The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1908-08-22
FIRST OF REFORMS
is TO DO AWAY WITH UBIQUITOUS
SPECIAL PRIVILEGES.
Political Corruption Will Cease When
Voters Unite to Uphold the
Sound Principles of the DEM
ocratic Party.

The Republican politicians are evil
IDENTIFY quite anxious that tariff reform
shall not be a paramount issue In this
campaign. Unfortunately there are so
many issues that both sides are press
ing that the allied issue of h 1tarih
and the protected trusts is liable to
be overlooked in a great measure. The
issue of corruption of the voters by
the money of the tariff-prOtected trusts
and other corporations is and should
be a paramount question, because upon
the purity of the ballot and honest
elections rest the whole political fab
ric under our Democratic-Republican
form of government. Fortunately the
political corruption Is nearly all on
one side, and with the promise Of pub
licity before election by the Demo
Gratis, the Republican party is placed
Oh the defensive, and a very poor de-
tense it can make. The Republican
managers are opposed to publicity and
many of them openly scott at it and
even the best that Candidate Taft can
promise is publicity latter election"
If there were no tariff-prOtected
trusts and favored corporations there
would be but little corruption at ma
tional elections, for it is a fact that
but few large contributions to political
campaign funds are made unless the
contributor is promised some personal
advantage or important position.
Men will spend large sums to be
elected themselves to office, but are
not very free in contributing for the
election of others, and the patriots
that contribute from real patriotic mo
tives are few and far between.
Corporations, however, are more
easily bled by the political collector,
as we have seen in the case Of the
large sums paid for Republican cam
paign funds by the life insurance
and what Hartman collect
ed in 1904 from the railroads and other
sources at the request of President
Roosevelt.
In the letter of Mr.. Hartman recit-
ing his services to the Republican
party he boosted that the large sum
he collected was used to corrupt the
voters of the state of New York and
did change $4,000 votes.
1t is more important to know how
the campaign funds are expended than
who furnished the money, and even
that fact would not expose corruption
unless the money was followed to it's
ultimate destination. 1t is very diff
cult to prove bribery of the voters,
ever if the money to bride them has
been traced to the hands of a notorious
briber.
If there were no protected monop-
olists and corporation managers, who
are interested in perpetuating some
special privilege or the secretion of
their way of plundering the people,
through c%onnivance with officials,
there would be but little political cor
ruption. 1t would, therefore, seem
that the most important reform is to
abolish all special privileges and espe-
cially the present tariff protection to
the trusts. 1t is safe to say that with
the tariff reformed to a e basis
and thus the trusts left helpless to
charge more for their products than
the reasonable profit that competition
would allow, there would be very small
contributions from those who now en-.
joy a virtual monopoly.
Nor would the transportation corpo~
rations be very eager to contribute to
help the Republican politicians II the
law to control them was faithfully
and impartially executed. J
Is it not to the interest, therefore, of
the honest and independent Repub--
lican voter who wants to see political
corruption abolished, to Join with the
Democrats In such reform of the tar
&c, as well as control of the corpora
lions. as will take from them their