The new era. (Walden, Colo.) 1906-19??, 1908-05-07

TIE ordinary political convention is
. collection of wild animals, whose an
tics are extremely amusing, but abso-
lutely without form and void. Nothing
outside Of a cage full of monkeys can
present such an example of futile &C.
tivity. Each delegate is duly ticketed
and loaded with his proper credentials
and fondly imagnes that he really is
of some Importance in the gathering;
that is. he does IL he Is green
hand" II he is seasoned campaign
err. he knows that he merely repre-
sents the people," and the chairman
and secretary of the convention rep
resent" the delegates, and the boss
es" represent" the chairman and Sec
TOary. BY means of this sliding scale
of actual power 1t will be seen that
the bosses" represent the people!
1t was my deep delight to have at
tended number of political conven-
tons. The will of the people" stood
about deuce high" in the political
deck. The will of the bosses" was
always the ACE" and it could be and
was turned from the bottom or top
Just as the emergencies demanded
Imagine a long. low, rakish hall, the
atmosphere wavy blue with tobacco
smoke. Aisles are cut through to the
platform. generally three in number,
to admit of committees on this. that
and the other to go forward to the
platform and hand in their cut-and-
dried communications. The different
wards and districts are ranged about
the hall. each with its particular spot
to stay in. like checkers on board
before the game begins. Many of
these delegates are in their shirt
sleeves. and many are talking wildly,
gesticu]ating powerfully and in other
ways molding the destinies of their
country. The very few who are not
smoking are choking.
On the platform are two tables. at
which the chairman of the convention
sits. he having been chosen by the
powers that be. He Is a mere puppet
in their hands, understanding what
they want. and at any and all times
ready to carry out their Wishes The
secretary is mere echo; the assist
ant secretaries mere assistant echoes
Two or three highly respectable
stoughton-bottles of various titles sit
on the stage to deceive the unintelli-
gent observer into the belief that
;&ngs are '.on the square" A pitcher
~ water is on the chairman's desk,
for he will open the convention with
a speech. In that speech he Will glori-
fly the proud history Of his own party
and skin. salt and nail to the political
smoke-house the hide of the opposite
party. This is species OF buncombe
which is always INDUCED in
Sometimes a convention Is opened
with prayer. This is something which
cannot be touched on at length for
the devil himself could not conceive a
more grotesque blasphemy. Most con.
ventions are opened with political
'jimmies." being burglarious aggrega-
tons, brought together for purposes
of plundering men of their political
rights. The chairman has his speech
carefully learned by heart, and he is
invariably eloquent. pungent, witty,
scholarly. terse. dense. fiowery and
long-winded. But he finally subsidies,
and then. after the committees re-
ports and the platform are finished,
and some more political red tape is
gotten through with. the work of
nominating candidates is begun. But
before the convention has reached the
point OF being ready to vote there
have been number Of battles fought
to finish before the various commit
tees on credentials.
In certain wards OF the cities, or
certain districts in the country, there
may be dispute about some dele
gates. these claiming the right to rep
ent the people," those putting in
n Tounter-claim for recognition. In
such cases. contests are begun and
the respective claims thrashed out be-
fore the committee on credentials,
which have the power to review these
disputes in the various districts or
wards.
No one but the contestants and the
committee and the other delegates are
allowed In the committee rooms in
these contests, 1t being a sort of fam
lily affair. Usually, the contests are
determined according to the way the
"bosses" want them to be decided,
but II 1t doesn't matter about a vote
or two, the bosses" allow the COM
mittee to do as they please. Evidence
is heard. speeches are made and the
committee picks the winner.
The bosses" keep accurate tab"
on the number of votes they need,
but are ready to achieve results by
any means they consider necessary.
One unseated delegate rushed madly
up to boss on the floor Of the con-
vention and screeched out: What
dye mean by THROWN me out?. There
amt no contest on me at ALL" The
boss" looked smilingly down at the