Mexico weekly ledger., 1895-11-14
JUDGE NoRT0N's OPINION.

winch In hauStS lily iof
the nomination of candidates for State
offices appointed Estate Central Com
mittee consisting of N member from
each Congressional district, to whom
was confided the duty of organizing
the party and designating the time sand
places for holding State conventions
until the meeting of the next State
convention for the nomination of can
didates for State offices.
The trust thus confided to the State
Central Committee, having been ac-
cepted by them, they are bound to exc
cute it and they have no right to re-
linquish it, delegate it to others or
abandon it.
/ have never known in the history
of our party any departure from the
above custom or usage; o have /
ever known Of any attempt being
made, either directly or indirectly, to
displace or remove a committee thus
appointed, unless the action of the
Pertle Springs convention, held last
| August, called for the sole and only
purpose of considering the financial
| question, constitutes such an attempt.
The call for the convention is as fol-
lows:
Headquarters Democratic State
Central Committee, st. Louis, Mo-,
July Is, 1s95.-.In compliance with the
requests of a majority of the Demo-
cratic County Committees of the State
for a special convention of the Demo-
Gratis of Missouri, to consider the cur
rency question, such a convention is
hereby called to meet at Pertle Springs
on Tuesday, August G, 1895, at IL m.,"
| etc.
| If the convention under this call
had, after passing a resolution on the
financial question, which it was called
to consider, appointed delegates to
represent the Democracy of the State
! in the National convention to be call
| ed in 1896 to nominate candidates for
| President and Vice-President, OF if it
had gone on and nominated candidates
for the various State offices to be filled
by election in November, 1896, no one
| will pretend that such action could
have been justified either on principal
or party custom of usage. And why?
Simply because the delegates to the
convention were not invested with
such power by the Democrats who
sent them, nor was such power lodged
in them by the call made by the State
Committee.
So, if the Pertle Springs convention
had by direct action or resolution re-
moved the committee appointed by
the State Nominating Convention held
in 1894, to serve in that capacity until
the annulling of the next State Nomi-
mating Convention, to be held in 1896,
and named a new committee, such ac-
ton could not have been justified, be-
cause the convention was not called
for such purpose, nor were the dele
gates sent to it invested with any such
power by the people who sent them.
In all published proceedings of the
County Conventions appointing dele
gates to the Pertle Springs convention
falling under my eye, in no n of them
was any resolution adopted looking
| either directly Dr. indirectly to the re-
moval of the State Committee, or ask
ing that it be made to consist of "a
members by adding 10 new members
to the committee of 10.
While the Pertle Springs convention
lacked the courage to remove the
committee regularly appointed to
serve till the next State Nominating
Convention, it sought to accomplish
the same result by the addition of one
| other member from each of the 15
Congressional districts and the ad-
dition of four from the State at large,
making 10; thus making the tail larger
than the original body, SO that the tail
could wag the body, instead of the
body wagging the tail.
To say the very least of it, this is q
new departure, and without precedent
in our past party action. While I do
not wish to be understood as impugn-
ing the motive or the Democracy of
those who made the departure, / think
it was a mistake, in view of the fact
that heretofore the interests of the
party have been carefully watched and
guarded by the State Committee ap-
pointed by our State Nominating Con-
vention to serve in that capacity till
the assembling of the next State Nom
mating Convention.
But l trust that the mistake will not
disrupt our party; and if wise, prudent
and co~ncilliatory action is taken, it will
have no such effect. Departure from
the usages and customs of the party
which have prevailed for SO long a
time as to become in a sense laws for
its government are always dangerous
and full of hazard, and are peculiarly
SO now. The results of the last election
in this State and the recent elections
IL hObeoSny hidi iduu anu new
Jersey suggest the extreme caution,
careful elaboration and a c%oncillatory
spirit should be manifested before any
further departure is made from the
customary usages of the party in the
management of party affairs, and in
calling conventions either to send del
| egates to the National Democratic
Convention or to nominate candidates
for State offices.
What in the past has been the GUS
tom of the partyspeaking through the
State Committee in calling a State
convention to send delegates to a
National Convention? ! answer that,
beginning in 1876, the State Central
Committees have issued calls for a
| State convention to send delegates to
the National Convention on an aver
age of 30 days before the time for the
meeting of the National Convention,
and that the time fixed in such calls
for the meeting of the State conven-
tons has been on an average % days
prior to the meeting of the National
Convention.
The observance of this custom In
the past has worked well, and no rea-
son suggests itself why it should be
discontinued.
The facf eanuot ha oopooaIad tho+