mous a proposal which is carried amid deafening applause. To the candidates adopted for the higher posts, and who are generally close at hand, a special delegation is deputed to notify them of the choice and to conduct them ceremoniously into the hall where the convention is sitting. The president introduces the nominees to the assembly in a complimentary address, and they respond briefly. Each of these incidents supplies a fresh pretext for applause and cheers.

Thus, apart from the business transacted behind the scenes, the conventions appear as essentially show assemblies, entirely devoid of the deliberative character which should be their distinctive mark and their raison d'être. The absence of genuine activity and of initiative is accentuated by the way in which the proceedings are all settled beforehand. These arrangements are undeniably useful: they simplify the work of the conventions, and very often enable them to despatch their somewhat heavy programme in a few hours. But the order which prevails is too perfect: everything that is said and done is rigidly prescribed, nothing is left to chance; it is the cut-and-dried system in all its beauty. The temporary chairman, the permanent officers, the members of the different committees, the delegates who will propose the various motions, who will introduce the candidates, all down to the last man, are agreed on beforehand; the "slate" has been made up. The whole thing goes like clock-work, and the convention presents the spectacle, which rejoices the heart of the party managers, of a "harmonious" convention. This "harmony" may be depended on in places where the Machine is absolute master of the situation and the result has been prearranged in the primaries. But it is not the rule; there are plenty of States, or parts of a State, where the Machine has not asserted itself with that degree of power which we have seen it display in New York or in Pennsylvania. In a good many places the party Organization is far less rigid; in others the authority of the Machine is in a state of unstable equilibrium, or, even if it rests on a firm basis, it now and then has to cope with revolts, which break out, in the first place, in the primaries, where opponents manage to elect hostile delegates. In that case "harmony" is spoilt in the convention, and the proceedings in the latter are made as lively as

in the primaries by the rival factions; there is sometimes a "fight," not only in the figurative sense in which this word is used by the politicians to describe their contests, the police are called in, delegates are ejected. The Machine can, as we have seen, turn out delegates disturbing the "harmony" without using physical force: by getting. a sufficient number of delegates unseated it may give itself a majority. The Machine does resort to this expedient, but it is not always at its disposal; the situation does not always assume this simple aspect. The convention often happens to be split up into several groups, each of them perhaps having its favourite candidate, and none of them strong enough to compel the others to follow it. In addition to this, a good many delegates come to the convention unpledged, without having committed themselves to any one whatever, and meaning, either honestly or from corrupt motives, not to make up their minds, not to dispose of their votes, until the last moment. To secure all these delegates the persons interested, that is to say, the party Organization or the candidates and their friends, have to use diplomacy. This term is extremely comprehensive in this connection; it extends from simple entreaties, preferred with more or less skill, down to manœuvres of every kind, and bargains, including direct bribery.

These operations, which make up the work of "getting the delegates" inaugurated at the primaries, begin several weeks before the convention; the delegates are pestered on all sides, they are approached with flattery, with civility, with promises of places, or of money, or of favours of various kinds; every argument is brought to bear. The last, and often the main assault, is delivered at the convention itself. The managers of the different candidates open their "head-quarters" in the hotels of the city in which the convention is being held, whence they direct the attack and where they entertain the delegates and persons capable of influencing them. On the eve of the convention a party is given them, at which there is no stint of refreshments of every kind; often the candidate presides at it. The delegates are not insensible to these marks of attention; but the wary ones require something more positive. favourite plan consists of "deals," bargains between the representatives of the various groups of delegates, who divide

the candidatures between them by throwing over some of their candidates and entering into a reciprocal engagement for the rest: "You vote for our candidate, and we will vote for yours"; the withdrawal of the candidates and of their adherents is bought by definite promises of public offices guaranteed by the Organization of the party. A more or less considerable number of delegates remain outside these bargains, they are the respectable delegates of various grades and categories; generally their honesty of itself delivers them into the hands of the professional politicians. The psychological sketch which I have given of this class of delegates has enabled the reader to divine that when confronted with professionals skilled in all the arts of their trade they would fall an easy prey to them. This is especially the case with the rural delegates. Lost in the crowd of delegates, they are swept along by a sort of wave, without having a clear idea of what is going on. Apart from the delegates of their locality they know nobody, and they shrink timidly into a corner; thereupon some of the strangers accost them with a mixture of unceremoniousness and cordiality, and, introducing themselves, manage to interlard their conversation with a lot of flattery and humbug; they charitably warn the delegates against the intrigues of the concocters of candidatures, and, out of pure friendship, give them "tips" of good candidatures for which they can safely vote. A few minutes more, and a fresh set of brokers comes to hunt them up. The worthy delegates listen and meditate. The sitting is opened, the "patriotic" speech of the chairman makes a favourable impression on them. Then come the various motions, the nominations, and the voting; the elaborate tactics which govern all these evolutions are quite lost on our delegates, and, eventually, they follow the lead of their oblig ing mentors. The methods by which well-meaning delegates are inveigled are more or less coarse or refined according to the persons who are operated on; but with the variations which the consummate tact and skill of the professionals suggest, they succeed only too often, even with people who are accustomed to deal with their fellow-creatures, and who in their own sphere of activity exhibit good sense and perspicacity; these faculties are evidently quite special in their application. Consequently, however considerable the contingent sup

plied by the honest delegates often may be, the part they play is, in the majority of cases, a passive one. They help to make the convention a "harmonious" as well as a discordant one. In the latter case, an understanding is often extremely difficult to arrive at, each rival group sticking to its candidates. Thereupon one ballot succeeds another without result; no candidate has a majority. No one will give way. It is a deadlock. Sometimes this lasts for days, and the number of ballots which have been taken reaches unheard-of figures, especially in the small conventions, where, at first sight, it would appear easier to come to terms. Thus, not long ago (in 1897), at a senatorial district convention in the State of Iowa, the candidate was nominated after the 6021st ballot.

III

What is the character of the candidates turned out by the conventions which we have just seen at work? It differs a great deal, according to the several kinds of conventions. The lower grade conventions, that is to say, those which provide for the less important elective offices, as a rule produce candidates who are decidedly bad, from the standpoint of morality and intelligence. The nominations go to the "workers" of the Organization, and, in general, to the politicians of low degree, in return for their services, or in recognition of the position which they have won in the caucuses and the committees. This applies, in the first place, to the candidates for the local offices in the cities, and pretty often in the counties. The legislative candidatures are, considering their importance for the political life of the country, the worst of all. The candidates for the House of Representatives at Washington are, for the most part, inferior men. As for those who get the nominations for the State legislatures, their principal failing is a very inadequate stock of morality. The conventions of rural legislative districts, being made up of a better class of men, are more strict in their choice; they are very often likely to lay their hand on decent, if not intelligent men; but in the large cities the selections are deplorable in the great majority of cases, although, again, the best

representatives also come from the cities. It is otherwise with the candidates for conspicuous offices, the holders of which are always under the public eye, such as the Mayor, the State Governor, the Treasurer, and other high State officials, the judges of the superior courts. The candidatures of these latter are, happily, often, though by no means always, unaffected by party considerations; sometimes the judicial nominations made by the convention of one party are "endorsed" by the convention of the opposite party. As a rule, which is subject to very considerable exceptions, the conventions do not introduce disreputable or incompetent men into the higher judiciary, but, in any case, the party origin of the judges heavily handicaps their independence, as will be pointed out in greater detail further on. With regard to municipal offices, a movement is beginning to take shape (to which I shall also have another opportunity of referring), which tends to make the personal merit of the candidates the criterion of choice. The high executive offices are invariably filled by party candidates, but the conventions which nominate them, in particular the State conventions, take care to select decent candidates, so as not to run counter to public opinion and expose the Organization of the party to a revolt, and perhaps to a defeat. It may, therefore, be said in a general way that the nominations to the higher offices are of a satisfactory character, and sometimes even hit upon persons out of the common run.

But most of the "good" candidates are afflicted with an inherent defect, i.e. their weakness of character, their lack of energy and will. In this respect they are a reflection of the category of "good" delegates whom the politicians take into the conventions, and who often impart a tone of respectability to the State conventions. This weakness of character easily makes them the tools of the astute politicians, who may become "a power behind the throne greater than the throne," and this is what often induces a party Machine or a boss to select them in preference to men of a higher stamp, who would not submit to play the part of a dummy. But even in places where the party Organization is not strong enough, nor corrupt or ambitious enough, to dictate to the officials who owe their nomination to it, superior men