The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1908-08-12
CAMPAIGN FUNDS.

The Bryan call for campaign money
is out. 1t is issued directly under MIR.
Bry ans auspices. The public knows
what the conditions for subscriptions
are-you cannot lgive more than a
stipulated number Of thousands of
dollars.k 4; Ifsyou give your mite, it will
be thankfully received; If you 60 q
round hundred dollars On it, your
name getsIinto theonewspapers, or at
least, into some form of publication.
Whether Mr.sBryan's plan for rails
ing the needed dollars will work or
not, remains to be seen. One may
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS its success, in the
shape of ~aIheaping up Of funds in the
Bryan treasury. Those who have
tried it know how like pulling teeth
the task is, and how thankless, when
the proposition toigather the peoples
dollars, no matter how laudable or
how popularlthe project.
Besides, there are things the donors
will naturally and properly think
about. The average Montana man,
for instance may be willing to chip
in q little something for his party's
campaign fund, but this average man
will say to himself that he would
rather have. his money contributed
toward desired results in Montana;
he will be in doubt whether it Is
his duty to send missionary money
to be used in rich New York. The
truth is that neither of the;two parties
is reasonablyiwell organized with re.
spect eitherj.t to thel collection or the
satisfactory distribution of funds
raised onithe! plan of o few dollars,
please, all around.
The solemn facts is that both sides
will want q vast fund. This year,
just for onesthing, ithe item of money
required for the railway expenses of
speakers or workers who by hook
or crook or favoritism used to get
railwayspasses will amount to humid
reds of thousands of dollars. This Is
q big country to campaign. Daniel
ManningIhad to raise a vast sum Of
money forj.Cleveland's first election.
William G. Whitney hit rich demo-
Gratis hard when he ran a later Cleve-
land campaign. 1t was Whitney who
practically Isold the office Of minister
to Italy for fifty thousand dollars, a
contract which, later on, the senate
refused to honor, after President
Cleveland had made the appointment.
MIR. Bryan's treasury, in 1896, was
about asj bare as Old Mother Hub.
bard's cupboard, yet, at that, he re-
ceived individual contributions, known
to a fewIMontana people, In totals 90
large that :they wouldn't look nice in
the light Of present day professions
about campaign money. Mark Hanna
gathered many millions for the Nc.
Kinley campaign. Mr.. Cortelyou did
the same for the Roosevelt election
four years ago, and great quantities
Of 1t came from corporations. Mr..
Cortelyou's otfense was that after
election he declared up and down tina,
there was no corporation money IL
his funds. Later on, several sensa
tional disclosures proved that Mr.
Cortelyou didn't tell the truth abou
it.
Anyhow, for better or worse and 70
richer or poorer, Mr.. Bryan has sc
his campaign fund harvester in mo
; ton. If the responses descend upol
him in plentiful showers, that will b
pleasant. Yet, the Standard is almos
willing to wager that before the al
paign is very far along, both sides
thinking less highly than they do no.
of the voluntary plan, will be solicit,
ing money good and hard.-Anacond
Stand ard.