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
in filibustering and gerrymandering, in stealing governorships
and legislatures, in using force at the polls, in colonizing and
in distributing patronage to whom patronage is due, in all the
frauds and tricks that go to make up the worst form of practical
politics, the men who founded our state and national governments
were always our equals, and often our masters.
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