The one great contribution which the English-speaking race has made to the science of politics has been the representative principle. It has been truly declared that every lasting liberty secured for the individual, every lasting reform towards stability in government and permanent effectiveness in administration, every lasting advancement made in politics during the past two centuries, has been by and through the representative system. The subordination of public officials to the law, and their liability under the law for every illegal act, sprang from the representative principle. The independence of the judiciary, that great bulwark of liberty and of the rights of the individual, has followed upon the growth and success of the representative principle. The vivifying spirit or essence of the representative principle is the determination of all questions of practical government by delegates or representatives chosen by the people, who it is assumed can act more intelligently and better discern the true interests of their country than a multitude of voters dispersed over an extensive territory. Government under the representative principle includes not merely legislation by the chosen representatives of the people, but the practical conduct of the executive department and its administrative branches by officials selected or nominated by representatives of the people. Despite all attacks upon our political institutions and all instances of mistakes and maladministration, the sound common sense of thoughtful citizens still confirms the judgment of the founders of our government that the only safe course is to follow the representative principle. This is as true to-day as it was when the "Federalist" was written. The direct nomination of executive or judicial officers is in utter disregard of that principle. If the function of legislation is in the long run most satisfactorily performed by a representative body composed of men from every locality and every part of a state, and if it would be unsafe to vest the lawmaking power in the executive branch, does it not likewise follow that the equally important function of selecting candidates for executive and judicial office and formulating party policies and platforms will be better performed by a representative body, such as delegate conventions, than by being left to the mass of voters? If more intelligent legislation and wiser action are likely to result from a representative body than from the confusion of a multitude of voters, is it not also evident that more intelligent and discriminating selection of executive officers will be made by chosen representatives, as in nominating conventions, than by the people at large?