the majority are silent. Who is to
blame? Can wo complain of rings or
cliIucs, or trickcry under such cir
cumstanccs? Certainly not. Now
let the club meetings he well attend
ed, send the best men. the best organ
lzcrs-mcn who viii do their duty,
rs delegates and instruct them as to
the will Of the club. In this way we
will have q convention Of good men
and the peoples interest will be at
tended to. No complaints Of cli1ucs
or cour: house rings will he heard
when ohr best men are sent as dele
gates TO the convention. Clique IN
liiclcc mpst be prevented and this,
it seems to us, is the way to do it.