Los Angeles herald., 1892-10-09
RUNNING A CANVASS.
ROBERT GRAVES DESCRIBES SCENES
AT POLITICAL HEADQUARTERS.
now the Campaign Committees Organize
and How They Conduct the Struggle for
the Presidency--Increased Importance
of the Literary Bureau.
Special Correspondence.l

of the Literary bureau.
Especial Correspondence
NEW York, Sept. 26.-l have always had
ngreat deal of curiosity as to just how
pational political campaign is managed.
1t has been a mysterious sort of process to
me, as dare say it has been to my readers.
What can there be for all those committee
men and managers and clerks and fussy
persons to do? What use have they for so
much money? These are queries which
have never before been able to answer
Now / know something about it, and
what little do know, l am, as usual, go
ing to try my best to tell.
In the first place, in order to manage
national campaign eyou must have
national committee This is chosen, one
from each state, at the national convention.
The national committee elects It's own
chairman and other officers, the chairman
usually being man chosen by the can
didate for president.
The national committee also elects a
campaign committee, and this smaller
COMMITTEES undertakes the management of
the campaign. 1t must have u house to do
business in. This house must be in New
York, for it is tradition that New York
is the center of politics, no matter what
tradition that the house must be near the
Fifth Avenue hotel, for that tavern is the
heart of als politics in New York. Side by
side are the Fifth Avenue and the Hoff-
man House. and it is to the former that all
the prominent Republicans of the country
go while in New York, while to the latter
all the Democrats wend their way.
Step into either of these inns tonight, and
odds are YOU will run against half dozen
United States senators, a score or two of
congressman, half as many governors, and
no end of chaps who have been something
or other of Importance and who are never
able to forget the fact. In truth, the have
beens outnumber the ares two to one. or
course it is desirable to have the national
headquarters as near as possible to this
great center of politics In this respect the
Democrats were this year more fortunate
than the Republicans. They found
house. an old mansion which was an aris-
tocratic home in it's day, but two blocks
from the Fifth Avenue hotel and on the
thoroughfare of that name, while the Re
publicans, after two weeks of hunting,s
could find nothing suitable nearer than
Forty third street. a full mile away.
As soon as they have rented their head
quarters the campaign committees pro-
ceed to furnish them. They must have
thirty or forty desks, half as many type
writers, some big tables and great lot
of chairs. They must also rig up a wire
contrivance at the entrance to keep Wis
itors from wandering up stairs until they
are wanssd. Some visitors, you may i'm
agine, are never wanted in the upper re-
gions, and never get there. At the door
to this wicker partition between the pub
lie room and the private Offices they sta
tion discreet and tactful man, who
knows how to open the gate with a grace
full salaam when dignitary presents him
self, and who knows also how to close the
gate very quickly, but ever SO politely,
when a common striker shows his face.
Before it can get down to work the COM
mittee must hire a lot of men. 1t must
have a sergeant-at-arms, janitor, Ste
nographers, typewriters, clerks, newspaper
writer's, travelling agents, editors of docu-
ments and great many other persons.
Including the men who are employed to
send out documents, suppose each of the
national committees must have at work
about 250 men, and their salaries and ex-
penses won't amount to less than $4,000
week.
Some of these salaried persons have
what are known as soft snaps. They are
employed on the recommendation of their
friends who as members of the campaign
committee have "a pull,' and l am sorry
to say they are not always eager or COM
petent to earn their salaries. The result
appears to be that about five men are EN-
ployed to do what two men might per-
form, and that in fact two do perform the
work while the others successfully aald in
dustriously sit around.
The first and it is generally believed the
most important feature of a campaign COM
mittee's work is it's literary department.
AT any rate, it is the first department Or
ganized, and the one which costs the most
money. | was surprised to learn how eX
tensive these literary bureaus are, with
what skill and energy they are managed,
and how much money they contrive to
spend in few short months. Samuel j.
Tilden was the inventor of the literary
bureau in politics. OF course campaign
committees had always made some use of
the printing press and newspaper, but it
remained for Mr.. Tlden to organize this
feature of the business into a great and
perfect machine. Ever since Tilden's day
we have had Campaigns of education"
and if the people haven't been fully edu-
Gated in political economy and in the sins
of the other fellow it is not the fault of the
managers of the literary departments.
The literary end of these political shops
has been growing all the time, until now
it is by far the biggest thing under the
canvas.
AS soon as the campaign committee has
had five or six meetings and decided on
the lines that are to be followed, ON the
eissues'' which are to be presented and
discussed as official and presumably i'm
portant a corps of writers is employed to
prepare documents thereon. One man
takes this topic and another that, and
there are subdivisions and abridgements
and minor subjects by the score. AT one
time the Democratic committee had about
twenty men at work writing documents,
some of them able men. Volunteer forces
are not depended upon for this work.
Many members Of congress or other public
men are willing to write, but experience
has taught the campaign managing editor
that if he wants an assignment worked
out promptly he must give it to writer
who is working for bread and butter.
Pretty soon the manuscripts begin pour
ing in, and then they must be carefully
read and revised, with alert eyes watching
them for 'breaks" or blunders which the
equally alert enemy might seize upon.
Finally the printer is called in. To be ac-
curate three or four printers are called in,
for there isn't printing office in New
York that would care to undertake to turn
out all the work of one of these commit
tees in the time allowed for it. Hundreds