Bisbee daily review., 1908-02-15
BRYAN ON CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS.


 Speaking before the house commit tee on the campaign contribution measure Mir. Bryan said: "An elec- tion is a public affair and participa- ton in politics is civic duty. All ar guments used in elections should be used publicly, and all means employed to secure the election of or to de feat a candidate should be means which the one using them would not be ashamed to have the world know" Referring to this meeting the Asso- ciated Press said: Tn addition to the full membership. there were present | Perry Belmont and Samuel Gompers and other labor leaders. MT. 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. The thing to be remedied in American politics, was the use of money to se- cure control of the government. When a man resorted to secrecy it must be because he has something to gain that he does not want the world to know or that he distrusts the intelli- gence or patriotism of the people. Mir. Bryan insisted that the most i'm portant thing to be done was to make the campaign contribution known be- fore the election. He realized that there was an advantage in the finding out after the horse is stolen how the door was unlocked. but he said, I think it much better to find out be- fore the horse is stolen that theft is contemplated The trouble about the publication of expenditures after cleo tions was that the knowledge came too late to be of any advantage to the people in that campaign. It was very easy to change the committee and the personnel of the organiza- tions, he said, and then make scape- goats of those who had been in charge of the elections. MT. Bryan declared that there could be no objection to anyone making campaign contribu- ton. if that contribution represents his patriotic interest in a public | cause He said it was the duty of the people to contribute to the ex- pense of disseminating campaign ma terial by way of education. It had been charged, he said, that Chairman Cortelyou had received contributions from six thousand contributors. as if, | he said, it was a matter to deserve recognition that so many people had contributed Even if this were true, he argued that they were very slim I
 fraction of the several million voters for President Roosevelt. As for the democratic party, MT. 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 s5 to a campaign fund. Mir. Bryan. however, voiced his opposition to the principle of allowing only few men to provide campaign funds. It follows almost as a matter of necessity he said, that these few men will have an influence after the election entire ly out of proportion to their numbers or to the influence they ought to have. In other words, without any intention of yielding to the entreaties of these men, without any conscious sacrifice of the public interest to the private claim, those who contribute large sums naturally and almost necessarily have this influence because of the contribution Mir Bryan said he was glad President Roosevelt had taken