The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-06-05
Primary Elections
ny LEWIS II. MACHEN.
Illstory nnd Gro,yth.
I.

without public notice OF the time aud
place of meeting, attended only by q
narrow circle OF specially Interested
politicians" Tic memoirs OF Samuel
Adams make reference to such meet meet
ings as being held as early us l7sb.
IN the diary of John Adams for 1763I
there is mention of II caucus club
whicl, met in the garrett OF Tom Dawes,
In Boston, to choose local officers Soon
after that date. however the New
tcpation IN these caucuses,. and that
the times and places OF meeting should
be proclaimed by the town crier.
During the Revolution the New Eng
the colonies Constant efforts were
made through conference and cor
rcspondence committees to give
unity of action to these various
local raucuses. which were sup
plcmented about the year 1882 by rep
gates elected In primary caucuses held
in the wards of cities and In the town
Ships or districts of counties. and were
afterwards called conventions.
These conventions were first local.
and afterwards extended to Legislative
and congressional districts; but 1t was
n long while before they extended to
entire States and still longer before
there was any effort to hold a national
convention. About 1890 the parties in
their candidates by caucuses of the
members of the Legislatures. and In a
few years the custom had spread toI
all Of the States and
Hamilton is credited with having In
a,ignrated the congressional caucus in
behalf of Pinckney in 1901. and nom
nations for. President continued to be
made in this manner until 1924. The
public again demanded q larger par
ticipation In the nominations. with the
result that the. national caucus for
and the aboton Of State
caucuses for such purposes soon fol-
lowed Tho first state convention was
held in Philadelphia in 1928. and dur
ing the ten m years ar folowng LEGISLATIVE
ting candidates to be elected by the,
people had Disappeared. District and
state conventions have been generally
in vogue until very recent years, when
in some states 1t has been determined
that conventions We're not thoroughly
Professor L. C. Meyer. in his adj
mirable work on nominating systems,
says: The whole history of the evo-
to prove that the farther they are re-
moved from the influence OF govern
ment officials and from the control OF
professional politicians. and the nearer
they are placed to the true source OF
government the more responsive are
they to the will Of the people, the
nearer is the goal of true representa-
ton and the more nearly have we won
the battle for good government
The plan OF nominating by direct
primaries managed by party officials
was but a step, to primaries held under
laws making them part of the regular
election systems. Thus a few years
ago there grew up in some sections
State primaries, which became as much
a part OF the election >system as reg
ular elections. In these State pri-
maries, the time and mode OF holding
ballots, and all of the other details are
arranged with the same specific care
as are the arrangements for the gen.
eral elections. The judges and clerks
OF regular elections act in the primary
also. and in most cases parties are al
lowed to use separate ballot boxes. but
have the same judges In some States
the party authorities are permitted to
adopt the details of the primary, which
when filed with the proper officer.
States have generally adopted the thor
oughgoing State primary plan. 1t is
not believed that any State which has
adopted az Its a such plan has ever gone back
conventions. 1t would take a volume
to describe the various points of diff
ference between the several varieties
of primaries now in vogue; but enough
portant differences.
Such tremendous growth of senti-
ment covering such a wide extent of
territory. and all tending in the same
coincidence.
1t has been brought about by dis
with the old methods and
desire upon the part Of the masses
Of the parties to provide a machinery
by which they would express their
will in regard to nominations. The
with the convention was
based chiefly upon the fact that large
OF men. most of whom are
without special experience in political.
may easily be manipulated by
a few experienced politicians and made
to do things of which they afterward
repent. In some cases serious charges
Of bribery have been made against
delegates in close contests
though such has never been the case
In Virginia. Log-rolling, Wire pulling
and all manner OF tricks for the form
alton of combinations have tendency
to make conventions unpopular, and
there were often dead
locks, compelling the conventions to
adjourn without making nomination.
In some States conventions have been
and not infrequently char
bloodshed OF course, convention
would necessarily be a favorite with
those politicians who, by the use of
the means already described, find
able to manipulate the con-
vention.
Yet many excellent people continue
to prefer conventions. Those who arc
able to attend them favor them as the
means of personal intercourse. and
frequently Of creating considerable en-
thusiasm. They insist that party plat
forms can be most readily adopted by
a convention Nevertheless. the people
have learned that, as a rule, such plat
forms are prepared by few men and
rushed through the convention with
out an adequate opportunity for either
consultation or discussion.
Moreover, it had been found that in.
most cases they We're merely collec-
tions OF platitudes which did not have
any particular effect upon the action
or the party after it had gone into
power. In nine cases out OF ton the
resolutions proposed by the commit
tees are adopted without amendment
In some States representatives of the
parties are authorized to meet and
draw up the platform for the party,
and such course proves to be quite
las satisfactory as having the resolu,
lions drawn by a committee and
pushed through the convention with
out consideration. AS q general rule,