The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-02-26
BRITISH ELECTIONS CLEAN.

Great Britain has just passed
through a general election, such as
would compare with a campaign in
this country for the election of con-
gress and a president, for England
practically chooses her executive when
she selects her parliament. Such an
election, if held today, would bring
sharply before the people the use of
money in politics. The British claim
to have solved this problem, and the
natural inquiry is, why, if the English
have gotten rid of electoral Doodle,
cannot We?
first hand observations as to whether
there was any buying or selling of
votes in the last parliamentary elec-
ton, but in the absence of these it is
proper to give full faith and credit to
the fact that England from the lowest
and vilest plane has raised herself to
the highest and purest level of electoral
contests This condition is attributed
to the corrupt practices act which
dates back to 1884, almost before we
had begun to seriously discuss the
Doodle question on broad platform.
prauinuC re of
had been half-hearted, says a writer in
the North American Review, but in this
act Sir Henry James threw out a drag
net which left no loophole for corrup-
tionists. There are many provisions in
this law, some of which we have cop
led, but the feature which We do not
have and which appears to contain
the meat of the whole matter is that
the English statute entirely prohibits
the expenditure of money for or on be-
half of candidates by any person except
his accredited election agent and mis-
functionary is not only limited to a
certain expenditure per thousand of
voters, but must make a detailed state
ment, showing the names of the per-
sons employed their duties, the bills
incurred and the proper vouchers at
tached to each. Bribery and treating
are defined and made to cover periods
before, during and after the polling.
Persons who take money from candi-
dates for election work are disfran-
chised.
But the centering of the money
spending in the agents hands is i'm
does not wish to pay money Or has
none to pay, "citizen's committee
may bride the whole district for him,
While he smirks on a purity platform.
In England such a committee would go
to Jail if it spent a cent except the
money it publicly paid to the election
agent 1t could not hire carriages nor
hire men. 1t could not send presents
to doubtful voters nor pay the rent of
iiHpeCuIllOuS IflenUS OF the cause, 1t
could not do anything but be decent
and obey the law
An interesting and instructive con-
sideration in connection with the Eng.
lish law is that it is enforced. Mr..
Henry Labouchere has left whimsical
record of this truth in an account of
his first running for parliament. 1t
shows that the house of commons once
took Labouchere seriously The contest
was close one and Labouchere and
his colleagues as he admits, resorted
to many tricks, among others to the
kidnapping of voters from the other
side. They We're successful and went
down to st. Stephens and were thrown
out because the house found that they
! had hired too many committee rooms"
They had paid rent in a large num-
Der of business blocks and this was
construed as an attempted bribery of
the electorate This sort of stern adj
ministration has driven corruption out
of English elections 1t would drive it
out of American elections