Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-05-31
NOMINATING FOR PRESIDENT.
How the National Convention Came
Into Being.

w
How the National Convention Cam,
Into Being.
You can probably count on the fin
gers Of one hand the events that max,
hot and cold wiggles run up and dowr
your back to witness in any one yea
the football game between Princeton
and Yale, or Yale and Harvard in No.
vember, or the deciding game In tn,
series for the worlds baseball cham.
pionship, with "Matty" in the box ant
Baker at the bat; or Fifth avenue a.
1 o'clock on Easter Day. But once ir
four years comes a chance for a few
lucky persons to see greater show
than any Of these. It is the biggest
noisiest and most exciting thing ir
American life, and not the least Of its
fascination is that none of those who
watch 1t has the faintest idea Of what
Is going on.
Meaning to say? Meaning to say a
national convention assembled to nom.
mate a president Of the United States
The two great political parties, the
Republican and the Democratic, has
each it's own separate show, and as
they are held in different weeks an
able bodied man could attend both OF
them II his appetite for excitement
wasn't glutted by the first. But being
visitor to a national convention isn't
something any one can be. Quite aside
from the cost of railroad fare to the
convention city and the hotel expenses
there, 1t Is no easy matter to get into
the convention hall. Admission Is by
ticket and the tickets can't be bought;
you must know somebody who has an
official part in the convention. There
will be about 10000 spectators in the
convention hall at Baltimore. though
twenty times that many Baltimoreans
would be glad to get In IL they could.
Though the United States have had
thirty-one presidents, yet there have
been only eighteen nominating conven-
tions such as are now about to be held.
The present form of convention was
given it's first tryout In 1870; before
that various ways of nominating were
in use.
The idea Of the national nominating
convention Is neither a political inher-
itance nor a conscious contrivance. IT
is a product Of evolution which has,
like Topsy, lest growed" to meet the
exigencies Of the unique method pro-
vided by the constitution for choosing
new president or vice president ev-
cry four years The constitution de-
clares that each state shall pick aA
many presidential electors as It has
persons representing 1t In congress,
l. e., two electors to correspond to the
two senators from each state and az
many more as the state sends MEM
bers to the house of representatives.
The first presidents were not nomi-
mated at all. but received the votes OF
the presidential electors Of their re-
spective parties by sort Of spontane-
Gus consent. In the first two elections
those Of 1883 and 1892, because the
whole nation wanted George Wash
ington at Its head there was no cal
for nominations. Upon his retirement
the preponderant feeling Of one party
was for John Adams, that Of the other
o.. IN, ~, m r. Taeparoon opd n nnnurrad
to no one formally to set forth wha,
was unanimously understood.
In 1900 came the first hint Of what
is today the national convention
While agreed on their presidential
choice in Jefferson, the (Democratic)
Republicans hesitated as to their can
didate for the vice presidency. A
meeting Of the Republican congress
sional members was summoned to rec
ommend Arron Burr for this Office
Though small and secret, the meeting
is noteworthy not only because 1t was
the first congressional caucus, but be-
cause 1t was the first thing to be done
in the way Of a party nomination.
From 1900 to 1924 nominations were
made by congressional caucuses. The
death knell of this method was sound
ed by public sentiment, which cried out
against the practice as being an AFRO;
CANT usurping Of the rights Of the peo-
pie.
A solution was not at once forthcom-
ing. The present day national con-
vention was undergoing series oi
metamorphoses from 1924 to 1S40
nominations being irregularly made by
state legislatures, popular meetings
and resolutions Of Endorsement OF "a
favorite son." Gradually the party
conventions took shape until In 1S4t
was evolved the plan that obtains to.
day.
What is the exact modus operandi Of
the national convention? Those who
are conversant with matters political
those who have seen the seamy side OF
the grand and elaborate show take
rather cynical view Of the whole af-
fair. If you imagine the Polo Grounds
flooded over with fans all engaged In
the obsolete game Of battledoor and
shuttlecock, each man with a paddle
striking at some other mans ball OF
feathers, you would have an idea OF
pretty confused looking game. You
would wonder what on earth they were
trying to do, and you would be unable
to make it out, unless your eye should
happen to catch and take In a few
players in the midst Of the mob, play
ing with each other in diplomatic
method. Seeing and taking In these
you would understand that the game
Is really systematic, and that the result
of 1t is a foregone conclusion, especial
ly in so far as it relates to the big
crowd that thinks it is playing also
That is the way 1t has been: but that
it may be a little different this year Is
possible. The effect of the preferential
primaries cannot be foreseen with GER
tainty.
Some time in December preceding
an election year, the national commit
tee gets together in Washington and
sets the machinery in motion by draw
ing up a call. This call goes down to