About Caucus Nominations (Seaman Mead)

About Caucus Nominations

Are Not Usually Private and Secret- Excluding Newspaper Men 

STATE OF CONNECTICUT

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HARTFORD, MAY 5, 1897

HON. SEAMAN MEAD

GREENWICH, CONN

DEAR SIR: -In answer to your question as to nominations made for judges of the various courts in New Haven county, would say: All nominations have been made in a previously called caucus, and no nominations has been made at this session that was not a caucus nominations. We thoroughly understood that the committee on judicial nominations would insist that all nominations must be supported by a caucus nominations.

Yours truly,

REUBEN H. TUCKER,

Chairman, New Haven County Caucus

As chairman of the committee on judicial nominations I have required that all resolutions referred to the said committee should be caucus nominations.

DWIGHT W. TUTTLE.

Mr. Seaman Mead had the above published in this paper, the News, last week. We should judge that it was an attempt on his part to prove something. What, we cannot exactly make out. We don't know that anyone denies that caucuses are held for a nominations; we haven't heard that they did, but it doesn't say anything in the above communication about these caucuses being private and secret and that newspaper men are not allowed in them. We should judge that Mr. Mead is trying to show that the caucus, private and secret, at which Mr. Burnes was nominated judge of the Borough Court of Greenwich was not unlike other caucuses, and that they were a common thing in the legislature. 

THE GRAPHIC made the assertion and stands to it that the caucus, which nominated Mr. Burnes, was the first instance on record when a county caucus had been held for the purpose of nomination a candidate for judge of a town or borough court. If this is not true, will Mr. Mead prove it? And if he does, we will admit that we have been mistaken.

Mr. Mead's paper, the News, as was stated last week, published in the following:

"The Fairfield County Caucus was a private one. Two or three newspaper men and others, who sought admission, being excluded."

Mr. Mead doesn't claim, certainly, that all caucuses are private, and that  newspaper men and others are excluded, as in this case.