n not
over one hundred words and file it with his nominating petition, and
to present a statement of not over twelve words to be printed on the
ballot.

The convention system provided many opportunities for the manipulator
and was inherently imperfect for nominating more than one or two
candidates for office. It has survived as the method of nominating
candidates for President of the United States because it is adapted to
the wide geographical range of the nation and because in the national
convention only a President and a Vice-President are nominated. In
state and county conventions, where often candidates for a dozen or
more offices are to be nominated, it was often subject to demoralizing
bartering.

The larger the number of nominations to be made, the more complete was
the jobbery, and this was the death warrant of the local convention.
These evils were recognized as early as June 20, 1860, when the
Republican county convention of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, adopted
the following resolutions:

"Whereas, in nominating candidates for the several county offices, it
clearly is, or ought to be, the object to arrive as nearly as possible
at the wishes of the majority, or at least a plurality of the Republican
voters; and

"Whereas the present system of nominating by delegates, who virtually
represent territory rather than votes, and who almost necessarily are
wholly unacquainted with the wishes and feelings of their constituents
in regard to various candidates for office, is undemocratic, because
the people have no voice in it, and objectionable, because men are
often placed in nomination because of their location who are decidedly
unpopular, even in their own districts, and because it affords too great
an opportunity for scheming and designing men to accomplish their own
purposes; therefore

"Resolved, that we are in favor of submitting nominations directly to
the people--the Republican voters--and that delegate conventions for
nominating county officers be abolished, and we hereby request and
instruct the county committee to issue their call in 1861, in accordance
with the spirit of this resolution."

Upon the basis of this indictment of the county convention system, the
Republican voters of Crawford County, a rural community, whose largest
town is Meadville, the county seat, proceeded to nominate their
candidates by direct vote, under rules prepared by the county committee.
These rules have been but slight