Newark post., 1914-03-04
'hh 'Ao'oP PARrY 1jS GOVERNMENT
Subject Discussed At Lecture In Oratory

illustration of the extent to which
legislation is dominated and con
trolled by the caucus, instances
connected with the tariff and cur
rency bills were given. Resolutions
tlons in reference to these measures
were quoted in which the bills We're
declared to be party measures and
the members of the caucus pledged
to vote for the bills to their final
passage without amendment.
DR.. Willoughby pointed out the
results following the definite ac-
ceptance Of party government in
all its strictness: the independence
Of individual members is reduced
almost to a cipher; the minority
party is practically deprived of all
participation on such as is declar-
ed "a party measure. The arena Of
debate is, for all practical purposes
transferred from the floor of the
legislative chamber to the caucus
room of the majority party. In
other words government is carried
ON by majority of the majority.
The purely party caucuses, the
speaker explained, are in reality
secret meetings. The members are
under no obligation to publish the
result of votes taken in the hall.
They have, of course, no constitu-
tional basis.
Since they are not integral parts
Of the Legislature, it is necessary
that they have agencies in the leg
islature which may be depended .
upon to carry into effect the con-
mittee on Rules.
DR.. Willoughby after showing
how intimately the caucus system
is bound up with the idea of party
government, referred to the imper-
fections in the system. National
conventions are held every four
years to select nominees for presi-
dent and vice-president. Here the
platforms are adopted. The fun
damental defects of such a method
of procedure are that the declara-
ton of the platform has not been
held positively mandatory upon
the party; the persons framing the
party's policies are not those who
will carry them into effect; and
only once in four years is the par
ty given an opportunity to thus
formally declare its policies.
President Wilson has seen these ,
defects, and in his last message be- ,
fore Congress, suggested a means
of correcting the most important
of them. He proposes the retention
Of party conventions for the pur- ,
pose of declaring and accepting the
verdict of the primaries, and for
the platforms of the par
ties. He further suggests that the
should consist not of
delegates but of the nominees of the {
party, the members of the Senate,
whose terms have not yet closed,
the national committees, and the :
for the presidency them |
selves, i'll order that the platform
might be framed by those respon- I
slble to the people for carrying it
into effect. Such a policy would l
make the platform practically {
mandatory upon representatives of c
The party in power. This sugges- t
lon of President Wilson is linked S
With the idea of state primaries I
where shall be chosen the party g
for president. This will t
mean that the successful candidate f
will be the leader of his party and u
bile to dictate the platform which Il
hall be adopted. t
The speaker showed plainly that
he modern methods of legislative c,
procedure at Washington. which o
ave been so often criticised. have +,
reasonable basis, and are open to 0:
riticism only by those who would 81
o back to the ideals of the eigh- Il
zenith century and reprobate par OF
government. Owing to our pc Il
uliar constitutional structure, it is fe
My when the same political party pl
appens to be in control of both ii
ranches of Congress, and in DOS
ssSiOn of the presidential chair. bt
lat it is possible to make party -
overnment effective. 1t may be -
lat the demand will make it ur- 8
ent that constitutional changes