A second defect in the Constitution was that it said nothing about the right of any State to withdraw from the Union.  After nearly 70 years this omission was responsible for the Civil War.  The legal basis for secession was then abandoned, but combinations of States have since been regarded with the greatest apprehension.  This conviction that the Union must be maintained at any price has had very important consequences on the party system.  The danger of allowing combinations of States to dominate party lines was demonstrated; and the division of each State by the same national parties was recognized as essential to safety.

In the meantime, as we have seen, Congress had practically got control of the executive functions, which were supposed to be exercised by the President, including the nominations to office.  Thus every member of the party in a majority had a share of the plunder, and “the spoils to the victors” became the basis of party organization.  The system soon underwent such a remarkable development that nearly 200,000 public offices were at the disposal of the victors at each election.  The party organizations immediately became omnipotent.  The secret of their power lay in the control of nominations.  Each party would nominate one candidate only, and the electors voted neither for men nor measures, but blindly for party.  As Mr. Bryce declares:—­“The class of professional politicians was therefore the first crop which the spoils system—­the system of using public office as private prize of war—­bore.  Bosses were the second crop.”

The development which these party organizations have now reached is extraordinary.  Practically we may say that there are only two parties—­Republicans and Democrats—­and they dominate not only Federal and State politics but also city government.  Each party has its list of registered electors, and each holds a primary election before the real election, to decide the party candidate.  But these primary elections are a mere matter of form.  Only a small fraction of the electors attend them, and only those who have always supported the party are allowed to vote.  The nominations are therefore really controlled, by fraud if necessary, by the “ring” of party managers.  Generally there is one man who can pull the most strings, and he becomes the “boss.”  All power is centred in the hands of this irresponsible despot.  The men who are elected owe their positions to him, and are responsible to him, not to the public.

Remember that these “machine” organizations have absolute sway in every electorate, from one end of the United States to the other.  It may be wondered why the people tolerate them, but they are powerless.  Sometimes an independent movement is attempted, but it very rarely succeeds, and even when it does the two “machines” combine against it and agree to divide the spoils.  Mr. Bryce writes:—­