Los Angeles herald., 1908-01-31
SCORES USE
OF SECRECY
IN POLITICS
BYRAN URGES FULL PUBLICITY
IN CAMPAIGNS
CONTRIBUTIONS SHOULD BE AN
NouNcEp BEFOREHAND
Donations All Right If Money Given
Represents Patriotic Interest in
Public Cause-ls Glad Presi-
dent Has Acted
nr Associated Press.

ly Associated Press.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3O.-"An cleo
tion is a public affair, and partlcipa-
ton in politics is a civic duty. All
arguments used in elections should pc
used publicly, and all means employed
10 secure the election OF or to defeat
q candidate should be means Whlcn
fhc one using them would not be
ashamed to have the world know:
This epitomizes the views OF William
I Bryan on the subject of pub1clty OF
campaign contributions, as expresSeo
TODAY before the house committee on
the election of president and vice pres
ident.
committee. there were present Perry
Belmont. Samuel Gompers and other
labor leaders. Mr.. Bryan declared that
reforms only come when abuses are
recognized.
Not until there is an evil to be
remedied," he said, does one think
of a remedy
can politics." he continued. lis the use
of money to secure control Of the gov
ernment, money being advanced py
those antagonistic to the public purse
when a man resorts to secrecy,
he said. "it must be because he has
something to gain that he does not
want the world to know, or that he
distrusts the intelligence or PATRIOTISM
of the people,
Should Know Previously
Mr.. Bryan insisted that the most i'm
portant thing to be done was TO make
the campaign contribution known bf-
fore the election. The trouble about
the publication of expenditures atter
elections was that the knowledge came
TOO late to be of any advantage to tne
people in that campaign. Mr.. Bryan
declared that there could be no obJec-
fion to any one making a campaign
contribution, "if that contribution rep
resants his patriotic interests in pub
lie cause.
He said il was the duty of the peo-
pie to contribute to the expense of dis
seninating campaign material by way
of education.
1t had been charged. he said, that
Chairman Cortelyou had received con-
tributions from 5000 contributors, "as
if" he said. at was a matter to de-
serve recognition that so many people
had contributed"
Even If this were true, he argued.
they were a very slim fraction of the
several million voters for President
Roosevelt.
AS for the Democratic party, Mr..
Bryan said that in 1896 it had more
contributions than in any previous
campaign Many men would bet $500
on the result of an election who would
not contribute So to a campaign FUND.
Mr.. Bryan, however, voiced his oppo-
sition to the principle of allowing only
a few men to provide campaign funds
Influence of the Few
ut follows, almost as a matter of
necessity" he said. that these few
men will have an influence after the
election entirely out of proportion to
their numbers or to the influence they
ought to have"
Mr. Bryan said he was glad Piesi-
dent Roosevelt had taken the matter
up.
HE has spoken so plainly on the
subject of publicity of campaign con-
tributiOns," said Mr.. Bryan, that I
am sure that the fact that ! am
Democrat will not place suspicion upon
my argument. for l think | have the
same interest in this matter that the
president has expressed"
He declared he had a far greater in
terest in the government and public
questions than in personal concern
about the success of any individual,
and" he added, Il assume that Presi-
dent Roosevelt, and those who. like
him, have spoken out in the Republic
can party. have these same broad gen.
eral interests that have the Democrats
who have spoken out