The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1908-08-14

evident alarm, indicates that hs has
-cad II carefully. He even had before
him the action Of the Democratic na.
tional committee In Interpreting and
applying that platform: and yet. he
fails to say that he fayors the publica-
don Of the contributions before the
or course, 1t satisfies u nat
urai curiosity to find cut how an e'ec-
hon has been purchased. even when
the knowledge comes too late to be Of
service, but why should tho people fe
kent In darkness until the election y
past! Why should the locking q TIE
door BE- delayed until the horse y gons
An Election . Public A6sls.
An election is public AFFAIR. Ths
people, exercising the right to sslsct
their officials and to decide upon TIE
policies to be pursued, proceed to their
several polling places on election DAY
and register their will. What excuse
can be given for secrecy as to the In.
nuences at worki II Z man, pscuns
iarily interested In Concentrating ths
control Of the railroads In one manage
ment," subscrtbes large sum to aid n
carrying the election. why should biz
part IN the campaign b. co0csalsd m
III he has put ths odacials undR ooo-
ration to himf II Z trust nagnAte
contributes e,o0QN - sssct peaielssal ~
friends to of,os. with : yNex y -.
venting hostile legislation why eA6slaa
that fact Be concealed untf hA yjesaa
ars securely seated IN their e&ssdaAl ps'
aitionsl
This Is not new question; II y .
as,estion which has been agttnted-a
auestiou which the Republican leaders
fully understand "A question which the
Republican candidate haa studied, and
vet be refuses to declare himself 10 ~
yos Of the legislation absolutely heces'
sary, namely, legislation requiring pub
lication before the election,
Democratic Party Premisss FsblIsityi
How can the psople hope to rule, u
they are not able to han uAtl aftsF
the election what the predatory intsr'
ests are doingf The Democratic party
meets the issue honestly and coura'
geously. 1t says:
ave pledge the Democratic party to
the enactment Of law prohibiting any
casporst.9p from contributing to 4
campaign fund, and spy individual
from contributing An amount ARoys 4
reasonable maximum. aud providtna
for the publication, befors election, o(
all such contributions above . reason
able minimum"
The Democratic national COMMITTEES
Immediately proceeded to interpret and
apply this plank. announcing that no
eoatsibptions would be received from
corporations. that no Individual would
be allowed to contribute m9rs than
$4,000. and that all contributions
above 800 would be made public b.
fore the eiection-those received befors
October l6 to be made public on OF
before that day, those received after
ward to be made public on the day
when received. and no such contr4bu.
tions to be accepted within three days
af the election. The expenditures are
to be pabllshed after election Hsrs
Is a plan which ts complete and sffsc-
tive.
Popular Election sf ssnsts~~
Next to the corrupt use Of money
the present method OF electtng United
States senat ators IL most responsible fol
tina obstruction Of reforms. For ons
hundred years after the adoption Of
the constitution, the demand for th<
popular election Of senators, while nnd
Ing increased expression, dd not BE-
come q dominant sentiment. A con
stitutionai amendment had from time
to time been suggested and the rnattsV
had been more or less discussed In
few of the states. but the movement
had not reached q point where 1t mani
tested itself through congressional &C
tion. In the Fifty-second congress
however, a resolution was reported
from house committee proposing the
necessary constitutional amendment
and this resolution passed the house
Of representatives by vote which
was practically unanimous. In the
Fifty-third congress similar rssolu'
ton was reported to, and adopted BY
the house Of representatives. Both
the Fifty-second and Fifty-third con
crosses were Democratic. The Repub'
leans gained control Of the house as
a result Of the election Of 1904 and in
the Fifty.fourth congress the proposi'
ton died In committee. As time went
on. however, the sentiment grew among
the people, until It forced Republican
to follow the example set BY
the Democrats, and then another and
another Republican congress acted fa'
State after state has endorsed
this reform, until nearly two-thirds OF
the states have recorded themselves In
It's favor. The United States senate,
however. impudently and arrOgantly
obstructs the passage Of the resolution,
the fact that the vot.
ers Of the United States. by an over
whelming majority. demand It. And
this refusal Is the more significant
when 1t IL remembered that q number
Of senators owe their election to great
corporate interests. Three Democratic
national platforms--the platforms Of
1900. 1904 and 19O8-specincally call
FOR a change In the constitution which
will put the election Of senators In the
b nds Of the voters. and the PROPOSE.
tirn has been endorsed BY a number
Of the smaller parties. but no nepub.
Il an national convention has been
to champion the cause Of the
people on this subject. The subject
II Stz~ Al