The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-02

from the north end Of the town, whore all tn,
ship business is carried on, used to meet, make
a caucus, and lay their plans for introducing
certain persons into places Of trust and power
When they had settled 1t they separated, and
used each their particular influence within his
own circle. He and his friends would furnish
themselves with ballots. including the names OF
the parties fixed upon. which they distributed
on the day of election. By acting in concert,
together with a careful and extensive distribu-
ton of ballots, they generally carried tho cleo.
ton to tholr own pinds. In like manner It was
that Mr.. Samuel Adams first became a repro
sentative for Boston," During tho carly period
OF its existence tho cnikers' or Caucus
Club was composed Of n few persons who
met at each others houses and there
made up q list of candidates for the annual
election. Later, however, tho membership
was increased. among tho now acquisitions
being such men as Otis, Warren, Hancock, Penn
bcrton, Austin, and John Adams. Gradually tho
meetings OF the club came to be more publicly
held, and in the formation Of q ticket" n con-
ference committee was frequently appointed to
act in conjunction with a similar committee APP
pointed by tho Merchants Club" another po-
litical organization of tho same character. We
find reproduced in the book before us an account
of tho Caucus Club during this later period,
given by John Adams in his diary shortly before
no became q member: This day 1 Learned that
the Caucus Club meets at certain times in the
garnet Of Tom Dawes, the Adjutant Of the Bos-
ton regiment. He has a large house, and he has
q movable partition in his garrett which no takes
down, and the whole club meets In one
room. There they smoke tobacco. SO you
cannot see from one end Of tho garnet
to the other. There they drink flip. I suppose,
and there they choose q moderator, and put
questions to the vote regularly, and selectmen,
assessors, collectors, flre-wards. and representa-
tives are regularly chosen before they are
| chosen in tho town.. The Caucus Club. or
North End Caucus" had CONT to be a recog-
nized institution as early as 1854; to 1t was due
q famous historical event. the Boston tea party.
The modus operandi of the caucus In regard to
the nomination of candidates is made clear by
the following entry in tho journal on the day
before tho election of 1872: Voted. that this
body will use their influence that Thomas
Gushing, Samuel Adams. John Hancock, and
William Phillips be representatives for the
year ensuing. Voted, that Gibbons Sharp,
Nathaniel Barber, &C., be n committee
to distribute votes for these gentlemen" Mr..
Dallinger points out that. in addition to the
North End Caucus and the Merchants Club,
there were in Boston numerous other organi-
cations Of n similar character. the most inn
portant Of which were the South End Caucus
uHu tic hiuulc biStTiCI 1uuCuS. All u u lueSo
organizations were societies or clubs rather
than public meetings Of the voters; but they per-
formed exactly the Same function as is dis
charged by caucuses and primaries to-day. Fur
thcrmOre. the appointment of n conference COM
mittee by ono caucus to confer with a similar
committee from each of the other organizations
was nothing more nor less than q rough sort OF
delegate convention. Outside of New England
during the pre-Revolutionary period, nominal
tions for the various elective offices. particu-
larry that Of delegate to the Continental Con-
gress, seem to have been made by branches of the
Sons Of Liberty. by the Committee Of Core
spondence, or by q conference ommitt COM
posed Of delegates from these and kindred or
CARNATIONS. For instance. In New York. on
July 1. l774, the Committee Of Correspondence
nominated five delegates to the Continental
Congress for recommendation to the freeholdcrs
of the city. A call was then issued for a general
meeting Of the citizens ito concur in the nomi-
nation or choose others" At this general meet.
ing the Committee Of Correspondence was au.
thorized to appoint n committee to confer with
similar committe from the Mechanics Club in
regard to arrangements for taking n vote in the
different wards. As a result of this conference
July 20 was appointed for the election. BY the
beginning Of the Revolutionary war the caucus
or primary had become pretty we'll established
In New England and the Middle States. On the
close of the war it gradually lost its secret
character, which had been rendered necessary
by the exigcncies Of the time, and became
a miniature town meeting Of the party
voters of the ward or district. In New Eng
land, except in some OF the large cities and in
those ~sections of the country settled by New
England people. the caucus still retains its orig
inal town-meeting character; but in the other
States, with the growth Of population. the
primary" has come to BIO a mere polling place
for the election of delegates to the various con-
%ventions and of members OF the local party COM
mittee, there being no opportunity for n discus
sion Of the merits OF the various candidates.
The result has been that the real work of nom
ination has fallen into the hands Of "parlor
caucuses, y or OF political committees and clubs,
the power of the individual voter being restrict
ed to a choice between candidates agreed upon
in such preliminary secret conferences or
named by such organizations. 1t is pointed out,
however. by Mr.. Dallinger that human nature
has not changed much in the last hundred years.
and that there 10 nothing new in so-called
modern" political methods. From tho MIN
utes Of the Supreme Executive Council of Penn
sylvania" for 1882 is quoted tho statement
that. at an election in Philadelphia wherein the
State militia stationed there were permitted to
take part. tickets were formed by the officers
without the consent of the ~privates. only on the
morning Of the election, or even after that time,
and that the greatest part Of the militia who
voted at the election voted under the orders of
Gen. Lacey" Here, then, We have q secret eau
Gus of officers for the nomination Of a ticket"
accompanied by bribery of the private soldiers
at the polls. for it seems that those who voted
the ticket received permission to return to their
homes. In other words. machine politics. OK
listed in 1882. and the professional politicians of
our day had their progenitors among the Revo-
lutionary Fathers.
We como to an extremely interesting topic. to
wit. tho Congressional nominating caucus which
lasted from 1900 to 1924. 1t was. of course, the
adoption of the Federal Constitution Of 1887
which introduced for tho first time the election
OF national officers. In 1888 and again In 1902
Washington was the sole candidate for the
Presidency. being nominated, as it were, by
general consent. In regard to the vice-Presi.
dency, however, there was no preconcerted