I am not at all blind to the fact that there have been great abuses in the convention system, and that conventions have been at times corruptly organized or conducted. But I know of no form of abuse or corruption which could not have been remedied by appropriate and intelligent legislation, or which could not have been prevented in New York by action of the voters if the legislation of the past twenty-five years had been generally availed of by the majority in each party. The control of all nominations was in the hands of the majority, if they had only taken the trouble to enroll and vote for competent representatives at primary elections. There is no practical remedy for abuse of power, fraud, or corruption in nominations for office but the participation in politics of all voters as a duty of citizenship. The notion that the direct primary would eliminate the professional politician and the boss has been shown to be false in every state where the scheme has been tried. Indeed, quite the contrary has been the result, and the last condition is worse than the first; for, to repeat myself, manipulators, wire-pullers and political bosses now work in secret and by underground channels without any responsibility or accountability whatever, and are, nevertheless, able cynically to point to the direct primary as the expression of the people's sovereign will--a primary which may be carried by a very small minority of the party. I assume that all the members of this Constitutional Convention believe that the existence of political parties is essential to the success of free government and to permanence and stability of political policy, and that the perpetuation of party government is desirable for the welfare and best interests of this state. Men cannot secure results and compass their ends in politics, any more than in most other human concerns and matters requiring concerted action, except by organization, cooperation, discipline and responsibility. The value of the service rendered to the American people by the great political parties is incalculable, and if these parties are to be disrupted and their organization and cohesiveness undermined, the result must inevitably be a most serious injury to the body politic. Whether we regard political parties, on the one hand, as organizations of men believing in the same political faith, principles and policies and uniting to introduce or uphold those principles and policies, or, on the other hand, merely as organizations to secure office and administer government--both of which aspects present patriotic motives--it is desirable for the permanent welfare of the people of every free country that parties should be maintained, and particularly that there should be two great responsible parties, each striving for control and ready to assume the responsibility of government and of the adoption of particular measures. A public official who belongs to a great political