Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1905-09-29

CORPORATIONS AND CAMPAIGNS.
A.. .-.:..5.s93. FUNDS.
Fortunately for the ethics of the
case, We are now in dead calm Of
politics; there is no presidency. no
great stake at issue, says the
Springfield Republican. It was
different in the campaigns of the
past decade, especially In the bryan
years. when good people eee,ned
ready to wink at any iniquity in
political management in oroer to
."save the county, To remind
ourselves Of the practices openly
countenanced In 1900. for example,.
let Us reprint letter which was sent
BY W. W. Gibbs, chairman of the
republican advisory committee Of
eastern Pennsylvania, to the presi.
dent Of tie Shrewsbury Pa. savings
institution. It Is q sample Of letters
Sent In that presidential campaign to
all Of tue BANKS and trust companies
eastern Pennsylvania. Mr.. Gibbs
wrote
:: As chairman of the national advi.
sorry committee for eastern Penpsyl.
vania for the collection, of funds for
the payment Of the expenses of the M.
tional republican committee, I desire
to call you attention to the import.
ance Of substantial support in the Inn.
pending crisis. While under ordinary
circumstances In q contest between
two political parties. where mere
political questions are at issue, and in
the event Of either party being placed
In power the fundamental principles
and institutions of the country are not
jeopardized, it might be question as
70 what were your duties as an officer
of an institution having In charge an
important trust, 1t must appeal to you
that in contest such as is being
waged at present by combination OF
elements that are revolutionary in the
extreme and that are waging war up
on the monetary basis Of the country
the success of which must inevitably
depreciate the'value of..all property and
investments-that the duty becomes
imperative upon the management of
institutions OF this character to join
in an effort to perpetuate the present
policy Of the government the wisdom
of which has been so clearly demon
strated during the past four years.
shall be glad to have you consider
the matter, and to have your subscrip.
tion to the greatest possible extent.
Any contribution that you may deter
mine upon making, If desired, can be
made strictly confidential. and not be-
come known to any one outside Of
your institution and myself. will
obtain for you the receipt of the ma
tional republican committee in the
name of "Cash Subscriber, or, If
you desire that the national
republican committee shall know
that your institution has made a spe.
ci6c contribution, the matter can be
considered confidential except as be-
tween myself and the committee.
I desire to say for your information
that, Notwithstanding the general con-
fdence In the reelection Of Mr.. Nc
Kinley, the situation is really more
critical and doubtful than 1t was in
1895, for the reason that at that time
there was q universal revolt against
the theories of Bryan 90 the monetary
question, which today Is just as dan
gerous, and more go from the fact that
some people are being led back to his
support and others obtained who are
allowing other Issues than the real
one to divert their attention from the
danger.
In order to give you an idea of what
We think would be reasonable contri.
button for you to make, would state
that the banks and -trnst companies of
the city, Philadelphia, are contribut.
ing from ia to 5 mills on their
capital and surplus. I purely state
this to give you an idea. Of course
YOU will contribute whatever In your
judgement you think wise and proper
The necessities of the committee are
imperative.
That this letter is worth of preserva.
tion as q valuable inuminant of poll
tical conditions and methods in the
United States in 1900 Ia manifest at a
glance. The banks and trust compan-
les of Philadelphia were then contrib.
uting to q political party sums of
money estimated at from 2 Ia to
mills on their capital and surplus,
and the country savings banks were
asked to make the same contribu-
tions. The tone Of the language of the
letter bordered on COERCION, and in 1t
we find CONVINCING nr0of that the ra.
publican managers deliberately sought
those responsible for the proper adj
ministration of trust funds and virtu-
ally demanded that they use money
belonging to others to help secure q
party triumph.