The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1900-08-10
Promotes Friends Only.


'"The leading tenet of every machine
is that no man shall be nominated for
office who is not friendly and loyal
to tin sympathy with it's bosses. In
fact, every candidate must be nomi-
mated by and with it's consent.
when election time approaches and
candidates begin to look around for
support the machine bosses begin to
plan. Correspondence is carried on and
personal meetings are held. At these
meetings the acceptability of the diff
ferent candidates is discussed. The
all-important question in regard to a
candidate is: Will he be loyal and
obedient to the bosses in every mat
ter if elected, or will he be independ-
ent and stubborn? Will he consult his
plain constituents in preference to
them?
If he is found proof against such
faults, his availability as candidate
before the people at large receives
some consideration, provided the party
vote is clOse-otherwise, not. There
upon the candidate is informed by the
bosses that they have decided to sup
port him for the office named. and if
he is nominated and elected, the credit
is of course due to them.
when these preliminaries are set
tied, word is passed to the local bosses
in each town and ward that delegates
f3vo ing su. n Il candidate must be
sent to the nominating convention. AS
a rule the candidate is also sent
around to see the local. bosses person
ally. The instruction from the SUI
perior bosses is the deciding force,
however, and the e(lict is seldom QueS-
toned.
THE made-to-Order delegates are
sent to the nominating convention.
The people shout hurrah and eject the
machine candidate to office.
Then the corporations, the tax
dodgers and the franchise grabbers
come forward TO make deals with the
bosses who now receive their reward.
The above exposition may not COW
er every method by which the machine
eXerts its influence, but it is sufficient
to give the reader a general idea of
its workings
1T is not absolutely necessary that
machine shall be corrupt. a ma
chine may do good deeds, and ma
chine candidate may make a good and
honest official. But the general ten
dency of machine politics is toward
evil.
whence do the machine and the
boss derive their power? Who make
it possible for them to carry on this
nefarous business? The plain people
themselves They do it by following
political leaders blindly. not thinking
and acting Independently. The boss
has no power to dictate to them whom
they shall nominate and elect, but
they willingly follow his instructions
they choose to be misled.
What Will LaFollette's Plan Do?
Now the question is: Will the La
Toilette primary election scheme put an
end to this blind following of the
bosses by the common people? Will
it make them think, act and vote indie
pendently? If it does not, it will fail
to destroy the machine. or even its
influence. Nothing can accomplish
this save the awakening of the intelli
gence and independence Of the plain
voter. Assuming that the scheme is
in force, what is there to prevent the
bosses from nominating and electing
their tools and puppets to office if the
plain voters choose to follow their
leadership?
THE proceedings of the bosses in
selecting their favorite candidate, as
above described, can be carried on just
the same. All that the superior boss