Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-01-14
The Caucus.

The Caucus.
The peculiar proceedings at Harrisburg
will excite general attention to the eau
Gus as a political instrument. 1t seems
to he very imperfectly understood even
by those who seek to use it; as was evil
dent when less than two-thirds of the
Republican representatives gravely met
together and proceeded to hold caucus,
to determine the party nominee. It was
manifestly a very absurd proceeding;
but nobody seemed to see it SO, and they
went on to evolve Mr.. Oliver, as the
party candidate, though full third of
the party representatives refused to par
ticipate in the meeting. When it was
ascertained at the meeting of the pro
posed caucus, that so many Republican
members refused to. attend it, the at
tempt to hold caucus should have been
at once abandoned for the simple and
good reason that one could not be held.
For a caucus that does not embrace all
the party representatives is not caucus;
and when it does not have enough of the
members of the majority attending it to
elect its candidates, it is nothing more
than aconference.
The virtue-and the vice-0f the eau
Gus rs a political machine, is its power
to bind all the members of party to
support party man, even though they
do not approve him. 1t is yielding to the
will of the majority of the party by the
minority; just as the minority political
party in the country yields to the ma
jOrity. In the latter case it is compelled
to do so by the laws but within party
such concession comes rs a matter of
mutual agreement, because of the neces-
sity of Strengthening the party and en-
abling it to use its concentrated power. 1t
has come to be a well-recognized law of
honor-which binds politicians of the
most dishcnorable kind and of every
varying degree-tllat those who assem-
bic in party caucus are bound by its de-
cision. They are so bound because, by
participating in a meeting in which it
was understood that the majority voice
should govern and in which every man
was ready to claim the submission of
the minority in case his side should be
successful he could not but submit when
it WAS otherwise.
Notwithstanding what may be so
plausibly said in favor of the caucus as
a means Of uniting party, it is of very
doubtful value. 1t would he better for
the country if it was not numbered
among its political machines. To a
party conference no objection can exist ::
but to the binding of all who attend it
to yield their judgment to its decision
there is very grave objection. 1t is to he
remembered that here are the represent
atives of the party ard Of the people
met to consult as to their action in both
capacities. If they were assembled SIM
ply to decide what was best for
the party it might he easy to say
that it was best for them to be
solidly united on every course of action.
But how can an honest representative of
the people consent to submit his judg-
--.-. - --l---> AL- ;..+nrocta nf his o"..r+;-
tuents require to the decision of ma
jority of his fellow partisans ? He is not
justified in doing it. The most that he
can properly do is tosurrender his judg-
ment in matters of miner consequence,
or accommodate it when his convictions
are not strongly adverse. But no indie
pendent representative should relieve
himself of responsibility for his vote, or
cast it where he thoroughly believes it is
wrongly cast, at the beheSt of any one !;
and for this reason we condemn the eau
Gus that would bind every representa-
tive to vote as majority of the men,
berS of his party decide.
If the representatives are men of hon
est intentions and good judgment, as
they should be, there will never he any
difficulty in coming to All agreement as
to party candidates, without insisting
upon prior agreement to abide by the
majority's decision: and if the represen-
tatives are not honest and sensible men,
certainly the honest and sensible among
them cannot be rightly asked to submit
to the dictatiOn of dishonest or
stupid associates, as the caucus system
would oblige them to do. It is facile
instrument in the hands of political wire
pullers, giving them but one more than
a half of the party representatives to
whip in or buy in, to secure senator,
instead of such number as will amount
to the half of the Legislature in joint
convention and it is not at all strange
that party managers should esteem the
caucus as of prime value.
The people will not he likely to SO re-
gard it. The Republican friends of Grow
and enemies of the machine will be
amply justified by those who sympathize
with them, in defeating the holding of
the Republican caucus that would have
made Mr.. Oliver the party nominee and
the senator. 1t would have been the
rankest folly for the anti-CamerOn ele-
ment to permit itself to be caught in
such trap; and everybody who at
tended the caucus may certainly be
labeled a machine man, an Oliver man,
or an ass.
SINCE the regular Republicans of
Philadelphia refuse to endorse Hunter