Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-02-20
POLITICAL

POLITICAL PARTIES.
The political party is a rather Curl
GUS and complicated affair. The great
political parties Of this country are
essentially voluntary associations Of
persons having the In general po-
litical ideals in common, and are
nationwide in their scope. They
were both organized on national Is
sues, and their organization has re-
manned national in its character.
They are governed entirely by laws
Of their own making. Each party
makes it's own regulations. for it's own
procedure, and each is the sole judge
Of the eligibility of its own members.
Being national in its scope, the ma
tional convention of a party is neces-
sarily outside the jurisdiction of my
state, and congress has never at
tempted to prescribe rules whereby it
shall be governed. Each convention
may admit as delegates such persons
as are satisfactory to the rest Of its
membership, and may prescribe the
method whereby these delegates are
to be chosen.
In actual practice the national
committee has permitted the exer-
else Of a very wide discretion to the
membership in thS several states.
And, since the states have taken to
legisladng on party matters, national
committees have usually specified
that the regulations which they make
shall be effective except in cases
wherein they conflict with state laws.
In such cases the procedure provided
in the state laws is accepted as suf-
f1cient. n
Several Of the! states, however, have
undertaken to define political parties,
to give them official standing in 50
far as their activities in the state are
concerned. Thus, in North Dakota,
as in several other states, the legis-
lature has prescribed the method
whereby delegates to national party
conventions shall be chosen. Those
who are chosen in accordance with
this law are given certificates OF cleo
tion,S and these certificates are the
credentials upon which they rely for
admission as delegates. Outside the
state of North Dakota those creden-
tials have only such standing as those
to whom they are presented choose to
give them. A North Dakota law has
no binding force in Chicago or San
Francisco. and there is no national
law on the subject.
Obviously the national organization
is in duty bound to accept as dele
gates only those persons who are in
good faith members of the orxanixa-
tom. and whose election has been ac-
comphshed by bona fide party mem
bers. Suppose that at the approach
ing Republican convention in Chi
casosit should develop that the
Democrats in = number of southern
states whore the Republican vote is
very small had taken advantage of
that fact, and by concerted action
had causel a sufficient number Of
their party to participate in the Re-
publican primaries to swamp the Re-
publican vote, and to elect delegates
who were really Democrats, or under
the control of Democratic politicians.
Such a group might easily sway tho
Republican convention. Under those
circumstances the convention would
refuse to seat those delegates, not
withstanding the fact that they might
been elected in strict compliance
with certain forms prescribed in the
laws of Mississippi, Texas and the
other states. 1t would be decided
that these men were not Republicans,
had not been elected by Republicans,
and that in no sense did they repre-
vent the sentiment Of the Republicans
OF their states and Of the nation.
In the concrete case which il be-
fore US, no man is a Republican who
subscribes to the doctrines and ac-
cepts the leadership Of A. c. Town
ley. If he has been merely misled.
ne may be given credit for being
conscientious, but his place is. no in
the Republican party. That party is
committed to other principles, and
other ideals. 4 II