The woman citizen's library : a systematic course of reading in preparation for the larger citizenship . a natural aristocracy founded on talentand virtue which seems destined to govern all soci-eties and all political forms, and the best governmentis that which provides most efficiently for the purityof the choosing of these natural aristocracies and theirintroduction into government. * American politicaldemocracy has signally failed to do this, and the rea-sons for its failure lie, partly at least, in the inadequacyof the nominating machinery. For it makes no differ-ence what are the safegua
The woman citizen's library : a systematic course of reading in preparation for the larger citizenship . a natural aristocracy founded on talentand virtue which seems destined to govern all soci-eties and all political forms, and the best governmentis that which provides most efficiently for the purityof the choosing of these natural aristocracies and theirintroduction into government. * American politicaldemocracy has signally failed to do this, and the rea-sons for its failure lie, partly at least, in the inadequacyof the nominating machinery. For it makes no differ-ence what are the safeguards of secret ballot, registra-tion,, and public information with regard to the quali-fications of nominated candidates, if the voter has littleor no intelligent share in saying who shall be the can-didates in the first place. Party government without some initial means ofnaming party candidates would be impossible. Thetime-honored method in this country, until within veryrecent years, since the direct primary election haslargely superseded it, was the party caucus. Originally ?Works, IX, p. MRS. LUCY STONEFounder in J870 of 21ie Womans Journal MANHOOD SUFFRAGE 1727 the caucus was a secret meeting of the leading men ofthe party in the locahty. By the time of the Revolu-tion it was pretty well established and was losing itssecret character and becoming a miniature town meet-ing. In New England, except in the cities, the caucusretained its original town-meeting character to ourtime, but elsewhere it became a mere polling place forthe election of delegates to the various conventions andof members of the local party committees, there beingno opportunity whatever for any discussion of themerits of the various candidates. The inevitable re-sult was that the real work of nomination fell eitherinto the hands of parlor caucuses or of political clubsand committees — the power of the individual voterbeing restricted to the choice between candidates agreedupon at such preliminary s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectwomen, bookyear1913
