4
THE BEAVER RADICAL.
SMITH CDRTIS, Editob.
BEAVER. PA.,
Frida? Morning, May 16,1873.
THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT.
Our present method of nominat
ing candidates does not work
smoothly and fails to give satisfac
tion to the country districts.
There has been several efforts
made,to induce the County Com
mittee to submit an Amendment* to
the a view of cor
recting the objectionable features of
our system, and finally the Commit
tee have carefully considered the
matter, and, as a result of that con
sideration, the following amendment
is proposed, viz: “That in ease no
one candidate receives a majority of
all the votes cast, then the nomina
tion for said office shall be made by
the Convention.” This Amend
ment, it will be observed, is a fun
damental change; and, if carried,
will necessitate a change of some
of our rules. The objections urged
against the present system are many,
among the most important of which
'is the fact that the system is found
ed upon , a wrong principle. Our
government is one of majority. The
doctrine of the rule of the majority
lies at the very base of our institu
tions. With the instrumentalities of
a free press, a free pulpit and free
schools, we have that it is
safe to trust to the will of majori
ties in both National and State af
fairs ; but kuppose the doctrine of
plurality was substituted for that of
majority, what security would there
be lor the future of our liberties?
The great fault of our present sys
tem of nominating candidates is |
that it is a wide and radical depar- J
tufe. from the fundamental princi- |
pies of our Government, and, by j
adhering to it, we are teaching a
wrong principle and setting a bad
example. Our system is called a
popular vote system, but it is not
one*in reality. It is a direct vote
system of the people, and where
there are only two candidates for the
same office, the nomination is made
by a majority, and might, so far, be
called popular, but when there are
more than two candidates, the nom
ination is made by a plurality, some
times small, and it is inconsistent
to say such a nomination is popular.
It possibly may turn out to he so,
but tho vole does not prove it to be
so. The best way of ascertaining
the fact of popularity Is by a major
ity vote. The proposed Amendment
requires a majority of votes to elect
in all cases and abandons entirely the
plurality system. Again the pres
ent system practically concentrates |
100 much power in the large j
boroughs, enabling them to control
nominations. This is unfair, and
has given rise to much complaint.
When there are a large number of
candidates for one office, a few votes
are sufficient to nominate. These
votes are more easily obtained by
those residing in the large boroughs, i
where the number of votes is large
than by those jh* the country dis
tricts, since it is considered a matter
of courtesy to vote lor one’s own dis
trict candidate, and each district thus
supports its own man, whether the
best or not. The influence of sec
tionalism determines the result, and
maizes residence a matter of first im
portance to thhse aspiring to be
candidates. We can not recall lbs
name of any candidate from the
country districts, who has been suc
cessful in obtaining any nomination
of importance,for a number of years,
except perhaps one, and be failed of;
an election.
The plurality system will give to
the boroughs a monopoly of office
holding, for it enables them to con
trol, in a large degree, all the nomi
nations, and in this respect does
great injustice to the country dis
tricts. The people, without regard
to locality, should have an equal
voice in making nominations, but
under the present method, the idea
of locality predominates and influ
ences the and too such a de
gree that the tear is frequently ex
pressed by residents in the country
districts, that soon, unless the sys
tem is changed, candidates from the
country will stand no show for any
county office worth striving for.
The fear is not groundless as expe
rience lias clearly shown. Again
any system is only means to an end,
means by which to Obtain the very
best candidates, and it m far better,
we should think, to take the judg
ment of the majority, than perhaps
a small minority, inthe selection of
candidates. A party should .sup
port its best and most meritorious
men, and to secure such, a majority
vote, is the best plan yet tried. The
plurality vote plan has, tended to in
crease the number of candidates,
and make canvassing trouble
some and annoying. If the propos
ed change, as is hoped, will dimin
ish the number hereafter and parti
ally do away with canvassing, it
would be, if not a “sea change into
something rich and strange,” still a
change cfevoutly to be wished. A
knowledge that it required a major
ity of votes to elect would enable
the voters to concentrate on two of
the most prominent candidates,
and either the weak ones would
be induced, by their friends, to
draw off or their support would be
so small as not to prevent a nomi
nation by the people. If either re
sult happened, the nomination would
be in accordance with the direct vote
system with the improvement
of a majority vote and less
number of candidates. It might
happen [that np one candidate
for an office would f receive a toajori
ity of all the votes cast for said of
fice and the nomination therefore be
thrown into the Convention. The
several districts would be equally
represented according to their num
ber of voters in the Convention, and
the country districts could not be
over borne by the boroughs, ,and
their candidates would still stand a
better chance than under the present
system. This mixed system pre
serve all that-is good in both the di
rect and delegate systems, and we
believe is about as near perfect as
we can hope to obtain. It is the
system adopted by the Lawrence
county Republicans with whom it
is said to work well. It cannot cer
tainly be worse than our present
one, and it seems to us admirably
adapted to meet the wishes of our
people and to secure both a. general
interest in the nomination of candi
dates and a hearty support of thorn
-afterwards at the polls by the whole
party strength.
HON. EDWARD KING.
Hon. Edward King, who died in
Philadelphia, on Thursday of last
week, in.bis eightieth year, was a
native of Philadelphia, a lawyer by
profession, and appointed President
Judge in 1823 of the Court of Com
mon Pleas of the city and county of
Philadelphia. He served in this ca
pacity for twenty-eight yearsj and
then went on a trip to Europe,
Egypt, Palestine and Arabia. He
was one of the founders of Jefferson
Medical College, being President of
its board of trustees at the time of
his death. He aided in revising the
criminal code of this State, and was
connected for two years with the
Philadelphia Board of Trusts.
Judge King had few superiors in
his knowledge of the common and
criminal law and of the principles of
equity. His decisions are a monu
ment of his learning, ability and ex
haustive comprehension, and they
are models of terse, condensed and
clear expression. He was ready,
calm and always equal to any sud
den emergency, and could lay down,
at a moment’s notice important and
abstruse principles of law that
would afterwards stand the closest
examination. His famous charge on
the duties of a grand jury, which
was delivered without previous
preparation and unexpectedly, is an
instance of this kind. The Judge
has lived a long and useful life, and
has well earned the reward that re
mains for the faithful servant.
THE SALARY GRAB
It is said that the extra pay refus
ed by members of Congress reaches
the sum of one hundred and eleven
thousand dollars. It is an easy
thing for Congressmen to vote mon
ey into their pockets, but when the
motive of greed becomes apparent
in the transaction, and public opin
ion everywhere condemns the vote
as dishonest, and but little better
than stealing, it is not so easy W
them to consummate the law and
draw out for their own use the mon
ey so appropriated. Members of
Congress are sensitive and quick to
detect the smallest signs of the
THE RADICAL; FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1873.
times, and we think very, likely the
fact that so many have; refused to
touch the money allotted to them
will cause many of tbosd who have
taken their share to contrive,in seme
• . ••• * ■ ' i
way,to rid themselves of the burden,
and especially those, who have bong
back and are waiting to see ; their
way more clearly, will certainiycbn
elude, in view of all, the circum
stances, that it is both prudent and
discreet to act the parti of-hoaesi
men and refuse to profit by the re
troactive salary grab.
This subject will never down at
the bidding ol any member, imd
those, who thought that it ?would
soon blow over, will find themselves
very much mistaken; it has been
freely denounced by the press al
ready, and is very unpopular; with
the people, and for a member of
Congress, who is still ambitious, to
breast this current of opposition, is
more thai one would naturally' ex
pect, and we should not be surpris
ed to hear that nearly all the mopey
appropriated by the law would find
its way back into the United States
Treasury where it rightfully belongs.
Twenty-seven members have relfuied
their money, seven have given theirs
away to schools or charitable insti
tutions, but we hope to know that
many, more who have drawn their
amount, have, on consideration
turned it, with a clearer understand
ing of the matter than they bad.',.
The editor of the Butler Eagle
has been requested by Josiah M.
Thompson, to announce that the
use of his name in connection with
a candidacy for the Legislature
was unauthorized and that be is not
at present an aspirant for that posi
tion.
We presume that Messrs. Wal
dron and McKee, having rendered
faithful service in the Legislature
last winter, will be renominated, ac
cording to the usages of the party
without substantial opposition.
BALBION P. CHASE.
The Hon. S. P. Chase, Chief Jus
tice of the Supreme Court of tie
United States, died at the residence
of his daughter in New York po
Wednesday morning of last we£k.
He was stricken with paralysislon
Tuesday morning, ani, from. th*|
time until his death, was totally
unconscious. Possessing at one
time a robust constitution, a splend
id and powerful frame, long years
of excessive labors bad enfeebled
his health to such an extent that Re
cently, at times, he bad to abstain
from all mental and physical exer
tion, and his sudden death has not
been considered an improbable oc
currence. He was one of the great
men of our great epoch, a leader dn
the long and bitter anti-slavery con
test, a wise counsellor during the
rebellion, rendering valuable servi
ces-by devising means of carrying
on the war, and establishing our
present system of National currency.
The Chief Justice, although he
adorned every position he filled, will
yet chiefly be remembered in histo
ry for the part he took, in the ros
trum, in Congress, and wherever he
could make bis influence felt, in the
great war with slavery. The Re
publican party owes as much to him
as any one man, for he did as much
as any other to organize it and lead
it to success, and his labors, in
this respect, are a part of his anti
slavery record, which a grateful
people will not willingly forge£.
When the war began, which he had
apprehended and understood, he as
sumed the task of organizing the fi
nances of the country, and how
he succeeded all well know. ( By his
masterly skill he saved the public
credit from bankruptcy, and furnish
ed a vast array with the <( sinews of
war,” without which nothing could
have been accomplished, and op
which everything depended. Money
moves an army, and the Chief Jus*
tice supplied the money in abuncf*
ance. >
Within a year death has removed
many of oar noted and great metf*,
those moral heroes of the anti-sla*
very war. Seward, Greeley and
Chase have gone, men whom the
people will never forget, and whose
name# will be inscribed high up on
the roll of fame. They weife g$
ants in intellect, of noble impulses,
and their lives were, devoted to the
good 1 of their fellow beings. Strong*
ly individualized, each superior in
certain powers, it wpuld be difficult
to say which one of them deserves
the most praise for the services
which, in his way, each rendered to
his country and humanity.
POLITICAL.
—Dr. B. F. Wagenseller, of Selins grove,
Snyder county, is a Republican candidate
for nomination for State Senator.
; —The Democrats carried Lafayette,
because the temperance men would
insist upon running an independent
ticket.
—The Philadelphia Leader advises the
Democracy to' nominate Judge Ludlow
for the Supreme Bench, and speaks
watmly in his pfaise.
—The Republican County Committee
of Washington county will have a meet
ing op the 19tb inst., to fix the time for
holding the primary meetings. •*
—Why cannot the party (in Philadel
phia) which in the.day of agony was the
party of loyalty and fidelity in political
duty, purge itself ? The Press wants to
know.
—Republican candidates for nomination
for Assembly In West moreland county as
announced in tbeGreensburg Tribune and
Herald are: C. C. Sherbondy, Esq., of
South Huntingdon township, and James
Hunter, of E ist Huntingdon.
—Ex-Senator Pomeroy still remains at
Washington, bat it is announced that be
has not given up bis intention to be a
candidate for election to fil I the vacancy
occasioned by the resignation ot Senator
Caldwell.
—Gen. Boynton, the Washington cor
respondent of the Cincinnati Gazette and
Pittsburgh Commercial , renews the old
story that '‘Senator dameron was placed
at the bead of the Committee on Foreign
Relations only on condition that be re
sign immediately after bis appointment,
which he stubbornly refused to do.”
—The Cincinnati Commercial says:
"The State of Ohio is to enter the lobby
at Washington with $3,000 cash in hand
to plead for the payment of the Morgan
raid claims. The “raid” is to be ttans
fered to Washington. It is a raid upon
the Treasury. Morgan's raid was light
amusement compared with this.”
—Jere Cook, Esq., of Frankfort county,
and editor of the Repository, fn which
position he has rendered valuable services
to bis party, is a candidate before the
Republican nominating convention for
County Treasurer of said county, and we
presume be will be nominated without
much opposition.
—The State Journal says: A rumor
has been current for some time that Mr.
Thomas V. Cooper, of Delaware county,
has declined to be a candidate for State
Senator, in order to enter on a canvass
for Congress. Statements to this effect
having appeared in the Beaver Radical
and Pittsburgh Commercial , we batve been
authorized by well known friends of Mr.
Cooper to say that be intends to be a
candidate for Senate, and that he will
be nominated and elected. While a mem
ber of the House, be made a splendid
reputation, alike for bis devotion to busi
ness, and the unimpeachable integrity,
which marked all his acts.
—ld looking around for an available
Democratic candidate for State Treasurer,
the Doylestown (Bucks county) Democrat
suggests Gen. George W. Cass, of Pitts
burgh, and says: “Accustomed to con
duct large financial operations, of integri
ty the strictest, of judgment the soundest,
and not a politician in any sense of the word,
be seems to us the fitest man for the posi
tion.” As the General has undertaken a
mammoth financial job in running the
Northern Pacific Railroad, we do not
think he would feel free to accept a nomi
tion for State Treasurer, even if be bad a
chance of being elected.^
—The Bellfonte Republican says. The
Democratic county convention that met
in ibis place last week deserves a leather
medal for the passage of their resolution,
to wit.
Resolved, “That our fellow citizen, Ed
ward Perks, Esq., is eminently fitted by
ability, integrity and business qualifica
tions, to fill the office of State Treasurer,
and that the delgate elected by this Con
vention to represent our county in the
coming State Convention be instructed
to present the name of Mr. Perks for the
office, and to use all fair and bon irable
means to secure bis nomination.” ,
It was a brilliant conception ! “Hon.
Ed. Perks State Treasurer!” How' it
would sound. Bob. Mackey would be
proud of his successor, nr if be wouldn’t
be, he can’t appreciate Perks, that’s all.
—The Chester County Convention for
the purpose of electing delegates to the
State Convention to meet in Harrisburg
oo the 13th of August next, assembled in
the Odd Fellows’s'Hall, West Chester, on
Monday at 11 o’clock. The meeting was
organized by choosing Dr. John P. Edge,
of Downingtowo, president, and D. H.
Barton and J. V. Edge, secretaries. The
following named gentlemen were elected
by a vita voee vote to represent the county
in the State Convention as Representative
delegates, viz: Major £. B. Moore, of West
Cheated and Major J. M. Pomeroy, of
Sadsttury, Hon, William B. W*dde(l was
chosen Senatorial representative by accla
mation. The delegation was unanimous
ly instructed to support Hon; William
Butler for Judge of the'Supreme Court.
The proceedings were characterize! by
the utmost harmony.
—The Democratic State Convention to !
nominate a candidate for State Treasurer
met in Frankfort, Ky., on May Ist, and
was the smallest State Convention ever
held, there being only defegates from fifty
one counties in attendance, and quite a
number of, these were ’proxies. At ten |
o’clock the convention was called to order |
by the chairman of tfaie 'State Central
Committee, Hon. G. Wi Craddock. Hon,
G. G. Perkins, of Kenton county,, was’
elected permanent President. Commit
tech on Resolutions Permanent Or-;
ganization were appointed. The chair-1
man announced that 'nominations for the
office of State Treasurer were in order,*
and Mr James W, Tate, the present in-,
cumbent, was renominated by a unanH
moos vote to be the choice of the
tion for that office. The
Central Committee ;
the addition of an Ext
of one from each Co
After adopting the j
byjthe committee the.'
ed sine die.
—The Meadeville Republican says : At
a meeting of the Rebubiican County
Committee, of Crawford county, Thurs
day, the 19th day of June, was fixed as
the day for the primary elections. Jesse
Smith, W. A. Rupert and John B Comp
ton were elected delegates to the State
Convention. A resolution offered “that
none but those fully in accord with the
Republican party at the last Presidential
election shall exercise the right of voting
at the primary election this year,” was
Unanimously laid on the table, after which
it was resolved that Republican minors
who will be entitled to a vote at the fall
election be permitted to vote at the pri
mary election. The following resolutions
were then assented to':
Resolved, That in the election of John
F. Hart ran ft as Governor of Ibis Com
monwealth the Republican party has done
itself lasting cred it. That in the discharge
of bis official duties he has met the just
expectation of bis friends, and commands
the respect and esteem 6f bis political eni
m ies.
Resolved, That the Republican party
have undiminished confidence in the ad-
ministration of President Grant. That
the overwhelming majority with which
he was re elected reflects the wisdom of
the American people.
Resolved , That the thanks of the Repub
lican party of Crawford county, are due
to John B. Compton, chairman of the
Republican County Committee, for bis
very able and efficient services in the
campaign just closed with such gratfying
results.
FR OM PHILADELPHIA I
The Xwenty-Fltth Anniversary of the
Woman’s National Suffrage Con ven
ation—A Philadelphia Lady’s Inscrip
tion of the Notable?—New Xork Wo
naen—Trial Trip of the Pennsylvania
—Death of Hon. H.N.BIe Abater.
Correspondence of the Radical. ", ,
Phil vdelphia, M-aySll, 1873.
Absence in New York lasi week must
be my excuse for delay, in usual:‘letter to
The Radical. The Twenty Fifth Anni
versary of the Woman’s National 'Suf
frage Convention, .being the cau& there
of.VYettturing to hope that The Radical
and its readers will be pleased to hear the
whole modus of going to a convention,
and taking an active part therein irom an
enthusiastic but rather inexperienced I
participant, your correspondent begs you j
to prepare to listen. Taking the morning j
train and crossing New Jersey we arrived j
at the foot of Courtl&n street at 10;15, ;
took a street car, and through the com • ;
bined efforts of two conductors reached
Apoll<vHall in safely. On the outside of |
the building were to be seen numerous 1
I pictorial designs in gorgeous colors, repre
senting ladies and gentlemen standing on ;
One toe, and indeed on notbing'at all, and ;
going through all sorts of terpsicboreau ;
performances, which almost frightened us ;
| away, least in the advance of ideas this
j might be expected of us; but the reflec
| lions that Mrs. Stanton and Miss Antho
j ny were not given to dancing, restored
j our courage, and we entered. Apollo
j Hall is a fine building at the corner of |
i 38lh and Broadway streets. Part of it is j
used as a Variety Theatre, the other part I
for a concert or lefcture room. It would be i
■'most suitable for balls, since it has sever- j
al beautiful dressing rooms attached to *
it. Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake, who bad
the management of the New York meet
ing, was at the door, where she came to
welcome those ladies expected on the
platform. She was dressed in a black silk
dress, err train, blue striped over dress,
very bonfaut dolman sleeves, and hair in
rolls. Mrs. Blake is a descendant of the
old Jonathan Edwards, and in ker oppo
sition to the recent applications, made
to the New York Legislature, to allow
women to vote on a property qualifica
tion, showed that public virtue is heredi
tary, and that blood will tell. There is a
large room back of the hall, handsomel y
furnished, where committees meet, and
through which we entered upon the plat
form; There were seated Miss Susan
Anthony, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Mrs. Joseyline Gage, Mrs. v Morse, Miss
Adeline Thompson, sister of Mr. Edgar
Thompson, President of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, Mrs. Coleman. Mrs. Wright, and
above dH the venerable Lucretia Mott; a
little later were added Mrs. Louisa Chand
ler and Mary Mott Davis. Mr. Edward
M. Divis, of Philadelphia, was on the
floor speaking at the time, making a pow
erful appeal In the cause of woman,
which was listened to with* deep stten
i tion. Mrs. Gage, Mrs. Stanton, and Mrs.
’' r 9
1 .V
■j* : ’ ;
Blake spoke in the morning, and n®
Mrs. Mott, at the close of whose
ianral wreath was laid at her f eet SCDt J
the way from Michigan by Madam An.t
Mrs. Bladen, of Philadelphia, then «
an account of the Citizens’ Suffice T
ciety and the Radical Club, of that ni ‘
The morning session adjourned at Jeb*
Nothing could exceed the kindness
hospitality of New York lhe sl
present at the. Conventions. Mrs h 5
kell large party at w
g*f* laiotaoa’
dp the 4 p «
Tta '
pmiM| p
% WorUms which dreJl
“W. enc
gorgeously tplshe would have a «
had she looked in the glass, f or L
$a plain in attire, and of all ho n
nest and able souls she is on the
t plane. The ladies interested in ha.
movement in New York belong to teor
fashionable circles than the sisterhood i n
Philadelphia, and have the most beam!
fully intelligent faces I have ever seen,
Art and literature are their recreations'
their domestic life is beautiful, the*
Social life charming. They converse
with the knowledge ol men and the grace
of women. With these women, striving
after a wider and purer life, religion hi
comes the very poetry of morality. What
a contrast this effect, produced by the en
obling influence of a worthy motive, pre .
senls to the absurd condnct of Mrs. Au
bery Smith, the daughter of Judge Grier
a lady who, by birth and education
ought to have had more sense and better
taste, to say nothing of good feeling,than
to threaten “to remand the colored wo
men of Philadelphia back to .Africa” if
they did not acquiesce in her views, if
I were not copying from the Sunday &
public I should fea,r I was exaggerating,
the" story seems so absurd. It is to be
hoped for the credit of white womanhood
that Mrs. Smith will come out ami contra-
i diet this story. It is all about ihe Centen
[■.niah After inviting colored women to
; take P aTt in collecting, they afterwards
j took their books away, upon the plea that
| they would not work among colored wo-
men alone.
The trial trip of the steamship “Penn
sylvania” was most successful. Delicious
repasts were provided, the best catererein
the city being engaged. For some rea
son the bonbons and the French candies
were not from “Pines,” who prepares
such things deliciously. His nnde, Mr.
Knipple, who had the famous canary
store on street, above Walnut,
recently made a couple of hundred thous
and dollars in coal oil, sold ont.his busi
ness to Mr. Pine, who is his nephew, and
in the transfer Pine was doubtless orer
looked, which was a great pity, as he haw
delicious confectionery.
Since I last wrote you Mr. McAlister's
death has been a source of deep regret to
the members of the Constitutional Con
vention. The Memorial Book to Mr.
Hopkiris is now out, the steel plate by
Sartain is excellent. Five hundred cop
ies were ordered, but the demand has
been so great that it is impossible to get
one.
This week has commenced with rain, as
is proper during Hicksite friends meeting.
Our Germantown non license people
had twenty tavern keepers arrested for
violating the law, but when the culprits
were brought up it appeared they in tarn
bad had the informer locked up for theft,
so nothing can be until be is acquit
ted. Next week I wffl tell you something
about our taxes. Eizzil.
Funeral Service Over the Remain* of
Chief Justice Chase
New York, May 10.—Tbe funeral ser.
vices over the remains of the late Chief
Justice Chase were held to-day in St;
George’s Episcopal Church, Stuyvesant
square. At the conclusion of the services
the congregation slowly dispersed, and
subsequently the remains were conveyed
to the Jersey City depot, when they were
to Washington on the 9 p. m. l ra * n .
Washinton, May 11. —The remains of
the late Chief Justice Chase arrived here
early this morning, accompanied by rela
tives and pall bearers, and were conveyed
to the Supreme Court room, where they
were placed on a catafalque, the same on
which the body of Lincoln reposed in the
rotunda of the Capitol in April, 1865-
Floral decorations, tastefully arranged in
the form of crosses, wreaths, anchors, & c -,
were placed on lije coffin and catafalque
most of them being from tho Government
Conservatory. Immediately in front
the draped seat, formerly occupied by to®
late Chief Justice, was a large floral cross,
while inside the bar were boxes of choicest
blooming flowers. A guard of policemen
and servants of the court were in alien
ance. Several thousand persons visite
the Supreme Court room in the course
the day, but were disappointed in
seeing the face of the deceased. ®
casket was opened by a physician of
private inspection) but was again soon
closed, for the reason, it is said, that t e
features had undergone a marked change.
Therefore it was thought proper not
expose them. Funeral services wil
ndon to-morrow be conducted by
Dr. Tiffany, in the Senate Chamber. Ai
of the furniture, including carpels, vf
some time ago removed, but tbe chairs
will be temporarily restored »n d 1 *
Vice President’s seat, Secretary s **•
and other parts of the Chamber be drupe
in mourning.