treasurer. ... Treasurers of political committees are required to keep detailed accounts of receipts and expenditures and to file sworn statements thereof. This statement must be kept one year. Any violation of the provisions of the Act by a treasurer is punish- Penalties. able by a fine but not by imprisonment unless he fails to keep correct books of account with intent to conceal receipts or disbursements, or the person from whom or the object for which they have been received or expended, or to conceal the existence of an unpaid debt, or if he mutilates or destroys such accounts with intent to conceal, or if he fails to make the required statement within five days after he shall receive notice in writing, signed by five resident freeholders, requiring him to file such statement. Upon conviction of the latter class of offenses he must be imprisoned for not less than two or more than six months. This Act was amended in 1905, providing in greater detail for the The Wisconsin filing of statements of expenditures by candidates and for blanks law amended for that purpose. It was made the duty of officers with whom nomina- in 1905 tion papers or certificates of election are filed to publish lists of candidates failing to file statements and to transmit such lists to the attorney-general for prosecution under penalty of a fine. In 1907 life-insurance companies were required to make report and in 1907. to the commissioner of insurance of all contributions made for political purposes, and corporations were . . . prohibited from making any contributions for that purpose under stringent penalties, making it a felony to aid, advise, or abet violations of this provision. 1 204. Legal recognition of the political party1 The political party sprang up in the United States as a voluntary association, without legal basis or warrant. However, the law has taken notice of the party in two ways. In the firs place, there has been an increasing amount of legislation aimed at the suppression or regulation of certain practices of the political party. In the second place, there has been, in some sections at least, legal recognition of the fundamental services of the party. The value of the properly 1 From the Statutes of the State of Oregon, Election Law, 1907. Preamble. The law has taken notice of the party in two ways. The party is a useful and necessary institution. Party government is desirable. Rights of the political party in the exercise of which it ought to be protected. regulated party is recognized by Oregon in the preamble to its election law of 1907, as follows: Under our form of government, political parties are useful and necessary at the present time. It is necessary for the public welfare and safety that every practical guaranty shall be provided by law to assure the people generally, as well as the members of the several parties, that political parties shall be fairly, freely, and honestly conducted, in appearance as well as in fact. The method of naming candidates for elective public offices by political parties and voluntary political organizations is the best plan yet found for placing before the people the names of qualified and worthy citizens from whom the electors may choose the officers of our government. The government of our state by its electors and the government of a political party by its members are rightfully based on the same general principles. Every political party and every voluntary political organization has the same right to be protected from the interference of persons who are not identified with it as its known and publicly avowed members, that the government of the state has to protect itself from the interference of persons who are not known and registered as its electors. It is as great a wrong to the people, as well as to the members of a political party, for one who is not known to be one of its members to vote or take any part at any election or other proceedings of such political party, as it is for one who is not a qualified and registered elector to vote at any state election or take any part in the business of the state. Every political party and voluntary political association is rightfully entitled to the sole and exclusive use of every word of its official name. The people of the state and the members of every political party and voluntary political organization are rightfully entitled to know that every person who offers to take any part in the affairs or business of any political party or voluntary political organization in the state is in good faith a member of such party. The reason for the law which requires a secret ballot when all the electors choose their officers, equally requires a secret ballot when the members of a party choose their candidates for public office. It is as necessary for the preservation of the public welfare and safety that there shall be a free and fair vote and an honest count, as well as a secret ballot at primary elections, as it is that there shall be a free and fair vote and an honest count in addition to the secret ballot at all elections of public officers. All qualified electors who wish to serve the people in an elective public office are rightfully entitled to equal opportunities under the law. The purpose of this law is better to secure and to preserve the rights of political parties and voluntary political organizations, and their members and candidates, and especially of the rights above stated. . . Questions on the foregoing Readings 1. What does Lord Bryce mean by the "Inner Circle" of the political party? 2. What Federal office-holders are included in this Inner Circle? 3. To what extent are state officials included in this group? 4. Name some other individuals who may be members of the Inner Circle. 5. What is meant by the Outer Circle in party politics? 6. Explain how the class of professional party workers may grade into the class of non-professional workers. 7. What is the most important of the immediate aims of the party? 8. Explain the extent to which voters are influenced by (1) simple persuasion, and (2) the newspaper. 9. What, according to Professor Hart, is the extent of intimidation of voters in this country? 10. Summarize Professor Hart's conclusions as to the practice of bribery in the United States. II. When did the spoils system first develop in national politics? 12. What are some of the evils of the spoils system from the financial side? 13. How has the spoils system perverted political life and debased the political party? 14. What is the relation of the spoils system to the existence of the political boss and machine? 15. What does Mr. Schurz mean by the statement that the spoils system converts the public office-holder into a party slave? 16. How does the spoils system usurp the constitutional appointing power? 17. What is Mr. Schurz's conclusion as to the evil effects of the spoils system? 18. Why was the Civil Service Act of 1883 passed? 19. What is the nature of the Commission created by the Act? 20. What are the eight fundamental rules under which the Commission operates? 21. What type of legislation is reducing the evils which formerly attended contributions to the campaign fund of political parties? 22. Summarize the election laws of New York with regard to contributions to the campaign fund. 23. What facts must be contained in the statement of campaign contributions which is filed with the secretary of state in New York? 24. What becomes of these statements? 25. In what two ways has the law recognized the political party? 26. Summarize the preamble to the election law of Oregon with respect to the desirability of party government. 27. In the enjoyment of what rights is the political party to be protected by law? CHAPTER XXXV CHOOSING THE AGENTS OF GOVERNMENT 205. Essentials of a primary election law 1 and nomi nating convention. Various methods of choosing party candidates have predominated Rise and decline of at different periods in our history. An early method was the caucus, the caucus but after 1825 the caucus declined and the nominating convention became important. The convention was an improvement upon the caucus, but was itself subject to so many defects that in the latter part of the nineteenth century new methods of choosing party candidates were developed. Of these new methods one of the most important and widespread is the Direct Primary. Every state in the Union Direct Primary. has enacted legislation to fix the form, and to protect the administration, of the Direct Primary, though such legislation is not adequate in every state. The essential features of a good primary law are enumerated by Professor Woodburn in the following passage: To the successful working of a good primary election law the following features are considered essential: The pri maries of all parties should be held on the same day. 1. The primary elections of all parties should be held together in every election precinct on the same day. The time and place of these elections should be fixed by law and not left to be determined by party committees. In this way the election day will be known, the polling places will be fixed and not precarious; machine gerrymandering and snap primaries will be prevented; and the voters of one party will be prevented from packing the primary of the other for the purpose of nominating weak candidates for their opponents. 2. A good registration law. The party voters must be registered Registration. a certain number of days before the primary. Careful registration always tends to promote fair elections. 1 From James Albert Woodburn, Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1903; pp. 285-287. |