The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1908-08-13

Slight Variation in the Procedure Between
Republicans and Democrats.
Great Power Welded Vigorously by the National Committee
Preliminary the Gathering Handful OF Leaders Control
Machinery. Nominations and Platform

National conventions are very ex
pensive Affairs. Their cost 70 the party
holding them Is estimated az not lea.
than $l5o,ooo. and perhaps more. In
each great party Is a body OF wise mer
known as the National connittee'
This body Is the acme q political as
cension- A man may BE- 4 proud mem
Der Of a division committee. which 4
he first step IN the ladder. But when
he. reaches the dizzy heights OF ma
fio1al committeeman from bis State
and appears az the convention with a
badge as big as an ancient breast
plate. 20 that there can Be no mistake
Ia his standing. the height Of ambl-
ton Is reached There Is one nafional
committeeman from each State This
august body neefs n December pre-
ceding a national convention. examines
the claims Of the different citles that
desire the gathering. and critically
looks into the size OF the guarantee
as Il Is called This latter form means
that the city paying the most money
usually gets the convention The guar
antee Is accepted BY the committee
men. and they then proceed 70 spend
Il lavishly- Apartments AZ the most
expensive hotels are secured. a host OF
employees Is retained and business BE-
gins In real form. The hotel bills OF
the National Committees are some
thing enormous
Machinery OF a Convention
While the prelimlnaries are being
arranged the delegates are arriving
The delegate to the National couven-
ton Is generally : person Of import
anee at his home. The Democrats r.
quire a two-thirds vote Of all the dele
gates present and voting to make a
nomination The Republicans require
a majority Of those present and voting
At national convention each State
has It's own headquarters. where the
delegates gather. They DO a lot o.
comforting with each other and with
delegates from other States. They hold
meetings and elect chalr1nen and hon
orary vice presidents. The honorary
vice president has a seat on the plat
form and an extra ticket. but little
else The chairman does the dickerine
In some cases: IN some cases the POSI-
ton Is a sinecure- Usually the -coa-
ferring" and the dIckerlnx begin days ,
before the convention Is TO be called
70 order
Prior to the calling OF the couven-
ion TO. order the National Committee ,
8 virtually IN command Of the sltua-
lon With Il lies the Arranging Of the q
letails. the framing up Of the pro r
edure Of the first session. the selection .
4 the temporary chairman. and. In Z
'reat many cases. though not always. I
he program making Of the whole con- :
ention. temporary and permanent or .
nominating and platform o
uilding. h
Convention IL In order.
Now for the convention. the great y
leeting that the country has looked p
orward to for 50 many weeks. The y
nairman Of the National Committee
Ills the convention 70 order, usually p
bout noon upon the day set. a
The convention called to order. the n
rocecdings are opened with prayer. 70
be chairman requests the secretary ~
read the call for the convention. 70
hich Is done. Then the rollcall 10 ~
me through. and this takes a lot Of re
me The next step f. the announce 81
ent by the chairman that the commit
e offers to the convention as It's tenn
'rary chairman the name Of soand- 80
J. There are loud and prolonged PE
GERS, and By viva voce vote Mr. Or
-and-So Il unanimously elected. There NJ
usually little trouble over the elec- ca
N Of a temporary chairman. The In
airTnan then appoints committee to Ell
cort the temporary chairman to the pis
ltforn the band plays. the deleznr er
n from Mr.. so-and-so's State makes enl
lot Of noise. and all Is merry. die
II Is incumbent on the temporary wo
1irman to make speech He invari- COZ
y takes advantage Of the opportu- del
y. He sounds keynote" II Is a wn
stained note. II is invariably frIb-
to the party Of Abraham Lincoln mo
the Republican convention, and din
riHcation Of the party Of Thomas ing
ferson' at the Democratic. II lasts frs
cry long time. der
lffer the speech various resolutions Al
offered Usually these have been dis
anged for In advance, and the tenn to
airy chairman works according TO q yot
. -