Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-23
THE PLUM TREE.
BY DAVID GRAHAM PHILLIPS.
XXI.
Mostly About Money.

XXI.
Mostly About Money.
went up to New York, to find confusion
and gloom at our headquarters there.
Senator Goodrich had subtly given the
impression, not only to the workers but also
to the newspaper men, who had given It to
the public, that with his resignation the
Burbank campaign had fallen to pieces
And I fear you'll have some difficulty in
getting any money at all down town." said
Revell, the senior senator from New York
state, who envied and hated Goodrich and
was therefore. II not for personal reasons,
amiably disposed toward me. They don't
like our candidate"
Naturally" said l. That's why he's
running and that's why he may win"
''Of course, he'll carry everything here in
the east. The only doubt was in this state
but l ad no difficulty in making deal
with tie opposition machine as soon as they
had sounded, Scarborough and had found
that If he should win, there'd be nothing in
Ii for them-nOthing but trouble. judged
he must have thrown them down hard.
from their being SO sore. How do things
look out west?"
Bad" said l. Our farmers and work
ingmen have had lots of idle time these
last four years. They've done too much Of
what they call thinking"
Then you need money! asked Revell
iengthening his SLY, SNUG old face.
And We must get 1t from those people down.
town."
He shook his head.
Il think not" was my careless reply
when they wake up to the danger in Scar
borough's election, the danger to business,
especially to their sort Of business, they'll
give me twice four millions If I ask it,
What do you wish me to do?"
''Nofhinp after these
states. Wen take care of the west and
also of raising money here for our cam
paign during October out there"
Can I be of any service to you in In
Producing you DOWNTOWN he asked
No, thank you," said l. Il have few
acquaintance there. I'm not going to fry
any fat this trip. My fire isn't hot enough
yet"
And I did not. 1 merely called on two of
the big bankers and four heads of industrial
combinations and one controller of an
ocean-to-ocean railway system. l stayed
a very few minutes with each. just long
enough to set him thinking and inquring
what the election of Scarborough would
mean to him and to his class generally.
IF you'll read his speeches. said l to
each, you'll see he intends to destroy your
kind of business, that he regards it as
brigandage. He's honest, afraid of nothing,
and an able lawyer, and he can't be fooled
or fooled with If he's elected he'll carry
out his program. Senate no Senate-and
no matter what scares you people cook up
in the stock market" To this they made
answer beyond deicately polite nsnua-
tons about being tired of paying for that
which was theirs of right. l did not argue;
it is never necessary to puncture the pre-
lenses of men of affairs with a view to saw
ing them from falling into the error of for
getting that whatever right may mean
on Sunday, week days it means that
which a man can compel.
l returned to Fredonia and sent Woodruff
east to direct a campaign of calamity
hoyr- live IN In CT for no hon
eft of the New York, Boston and Philadel
phia captains of industry" At the end
of ten days l recalled him, and sent Roe
buck TO Wall street to confirm the fears
and alarms Woodruffs campaign had
aroused. And in the west l was laying out
the money l had been able to collect from
the leading men of Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio
and western Pennsylvania-except a quarter
of million from Howard of New York, to
whom we gave the vice presidential nomna-
ton for that sum, and about half million
more given by several eastern men. TO
whom we promised cabinet offices and posts
abroad. l put all this money, not far from
two millions, into our campaign of educa-
ton and into those inpOurings of delega-
lions upon Burbank at his rural retreat"
To attempt to combat Scarborough pop
ularity with the rank and file Of his own
party hopeless. l contented myself
with restoring order and arousing enthus-
asm in the main body of our partisans in
the doubtful and uneasy states. SO ruin
Gus had been Goodrich's management that
even at that comparatively simple task we
should not have succeeded but for the for
tunate fact that the great mass of partisans
refuses to hear anything from the other
side; they regard reasoning as disloyalty-
which, curiously enough, it so often is.
Then. too few newspapers in the doubtful
states printed the truth about what Scar
borough and his supporters were saying
and doing. The cost of this perversion of
publicity to us-direct money cost. l mean
was almost nothing. The big papers and
,oi,t No..
their rich proprietors were interested in
enterprises to which Scarborough's election
meant disaster, multitude of the smaller
papers, normally of the opposition, were
dependent upon those same enterprises for
the advertising that kept them alive.
Perhaps the most notwithstanding,
as the event showed the most fortunate
single stroke of my campaign was done in
Illinois. That state was vital to our sue
cess also 1t was one of the doubtful states
where. next to his own Indiana, Scarbor-
ough's chances were best. l felt that we
must put heavy handicap on his popu-
larity there. / had noticed that in ILL
nois the violently radical wing Of the OPP
position was very strong. So l sent Merri-
weather to strengthen the radicals still
further. / hoped to make them strong
enough to put through their partys state
convention a platform that would be
scarecrow to timid voters In Illinois and
throughout the west; and l wished for
wild man as the candidate for governor,
but l didn't hope it. though l told Merri-
weather II must be done. Curiously enough,
my calculation of the probabilities was just
reversed. The radicals were beaten on plat
form; but, thanks to a desperate effort of
Merriweather's in 'coaxing'' rural dele
gates, frothing, wild-eyed, political crank
got the nomination. And he never spoke
during the campaign that he didn't drive
voters away from his ticket-and, there
fore from Scarborough. And our machine
there sacrificed the local interests to the
general by nominating popular and not
insincere reformer.
When Roebuck and 1 descended upon
Wall street on October 49, three weeks be-
fore election. had everything in readiness
for my final and real campaign.
Throughout the doubtful states Woodruff
was in touch with local machine leaders OF
Scarborough's party, with corruptible labor
and fraternal order leaders, with every ele-
ment that would for a cash price deliver a
body Of voters on election day. Also he had
arranged in those states for the right
sort" of election officers at upward Of zoo
polling places, at least half of them places
where several hundred votes could be shift
ed without danger or suspicion. Also. Bur
bank and our corps of "spellbinders'' had
succeeded beyond my hopes in rousng par