The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1892-10-27
REPUBLICAN BOODLERS.
Secretary Charles Fosters
Shameless Recital
OF the Good Lord, Good Devil
Tactics of the q. O.P.

Preachers ana Saloon Keepers oobble Up
the Corruption Fund-Money Given to
Buy Drinks-A Million Dollars spent to
Elect Harrison, and ID. b. Sc and Degrade
American Politioe.
The Columbus, o correspondent OF the
Pittsburg Dispatch OF yesterday, has the
following:
Secretary Charles Foster, Of the Treas
ury Dearmeut, who is now devoting him-
self to the interests of his party in this
Sta e 10 comm pnly considered the best
politician in President Harrison's Cabi
net. Perhaps IL would be a stand-uff,
however, between him and Secretary
e ikins. MIR. Fueter has been six times a
candidate for Congress before the people
Of Ohio, aud twice a candidate for Cover
nor. Aud there is probably no better
school of politics than the State OF Ohio,
where there 10 an election every year, and
where, though the Republican party al
ways gets the electors in national con.
test, there is stil chance OF Democratic
success for the local ticket.
Mr.. Foster has had not only local but
national experience in politics. ODly
recently he furnished one half the money
necessary to carry on the campaign of
Kolb for Goveronor of Alabama, which
nearly resulted in the overthrow of the
Democracy in Ihat State. Mr.. Foster is a
practical politician, and he believes in the
use of money in political contests.
THE USE OF MONEY IN POLITICS.
As he sat in the Cbittepden lobby smok-
ing put the question to him:
"What are the legitimate expenses of a
political. campaign? What makes IL SO
costly to tue candidates and to those who
are interested in the success of one or
other OF the great parties 2''
"rhere Is a great difference in the
minds of the people as to what is a legiii-
mate use OF money in n political contest -
said Mr.. Foster. "About some matters
there is no doubt, There is the printing
of tue tickets, the printing of speeches for
circulation, the advertising of the ticket
in newspapers. then you take the work
of canvsssinR. In our own state, Ohio,
there are $500 voting precincts. A regu-
lar canvass is IN de Of every one of these
before the election, and poll of The
voters II made. The record shows the
politics of each man, whe lher he is doubt
ful or not, and if he is doubtful, gives some
reason why or suggests how he can be an
preached. There must be books for this
canvass; then other larger books in which
this information is copied by townships; (;
then other books in which all of the
material is collated for the use OF the State
Committee. All of this requires large
amount OF stationery and great deal Of
clerical labor.
DOUBTFUL VOTERS COME HIGH,
"Then list Of doubtful voters IL made
no, and they may aggregate 10000 or 90
900 In campaign. Each of these must
be worked upon by seudiug him campaign
literature or by sending some one to talk
to him. Ia this work there are travelling
expenses and buggy and printing and
postage taken into account.
NOW you come to the labor fellow, who
may be useful 90 you in his missionary
work, but who says, Il can't leave my
regular occupation unless yon pay me for
my time. can't efford to. [ must earn
my bread If he is paid, he gets perhaps
twice as much as he would earn at any
other occupation. Then there 10 the Ger.
man who has great influence with his
race and who wants to be paid to 90
aronnd and make speeches. And then
there is the lrishman who can influence
the Irish, and the Swede and the Pole,
and then there is the Catholic and the
Lutheran and, yes, the Methodist, too,
On election day you must pay for car
riages at the polls and nowadays the
farmers are greedy and want to tie paid
for bringing voters in. Then a good deal
Of money goes 20 the saloon ee ~ rs
There are always ground every saloon
some four or fv3 follows who don't care
how they vote and the saloon-keeper can
usually vote them. He come to the Rer
publican committe, perhaps, and says: Il
don't like the way the Democrats have
been treating me. Now IL you people will
give me $40 or Sl5 or S25 I'll vote these
fellows for the Republican ticket"
MONEY BLOWN INTO SALOON TILLs.
THE money ig given to him ostensibly
to buy drinks in honor of the candidate.
saloon till. That does not sound
very well, perpaps, but when you
get into politics you find that every
one is doing the same thing and your
conscience is likely to he plunted after a
time. I've been approached in almost
every campaign by churches and asked to
subscribe to funds on the assurance that IL
would help me politically. / don't see
much difference between the saloon and
the church IN that. And il does help n
man to cultivate the church.
"lu 1874 the Republican party got pretty
nearly as bad a setback as it got in 1890.
We had SO embers IN the House. | be~
lieve that this Congress has 80, but there
are more members of the House now.
was elected to the House from my district
by l59 majority, The district went for the
Democratic State ticket by 1,600. During
the canvass there was a Catholic hsziar
In my town, and my opponent and | were
asked to attend and contribute to the
charities. / did not go. Neither did my
opponent. But my partner, who was a
good Catholic, went and subscribed Sl0O in
my name. My opponent was stin0y, and
he egave nothing. III had thought he was
not going to give anything, / think that |
would not have let my partner do 80 l
let him do II just because thought the
other man would. Well, sir, that SlO0
elected nae, ran away ahead of my tick ct
on the Catholic vote.
MONEY SPENT IN OHIO.
"rhere are many expenses which the
local politicians bear, such as the upi~
forming Of political clubs, the purchase Of
banners, the hiring OF brass bands. Very
little, II anl, OF THE expense is borno by
the State Committee. But for that
matter the State Committee han
dies a very small proportion of
the whole campaign fund, In Ohio, for
example. the State ComTaittee usually has
about $4,000 or 10000, hut suppose that
between 100000 and $500, 900 is spent dur,
ing the campaign. There are Is candi,
dates for Congress, aud each of them will
spend not less than S2,50O. This is S37, 800
Then there are six local candidates in
each OF tho 8S districts in the State, Each
of them will spend not lees than 500
There is $52, 800.
"Tben there are the local funds raised.
In my own little Town Of 1000 inhabitants,
for example, they have raised $500 for this
campaign. They get that by each fellow
putting up S25 or $50 They will use h al
money to hire the brass baud occasionally,
to rent the opera house for a meeting now
and then, and so forth. When the local
people get to organizing clubs and having
psrades you get out the vote and you have
a lively campaign. When you get men 90
interested that they go to their employees
vote with us this time as a personal favor
to me- you get a lively campaign. The