Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-31
MONEY ON THE OTHER SIDE.

Some remarks on Senator Brice's course
in the last campaign, which are intended to
be laudatory, made by the Washington cor
respondent of that sometime independent,
but now ultra Democratic paper, the Chi
cago Herald, have aroused the sarcasms of
the equally ultra Republican organ, the
Philadelphia Inquirer. There is decided
food for sarcasm In the vigorous attempt to
exploit Senator Brice's abilities as a politi-
cal leader, which by the statement Of his
Democratic admirer, consists of purchasing
political prominence by drawing immense
checks for campaign funds. There have
been good many statesmen of the same
order; but the details which are given in
this laudation of Senator Brice are almost
as frank and refreshing as Colonel Elliot f.
Shepard's disclosures on the other side of
the house.
According to this eulogy of the organic
stamp. an agreement was made with regard
to the last campaign by Senator Brice,
Oliver Payne and ex-Secretary Whitney,
three eminent representatives of Democracy
whose craftsmanship lies in their bank
accounts. 1t was to take care of Ohio, if
th" Congressional Committee took care of
the rest of the Union. The way in which
that pledge was redeemed is proudly pointed
out by the Democratic journalist to have
consisted of pouring money into the Ohio
campaign. 81 happen to know" it is
averred, that, in the McKinley. district
alone, Brice found it necessary to spend
$4,000. Throughout the State he must
have spent as much more"
The idea that trying to win political
campaigns by sheer weight of money de-
notes the highest rank of craftsmanship, is
fair food for the sharpest sarcasms of the
Republican press, although we could wish
that the criticisms of our esteemed cotem-
porary, the Philadelphia Inquirer, on it
were a little less manifestly of the
pot-and-kettle variety. We seem to
remember that during the Delamater
campaign-and more recently, indeed
there was talk of very large campaign funds
on the Republican side; but the Inquirer
did not deem it necessary to speak unfavor-
ably on that feature of monetary politics.
If it had attacked the idea of buying Re-
publican success in Pennsylvania by means
Brice's campaign would have had far more
weight.
But it is true that this praise of the use of
money in politics from the Democratic side,
proves that the Democrats who have got into
leadership by means of corporation backing
and superabundant millions, are tarad with
exactly the same stick as the Republicans of
the same order. A very satisfactory COM
mentary on the exact value of that sort of
politics is furnished by the fact that the
very State where this trio OF mill
ionaire politicians poured out their
money like water, was the one State
where the Republicans most prominently
held there own. And the district in
which Senator Brice spent $50, 900 to defeat
McKinley-a sum which carries with it the
clear imputation of willingness to buy
yotes-the result was that Major Mckinley
actually reduced the normal Democratic
majority of the district by some /, 500 votes.
A very funny attempt to gain credit for
Brice is made in the assertion that che said
a month before the election that he would
send fourteen Democrats from mis- State in
stead of seven and seven Republicans instead
of fourteen, and he kept bis word to the
letter." The fact is that it was known eight
months before the election that, on the usual
party vote, there would be this change in
the Ohio delegation by reason of the gerry
mander. Brice's brilliant campaign ex-
penditures did not gain a single Congress
man for the Democrats over what was
awarded them by the gerrymander. The fact
that corporation Democracy was supreme in
Ohio prevented that State from feeling the
tidal wave which overfowed the rest of the
country.
Millionaire statesmen are popular in their
own parties because they furnish fatness for
the professional politicians. As long as the
organs continue to denounce the use of
money by their opponents and to praise it on
their own side, the public will be able to
make very correct estimate of their sim
cerity.