The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-06-06
"BOODLEu ELECTIONS.

The assertion OF Senator EdmundS
in his recent article in the Forum
that respectable men of strict probi-
ty in their social and business rela-
tons contend that moral principles
have nothing to do with politics,
which are to be regarded in the light
of a warfale between two contending
parties, in which all means are adj
Missile that conduce to success, re-
ceives striking confirmation from
the replies made to the Boston Her.
aid to questions put by that paper
to leading merchants and politicians
in Massachusetts, bearing upon the
use of money in politics.
The Herald remarks in It's edito-
rial comment that the replies are
both interesting and instructive. eft
is evident" it says, "that politicians,
merchants and manufacturers believe
that it is both right and proper to
contribute and use money for secur-
ing desired political results, and that
there is practically no limit that can
be set to the amount that may be
contributed for this purpose or to
those who can rightly becalled upon
to make contributions. x
With hardly an exception, the va
rious persons who have thus far
been Intercepted assert that such a
use of money is entirely in accord
with their ideas Of politics. One
gentleman says that the answer is so
obvious that he thinks the question
is ridiculous. Indeed, the undercur-
rent running through the greater
part of the replies is that to enter
tain the notion that money should
not be freely used is to admit that
ones political opinions are ofan aca-
.demical character, having little APP
plicability to the plain, matter-of-
fact conditions of every day life'
The view taken by these respond
ents is that politics is altogether a
matter of business, and if by spending
five millions of dollars in the infu-
encing of votes through which by
the adoption of a certain policy on
the part of the government the do
nors can be reimbursed by making
large profits in various ways over
and above their outlay, the transac-
ton on their part is perfectly
legitimate one. The moral principle
involved in putting up the govern
ment for sale to the highest bidder
does not give them any concern at
all.
Their governing motive is greed,
and in spending any number of mil
lions of dollars to carry a presiden-
tial election, the question is not
whether this perversion of the true
intent and meaning of the use Of the
ballot defeats the will of the people,
but how much can be made out of
such a transaction.
cit seems to us" says the Herald,
''that both politicians and business
men who take this view of. the uses
of money in controlling political re-
suits are inviting, by their complai-
SAINT Indifference to a growing abuse,
the destruction of our political sys-
tenn, so far as that system depends
upon political equality" The Her.
aid points out that if this perversion
of the ballot is not suppressed by
stringent laws it is quite conceivable
that instead of the use of five mil
lions of dollars to carry an election,
"ten millions may be contributed if
an otherwise hopeless success were to
be won, and that in consideration for
this donation Congress might put
through and the President be Undue
ed to sign legislative measure that
would pay back to the individuals
making the donation ten times the
amount of their contribution"
There can be no doubt whatever
if the government is to be regarded
as commodity, as the merchants
and manufacturers and leading poll
ticians consider it to be, that their
purchase of the commodity will moi
be undertaken without first consider
ing how much can be made out oft.
The Herald goes on to say: "Ii
IL hard for us to understand how any
one can fail to perceive that under
such conditions there can be no lon
ger political equality between man
aud man in the American republic.
It may be assumed that each voter,
independent of wealth, votes as his
personal interests dictate; but when
one man can not only vote; but can