The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-27
Democrats Confronted With
Awful Dilemma.
Notices for Primaries Were Filed Too Late
and All Candidates Will Have to Take
Out Nomination Representatives,
Fault Was 1t?

It is too bad, but It seems to be true,
nevertheless.
There is every reason to believe that
the democratic caucuses held Friday
night for the choice Of delegates to the
city convention for the nomination Of
candidates for the common council and
the school board, and for the election Of
members of the city committee are
Illegal.
In short, the delegates chosen to rep
resent the democrats in the city con-
vention, to nominate a candidate
for the mayoralty and candidates
for the board OF aldermen, the candi-
dates nominated for the school board
and the common council, and the mem
bers elected to the city committee, are
not chosen. are not nominated and are
not elected.
The democracy of the city of Wor-
cester has no candidates for the school
board or the common council it has no
representation in .he city convention
and there is no city committee elected
to take the place of the present city
committee. whose life runs out with
the municipal year.
An the reason for all this, il it is
true, and it seems to be, is the intri-
cacy Of the Boston caucus law, under
which the primaries Of the democracy
of Worcester are held every year, and
the failure Of the officers of3the city
COMMITTEES TO s. saessfpuy grabple with
the latest mixture on caucus laws ano
regulations as given to the party by the
last Legislature.
That the caucuses of the democracy
should be illegal and valid. notice of the
date on which they We're to be held
should have been published and filed at
least IS. days before the day Of the
caucuses. In this case, the notice for
the caucuses wasn't given until Novem-
Der 9, when it was printed in the Wor-
cester Evening Post. 1t is a most diff
cult task for the shrewdest mathema-
tieians among the democrats to figure
out IS days between November 8 and
November %. the day on which the
caucuses were held.
To bring the rank and file of the
faithful face to face, with the condi-
ton that confronts them in the present
municipal campaign, they have nomi-
mated no candidates for the common
council or the school board they can
nominate no candidate for mayor, nor
can they nominate any candidates for
the board of aldermen-except in one
way. All nominations made for munich
pal offices must be made now by nom
ination papers, and there is more or
less trouble in this.
OF course, the democracy, rather than
lose it's representation from those
wards that are strongly democratic
and by virtue Of the provision for mi
nority representation in the board of
aldermen, will take the pains and the
trouble TO place their candidates in
nomination by means of nomination
papers. 1t would be undemocratic to
let the thing go by default.
The clause of the statutes that points
to the illegality of the democratic pri-
maries is section 1O4 of chapter 54S of
the acts of 1898 The act is entitled an
act to revise and codify the laws re-
lating to elections. The special divis-
ion in which section 1O4 occurs, is the
Boston caucus act, which was adopted
by the democracy Of Worcester a few
years ago for use in holding political
primaries. Section 1O4 reads:
Notices of said caucuses in said
cities and towns shall state the
place where, and the day and the
hour prior to which, nomination
papers shall be filed, and the day
on which the several caucuses will
be held, and shall be issued not
less than eighteen days prior there
to-
The notices filed by the democratic
city committee relative to the filing of
papers for the various caucuses and of
the places and the dates on which the
caucuses were to be held, were not filed
until November 9. That left only lei
days prior to the date for the holding
of the caucuses, and hence their il
legality.
The arrangements for the caucuses
were made by John f. Fl. Mellen. the
clerk of the democratic city committee,
who has directed the affairs of thel
committee for his father, Alderman
James H. Mellen, the chairman of the
committee, and very busy man.
Young Mellen,by the way, is the fell
low who took the trouble to hunt up
the members of the republican city
committee for the purpose of inform
ing them, that unless the republican
caucuses were held last e:ght. the ac-
ton taken therein would be Illegal and
void. ON account OF the time required