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By David Dayton McKean
With the thinking being done by the leader and with decisions being reached by him, there must be discipline, and
strict discipline, of subordinates. It would be inconsistent for
the boss to be the law and for his legislators or his city commissioners
to vote as they pleased; they must vote as they
are told, and they must do so unanimously – they must
present a united front. Complete obedience is necessary
from the bottom to the top; officials are not supposed to have
ideas on public policies, but to take orders. In the Hague
organization they either are obedient or they are eliminated.
Successful as this principle has been in producing a well-drilled army of voters and office-holders in Hudson County.
it has not turned up men with courage, ability, and initiative
who will appeal to voters in other parts of the state; nor can
it provide for a continuity of leadership when the Mayor
himself shall die or retire.
Under ordinary circumstances efficiency in producing the
vote on election day, the handling of some bloc, such as a
racial group, or the faithful performance of other party work
will result in promotion within the hierarchy of the organization. It is, the Mayor told Creel, `the merit system, just
like in business.... We deliver for those that deliver for us.'
There are times, however, when for reasons that can be
known only to the leader himself, a man who has been faithful
and obedient must go. A recent instance was that of
State Senator Edward P. Stout of Hudson County, who was
in 1940 denied a renomination after he had been elected and
re-elected three times. He had apparently always voted as
he was told; he had defended his master's most indefensible
policies on the floor of the state senate; but instead of being
elevated to a judgeship or to a commission he was suddenly
dropped. The senator issued a somewhat bewildered statement
in which he said he thought of moving from Hudson
County to Hunterdon and running for the senate there.
This Web version, edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
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