The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-12-21
COST OF CAMPAIGNS

The popular idea as to what 1t costs
to defray the expenses of presidential
campaign, says the Kansas CITY Jour
nal. is vague and indefinite. owing 10
the reckless assertions of demagoguts
and political ignoramuses as to the
vast amounts the 'other side is OK
pending, the general impression propa-
bly, is that much more money Is used
for conducting these campaigns than u
ever really employed In the late CON
test, for example, 1t was publicly He'
clared and frequently reiterated tha'
the big corporations had contribute
$4,000 900 to the Republican FUND. fu-
sion orators and organs in kanS''
boldly asserted that Mark Hanna had
set aside so, 900, 600 to carry that state
No such sums have ever been raised Tor
campaign purposes in this country
Party leaders all know this, especially
those who have served as members Oh
national committees. Campaign funds
are much larger these days, however
than they were twenty-five years ago
This is due partly to the fact that the
country has grown larger and more
populous and partly to the fact that u
is only in recent years that speakers
have been paid for their services on
the stump. .S.i'
In the current lumber Of the Worlds
Work a few figures are presented which
throw some light on the amount eX-
pended in presidential campaigns ana
the sources from which the contribu-
tions cone We quote from the publ
cation referred to as follows:
"The fund used to elect Mr.. Cleve-
land in 1884 came, in the main, from a
dozen men. Mr.. william L. Scott, Mr.
William C. Whitney and Mr.. Oliver H.
PAYNE each gave, it is believed. quite
800. 900. 1t is thought that Mr.. Edward
Cooper and Mr. Abram S. Hewitt each
contributed an equal amount. Senator
BENJAMIN f. Jones was chairman of the
Republican national committee in that
wear and he paid a deficiency at the end
Of the campaign of $4,000 out of his
own pocket. Nor was he the only heavy
loser Mr. Blaine at the outset of the
campaign drew his check for $4,000
and later he advanced 100000, which
was never paid. 1t is thought that 1t
was mainly to retrieve his loss that he
wrote his Twenty Years in Congress-
"Mr William l.. Scott's contribution
to the Democratic campaign fund in
1888 was s250,000 other generous con-
trihutors We're Messrs. Christopher c.
Baldwin +. C. Benedict and William
c. Whitney, who added perhaps an
other quarter million to the fund; but
the liberality of Mr.. Cleveland's friends
did not prevent a deficiency at the
close of the campaign of 100000 which
Senator Calvin s. Brice then chairman
of the Democratic national committee,
is said to have paid out of his own
pocket. large sum. it has been said
100000 of the Republican campaign
fund Of 1883 was collected by Mr. John
Wanamaker. An equal amount was
raised in New York city through the
efforts of Mr. Cornelius N. Bliss and
Governor Levi P, Morton. Four days
before the election, Senator Quay, who
managed the Republican campaign. felt
the urgent need OF an additional $780,
600 and appealed to Senator T. C. Plat.
Senator Plat at first protested that, in
the brief time the task was an i'm
possible one: but he finally accom-
piished 1t by discounting a note which,
according to common belief. bore the
Endorsement of Mr. Coils p Hunting
ton. The largest contributions to the
Democratic campaign funds four years
ago were made by the silver interests
the owners of silver mines.
at is an open secret that the largest
subscriber to the Republican campaign
fund in 1896 was Mr.. William X Van
derblt. who voluntarily sent his check
for $4,000 The largest subscription
from a corporation came from a purely
savings and benevolent association.
whose directors voted s25. 900 to protect
~ Ut, Il q
ings'
"Oficeholders are another certain
source of revenue to the national COM
mittee of the party in power. and
third source is n considerable class of
men who anxious to secure political
prominence or to occupy high positions.
give lavishly as a means of advancing
their personal interests, Finally comes
the aggregate of small popular sub
scriptlons which. especially in contests
OF unusual enthusiasm. is large
sum"
The Worlds Work estimates that the
total amount collected for campaign
purposes by the national committees
this year aggregated In round numbers
sH,OOO,000 and that this was larger than
the amount collected in any previous
campaign. The statements quoted in
this article are probably not accurate
In all particulars as to amount of con-
tributions and the sources from which
they came, hut as whole the showing
Is reasonable and doubtless n true
one. 1t Is also interesting 10 note I'm
this connection that comparatively 1T
tie Of the money raised for national
campaigns is spent for the purpose Of
corrupting the ballot, The legitimate
requirements Of these great contests
are sufficient to account for an the
large sums collected and disbursed In
carrying them on.
$-
territorial taxes would not go by the