Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-30
CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS
VI-The Revolt Of the People.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

The congressional election in the ''oft
year of 1926 resulted for the first time
in the history of the country in return
ing 70 Congress majority definitely and
violently opposed TO the President and
his federal adminstrat ton. This cam
paign also was remarkable in that it
represented the first popular political
protest of the plain people against what
was known as the governing class
Its direct result was to overthrow the
political aristocracy which was modelled
on the lines of English practice, and
which had ruled the country from the
beginning. It's indirect result was to es-
tablish the American system of political
party organization, which in the course
of years has developed a political oil
ganchy OF greater and lesser bosses
against whom insurgency now threatens
destruction.
The movement which resulted in the
triumph of the Jacksonan democracy i'll
1926 had it's definite beginning
three years earlier. In 1920 Monroe
had been eleted President by unani-
NOUS vote The Congress elected in Isl,
had forty democrats in the Senate,
against eight opposition members, and in
the House there We're | Al democrats, as
against seventy-two opposition members
The ma jority of these nOn-democratsi
We're known as federalistS, although
many of them called themselves anti
Monroe democrats. AS d matter of fact
they We're not organized, and there was
practically but one party in existence.
Until that time nominations for Pres
ident and Vice President had been made
by partisan eau
Nom a INoc hyy f.IISpS pf the MEM
Congress Caucus. As long as there
we're two parties of approximately equal
strength this system was satisfactory,
because it was calculated to secure har-
monious party support for the chosen
standard bearer. But the federalist
party became more and more ineffective
the conflicting ambitions of democratic
leaders brought the caucus into disre-
pute No ambitious leader was willing
to leave the choice to a caucus suscepti-
BILE to the influences of wirepulline
when there was abundant opportunity
to carry the matter to the states for
final decision.
There had been no effort to establish
a uniform method of choosing presidential
electors in the several states. and the
whole system was chaotic. The electors
were chosen by general state ticket, &C
1 cording to the now established uniform
practice, In some of the states, while in
others they were elected by districts, and
in others they were chosen by the legls-
lature. In each state one of these three
methods would be selected for each presl-
Dental election, according to the judg-
ment of the leaders of the majority in the
state legislature, judgment always
based upon considerations Of party vel
fare. AS d result, the people as a whole
took little interest in the presidential
elections and were concerned with state
politics almost to the utter exclusion of
national affairs. 1t was generally &C
copied that the leaders at Washington
would choose the President, and that the
people had no business to interfere with
their choice.
X =;
Although the adoption of the Consti-
tuition had set up a government differing
radically il
InAuenco of EnUIand form from