calling itself the People's party. The custom soon spread to
every State, so that by 1835 it was firmly established. County
and city conventions also took the place of the caucus for naming
local candidates.

But nominations are only the beginning of the contest, and
obviously caucuses and conventions cannot conduct campaigns. So
from the beginning these nominating bodies appointed campaign
committees. With the increase in population came the increased
complexity of the committee system. By 1830 many of the States
had perfected a series of state, district, and county committees.

There remained the necessity of knitting these committees into a
national unity. The national convention which nominated Clay in
1831 appointed a "Central State Corresponding Committee" in each
State where none existed, and it recommended "to the several
States to organize subordinate corresponding committees in each
county and town." This was the beginning of what soon was to
evolve into a complete national hierarchy of committees. In 1848
the Democratic convention appointed a permanent national
committee, composed of one member from each State. This committee
was given the power to call the next national convention, and
from the start became the national executive body of the party.

It is a common notion that the politician and his machine are of
comparatively recent origin. But the American politician arose
contemporaneously with the party, and with such singular
fecundity of ways and means that it is doubtful if his modern
successors could teach him anything. McMaster declares: "A very
little study of long-forgotten politics will suffice to show that