The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-05-24
AFRAID OF PUBLICITY.


One Of the important measures before
this congress is the campaign publicity
bill, which calls for the publication of
all expenses incurred by candidates
for congress. The bill was framed by
a committee of prominent citizens and
presented to congress as offering the
best possible means OF preventing cor
rupt practices in national elections, and
it had the unqualified approval of the
organizations devoted to publication of
elections.
In spite OF all the pressure that could
be brought TO bear on them, the Re
publican leaders buried the bill in house
committee and finally brought il out
for passage with an amendment at
tached which is meant TO make its
passage by the senate impossible That
is TO say. the house, being too cowardly
to kill the bill outright. resorted To the
familiar trick of loading il with an
amendment that would insure its death
at the hands OF the upper house. The
prospect of big campaign barrel fr.m
protected interests weight too heavily
in the balance, and there will be the
same old campaign of lavish expendi-
ture. corruption where necessary, and
an appeal for contributions to the in
terests whose pocketbooks are open TO
attack through the threat of tariff re-
vision.
An incident of the discussion on this
Crumpacker amendment was the en-
counter between the northern and
southern members. The amendment,
while not specific in its attack on
southern representation, is a relic of the
old carpetbagger days, a feeble re-
minder of the force bill. Its effect, if
it could be made effective. would be to
reduce the representation in congress
from the southern states which have an
educational qualification acting as a
bar to voting by illiterate negroes. De-
tending this phase of the amendment,
Dalzell Of Pennsylvania cited figures to
show the disproportionately large num-
Der Of votes required to secure q con-
gresham in Massachusetts as COM
pared with the number of votes for
congressman in Mississippi
The only purpose Of DalzelPs diver
sion was TO distract attention from the
fact that the Republicans do not wish
10 have honest congressional elections,
or else they would be perfectly willing
to have published the accounts of cleo
ton expenses. The Acknowledgement of
negroes by educational qualifications is
as legal in Mississippi as the disfran-
chisement OF illiterates of any kind in
Massachusetts, or California or Connec-
tieut Mr.. Dalzelrs argument had no
more bearing on the point at issus-the
publication of national elections-than
has the price of cotton or the annual
rainfall in Central America
As between the honesty Of elections
in Mississippi and, say. in New York
City, the chance for determinations and
abuse is on the Mississippi side; and
for Pennsylvania congressman, one
OF the gang that has ruled the Repub-
lican party in that state and given the
most disgraceful exhibition OF whole
sale corruption in politics the country
has known-fOr Dalzell to assail south
ern election methods. is as cynical a
joke as if Croker were to deliver a
homily on the evils Of graft in munich
pal government
The Republicans don't want to pub
lish statements of campaign expenses,
because publicity would be bar TO the
methods which have contributed most
10 the party's success in the past That
is all there is TO it-and that is enough
TO indicate the plane on which they
expect 10 run the campaign this year.