Evening journal., 1896-07-13
Money In Politics.


In the early days Of the republic there
was no such thing az money In politics,
according TO present ideas. At that time
patriotism stood at the head of all pub
lie affairs. The men who had earned
their freedom by long and bloody war
with England had no thought of bene-
ftinR themselves at the expense Of the
country whose liberties they had secured
People sacrificed their personal interests
cheerfully In those days for the public
benefit. During the Revolution private
fortunes were melted up by the score TO
secure independence and long after It's
close. to overcharge the government for
services would have been looked upon as
the most heInous Of crimes
When freedom dswned upon the ma
tion and government had to bs organ
lied, there may have bsen some doubt as
to whether the people could be entrusted
with universal suffrage but no fear as to
an improper influence through the use Of
money Up to that time those who had
money had used 1t generously to pro
mote the good Of the country and the
Idea that the power of gold would ever
be used to defeat the honest will Of tine
people never occurred to those who
had the least confidence In the system Of
government decided upon.
Not until after Jefferson's time did the
use OF money influence the politics OF
the country No one can say exactly
whom 1t did begin -insidlously at first
until 1t became the great power that It
is to day in controlling not only the poll.
tlcians who work for it, bus the entire
public interests OF the nation. Politi-
clans talk about the Legitimate use Of
money In elections and no doubt there is
8 difference In expenditures OF this class
The man who booms a convention and
encourages others to 60 to IL for his
personal interest Is said to spend money
legitimately, while he who actually pays
another to go to the polls and vote for
himself, or a friend, is deemed to be
acting illegitimatsly. Such difference
as this is not very apparent to those who
really believe In honest politics; never
theless there are legitimate election ex.
penses
As to whether political expenses are
legitimate or not depends very much upon
who pays them. A political campaign
cannot be carried on without hiring halls.
brass bands, paying the expenses lat
least, of speakers, printing and sdvertis
ing through the newspapers. These ex
penses have to be met and they are legit
innate, unless met by those who expect tC
benefit personally by them In the lat
ter case they are just as wrong as tn,
purchase of votes would be. Candidates
for office are expected TO m set such ex
penses, but 1t Is plainly improper foi
them to DO So for when they do they ar,
clearly bidding for the votes of their fel
low-oitizsns.
The use Of money in politics
will De admitted by all homes
minded people TO be wrong and de
moralizing la It's effsct. IL Is easy to Sc
this but it Is not SO easy to offer a rem
edy. It is plain enough what should be
done, but now that the country is en-
tirely given over to this crime It is q
difficult to eradicate It as 1t would b
original sin from mankind Evidentl,
we need political Salvation Army I,
tackle this evil and the sooner the bet
ter.
Delaware affords an excellent field 70
reform In this line with Addlcks and hi
methods so prominently bstore the peo
pie.