ther it is conducted honestly or otherwise is not an affair of the government. If at the primary election there is cheating or irregularities no one can be punished. Several States are now making the experiment of placing primaries under control of the law and having them conducted as regularly and as honestly as other elections p. 345) are conducted. It will be the part of good citizenship to give these primary election laws the heartiest support, for the primaries are the springs in which the great stream of politics rises, and that stream will be pure or impure according as the source is pure or impure. II. The County (or City) Convention. We left the primary sending delegates to the county convention in a presidential year. These delegates may be instructed at the primary to act in the interest of a certain man as the party candidate for President, and to support certain political measures, or they may go to the convention free to act as their judgments direct. In a short time after the primary election they assemble (usually at the countyseat) as the county convention of the party which they represent. This body, consisting perhaps of forty or fifty men, elects three or four or five delegates to represent the party in a State convention. If the county convention is in favor of a certain man for President it may instruct these delegates for this man in the State convention. III. The State Convention. A few weeks after the county convention, delegates from all the counties (and cities 1) assemble at some convenient place as the State convention of the party. This body, consisting sometimes of several hundred men, passes resolutions expressing the political views of the party in the State, names its choice for presidential candidate-if it happens to have a choice -and elects delegates to a National Convention, the number of delegates allotted to each State being twice the In a city each ward in primary meeting sends delegates to a city convention and this body elects delegates to the State convention to meet with the delegates from the counties. number of its representatives in both Houses of Congress.1 Sometimes it also selects candidates for presidential electors. Although the men in this convention are several degrees removed from the voting mass, yet if the sentiment at the primaries was pronounced and definite it will find expression in the State convention. If, on the other hand, the voters at the primaries gave no direct indication of their will the delegates in the higher conventions must act according to their judgment. IV. The National Convention. In July or August, all the State conventions having been held, the delegates from the States (and Territories) assemble as the great National Convention. This body, consisting of nearly a thousand men, meets in some convenient city, and after several days of discussion, expresses the views of the party upon public questions in the shape of a platform and chooses candidates for President and Vice-President. The Presidential Campaign. After all the political parties have named their candidates the struggle for election begins. Political meetings are held, the claims of the candidates are urged, the platforms are explained and defended, and everything that can be done to influence voters is done. The campaign, with all its faults, is a most wholesome element in our public life. It is the school-time of democracy. By it, men's attention is strongly attracted to public affairs, civic spirit is awakened, and voters are educated. The greatest objection to lengthening the presidential term is that to do so would be to deprive the people of the great educational advantage of frequent presidential campaigns. In many States the State convention elects only four delegates (called delegates at large) to the National Convention, the other delegates being elected at congressional district conventions, two delegates being chosen from each district. Where this is the practice the district convention selects a candidate for presidential electors. The Election of the President. The campaign continues until the election day in November, when the voters render their decision. They do not vote for a President directly, but for electors as the Constitution provides (146). Since these electors are nominated and elected by a party they are morally bound to vote for the candidate of the party which elected them, and no elector has ever proved unfaithful to the party that elected him. The President is, therefore, really elected at the polls. The electors have absolutely nothing to do but to vote for the candidates of their party. After the electors are chosen the subsequent steps of electing the President and Vice-President are minutely prescribed by a law of Congress, and by the Constitution (148). QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT 1. What services do political parties render when they nominate candidates for office? 2. Give an account of the development of party organization in the United States. 3. Describe the permanent organization of a political party. 4. Give an account of the primary meeting and point out the importance of the meeting. 5. Describe the party conventions above the primary meeting. 6. Give an account of a presidential campaign. 7. What is the duty of a presidential elector? SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. The beginning of all party nominations is the primaries. Remembering this, give an account of the nomination of a candidate for a sheriff (county convention); of a candidate for Congress (congressional district convention); of a candidate for governor (State convention); of a candidate for mayor (city convention). 2. We hear much of "purifying politics.' What are the causes of impure politics? Is it bad laws or bad morals that have caused corruption at elections? 3. Are primaries in this State legalized? If they are not is there a strong sentiment in favor of legalizing them? 4. Are the politicians whom you personally know better or worse than their neighbors? (Avoid using or suggesting any names.) 5. Point out a few of the benefits an honest politician can confer upon the people, 6. Explain how a president is elected when no candidate secures a majority of the electors (148). 7. How many electoral votes has this State? 8. What Presidents were elected by Congress? 9. Show that it is possible for a man to be elected President without receiving a majority of the votes cast. 10. Show that it is possible for a single vote at the polls to decide a presidential contest. 11. How are candidates for the legislature of this State nominated? 12. Prepare a five-minute paper on "The National Convention."' See Woodburn, "Political Parties and Party Problems.' Hints on Reading.-J. P. Gordy, "History of Political Parties in the United States; Jesse Macy, "Party Organization and Machinery.'' |