The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-04-17
AN EVIL TO SUPPRESS
Debauch of the Nations Elect
crate Must Cease.
NEED oF THE PUBLICITY LAW

MILL VI tttE SD.sS''
Shameful Methods Employed to Fill
Golfers of the Republican National
Committee MIR. Watson and the
Populist Party-True Meaning of the
Democratic Fiibuster-An Attempt
to Force Needed Legislation.
By WILLIS j. ABBOT.
To nv mind the most important po-
litical event in the United States OF
recent date occurred not in Washing
ton, but in New York. 1t happened
when Thomas T. Ryan. who is attempt
Ing to control the Democratic party OF
Virginia, testified before the grand
iury that prior to the 1900 campaign
he, William c. Whitney. Thomas Do
Ian. Widener and Elkins contributed
S5OO.OO0 to the Republican national
committee.
The treasurer Of that committee,
Cornelius n. Bliss, strenuouslya denies
that he received this contribution. 1t
NAV be remembered that this same
Bliss denied when Judge Parker was
a candidate for the presidency that the
Republican committee had received on
behalf of Mr.. Roosevelt any funds
from trusts, corporations or life insur-
ance companies. When Mr.. Roosevelts
dear friend, Governor Hughes, took
hold of the investigation into the life
insurance companies it was discovered
that S145,OO0 had been taken out OF
the pockets of the people who were
paying for insurance and turned over
to the Republican national committee
for the benefit Of Theodore Roosevelt.
The recollection of Treasurer Bliss at
that time was singularly faulty. 1t
may be that the mere matter of $780,
600 given to him by five men, two OF
whom were nominally Democrats, may
have escaped his mind as completely
But it is worth, while to call attention
to the fact that the story is told by
Thomas T. Ryan, and told under oath.
Where the Half Million Came From.
Don't for a moment think that Mr..
RYAN or Elkins or Widener or William
C. whitney or Dolan put up the $780,
600 turned over to Bliss to debauch
the electorate of the nation in l900'
Men Of that type raise money, but they
do not themselves furnish it. They
organized street railroad company
which has never run enough streer
cars to be at all noticeable on the
streets which It is supposed to traverse.
They put out the stock Of this COM
pany and offered it to trusting investors
They stocked it for an amount OF
money that if it had been honestly
used would have built street railroad
from the Battery to the Harlem river,
and use this illustration because New
York is doubtless better known t. the
people than any other city. @
The stock was sold The bonds were
placed. The promoters Of the wholly
Fictitious road pocketed large profits.
And then, if Mr.. Thomas +. Ryan, the
would be controller Of the Democratic
politics of Virginia, is to be believed,
they turned $500,000 into national
campaign fund. Mr.. Bliss denies that
1t went into the Republican campaign
fund. But as 1t SO happens that have
some knowledge Of the amount of
money possessed in 1900 by the Demo
cratic national committee, though /
had no connection with either the col
lection or the dibursement. Of that
money, am able to say that the en-
tire amount did not reach the, $500, 600
which Thomas F. Ryan says was con-
tributed to a national committee.
The Cure For Such an Evil.
There is pending in congress a bill
offered by the National Publicity asso-
.ciation and most ably and enthusias.
tica.ly pushed by the Hon. Perry Bel
mont, some time since member Of
congress, which would provide that
contributions of this sort should be
made known before the election and
not painfully dragged forth after they
had done their nefarious work and
when publicity could mo longer correct
their evil efreetsara
r The bib for publicity of campaign
!Seontributions"is before committees In
both house land senate. THE bearing
of,the Ryan testimony upon this bill is
evident and scandalous. 1t may well
be submitted to the reader Of this ar
ticle whether, if he had known in the
year 1900 that Thomas r. Ryan, head
of the tobacco trust, had put into the
Mckinley campaign fund 100000 he
would have looked with quite as much
respect upon that campaign as he then
did in ignorance.
And, again, when Judge Parker de-
clared that the campaign committee
which was pressing Mr.. Rooseyelt's
candidacy in 1904 was accepting con-
tributions from doubtful sources and
Mr.. Roosevelt himself Indignantly and
somewhat rituperatively denied it, If
there had been publicity law which
would have shown at that time,
as the Insurance Investigation after
ward showed, that Judge Parker was
right and Mr.. Roosevelt wrong, would
not it have had some effect upon the
outcome Of that election?
The Need of the Publicity Law.
There are few issues before the
American people today Of more vital
Importance than this one Of publicity
FOR campaign contributions. These
tRo incidents show how thoroughly
.-Stnl IN. Tia int crit af .nla..tjops