The Oskaloosa herald., 1901-05-02

steady increase in the expense of man
aging political campaigns. This in
crease may be accounted for in a var
iety of ways, The enemies OF the legis-
lation which has sought to reform the
civil service have not been slow in
pointing out the fact that. since nearly
all the appointments which used to be
under the control of politicians, have
passed under the protection of these
laws, the influence of money has neces-
sarily taken the place once held by the
prospect of an Office; in other words.
that political managers being no longer
able to promise public offices as re-
ward for political service, are compel
led to appeal to other motives and to
use other inducements.
| There may be something in this,
although it must be confessed that
there is hardly less degradation in
there is in exchanging money for po-
litical work. 1t is not my purpose to
accuse the managers of political cam
paigns of the offense of using their
funds for criminal purposes. A some
what intimate familiarity with the
work of the national committee of one
great political party beginning in 1884
when Mr.. Blaine was can lidate,
| when men like James S. Garrison and
the late Vice President Hobart were
| his managers, enables me to say (and
| believe the same is true of campaign
committees of either parties) that their
work Is honestly undertaken and car
rled out with an eye single to honor
| able party success. The thing which is
complained of is not that the campaign
funds, now grown into millions of dol
lars, are used for evil purposes; on the
other hand, it requires not very great
practical knowledge to discern that the
| legitimate expense of the campaign
have grown even more rapidly than the
contributions to the fund.
Il took some pains in the recent
campaign to inquire into the expendi-
lures of national committee. l
found that thousands of dollars were
being paid out every day for express
| charges on political literature sent to
the voters; and while judging from
the character of some of the documents
it was easy to see that good deal of
the money was being wasted, it cannot
be said that it was being used to injure
| the institutions of our government.
Thousands of dollars were spent every
| day to pay expenses and per diem al
lowances of campaign orators; and
while judging from the character of
| many of the speeches that were made,
good deal of the money was thrown
away, still it must be allowed that its
| expenditure did not tend to undermine
| free institutions. Vast sums of money
were paid out to equip and uniform
clubs, to charter and maintain special
| trains for star performers and to pro-
vide those spectacular episodes which
have become so dear to our people. 1t
is not to be doubted that the committee
lost a good deal of its funds by pay
ing out money in harmless but futile
| and unproductive schemes to influence
| the voters.
Nor is the complaint made here
against the overgrown campaign fund,
| an attack upon the contributors to the
fund. On the contrary for more than
| twenty years politics have been so
organized that practically the whole
| property interest of the country has
been involved in every campaign
The attack of one party on the
protective tariff system naturally sum-
moned the friends of that systeni-and
especially those directly concerned in
industrial pursuitS-to do whatever was
in their power to prevent the misfor-
tune which they believed to be involved
in its success. And more recently the
tendency of our politics has been to ar
| ry everybody who has any property, or
ever expects to have, upon one side of
a question relating to the standar of
| Ice Il,
| criticism is offered here against the
contributions to the expenses by those
whose commercial life has been in
volved in the issue of the campaign.
Yet such as whole, has been the
influence of national campaign funds,
that the time is come when every man
interested in the health of our system
of government, ought to take notice of
IT. 1t is impossible to conceal the fact
that for some cause the confidence of
the people in the integrity of American
pubhc life has been weakened. Mil
lions OF people appear to share the be-
lief ('expressed by Mr. Bryan early in
the campaign of 1900 that the rcspon-
sibie leaders and ADVISERS of the politi-
cal party against which he was contend
ing were about to make a wholesale
and retail merchandise of the few fol-
lowers he had remaining in those por-
tions of the United States where the
election laws have not impaired the
system of popular government. And it
is, perhaps, true that persons on the
other side entertained equally degrad-
ing views of their opponents; in so
much that fighting the devil with fire"
has besome sort of proverb wherever
practical politicians meet together.
Unless the growing distrust of the
integrity of the election day shall be
checked the time may come when our
highest Offices NAV be the prize of an
election SO close that the imputation
OF fraud may plunge the country into
anarchy and civil discussions. The
time has already come when men talk
OF election frauds as matter of
course. The writer spent some time
last November in Missouri and Ne
braska. He found that all the repub-
licans of Missouri believe that fraundS
in the cities of ST. Louis and Kansas
City, under questionable election law
had changed the result in that state,
while in Nebraska the populsts uni
versally contended that wholesale coll
onization of voters, had deprived Mr.
Bryan of the electoral vote Of that
state Yet neither in Nebraska or in
st. Louis could a man be found who,
after careful cross-examination showed
any personal knowledge that such out
RACES had in fact been perpetrated,
Scandals and hearsays, without limit
and without responsibility, appeared to
be substituted for the orderly informa-
ton which ought to be filed, when good
citizens have knowledge Of such case,