The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-10-26

Printed Appeals to Voters and Postage
Eat UP Large SUMS of Money-MaIn-
tenance of Headquarters Is Costly.
Bills For the Election.
Electing a mayor of big city IKE
New York is an expensive proceeding.
Campaign literature, parades, publlc
meetings and speakers call for the e2-
penditure of much cash, and it is est
mated that at least a million dollars
viii be spent in the next sixteen days
by the three principal contending poi1t-
zeal parties in electing New York's next
MAYOR. If the triangular fight grows
especially hot and the three candidates
come down the political home stretch
neck and neck, this big sum will not
be anywhere near large enough. and
probably it will be found when the
battle smoke has cleared away and the
total cost ahas been counted that the
election has been the means of dlstr1b-.
uting nearer $1,500,o00 than $1,0OO,00O
Tammany will spend the most. for It
has large and expensive organization,
though the other parties will not be
far behind.
Few people realize the vast, costly
and complicated machinery that each
political party in New York has to
create almost in day and run at top
speed for the four weeks or so that In
tervene between the nominations OF
the candidates and the election of the
winners in order to make proper fight
for the victory.
AS soon as the nominations are in
the thousand and one things that are
deemed necessary to get out the vote
have to be organized The plan of bat
tie must be decided upon, and no ma
terial or strategic point must be over
looked Every move in the game costs
money; therefore the first essential for
the vigorous prosecution of a political
campaign is money in abundance.
Headquarters Cost Money.
Each of the principal candidates,
from the aspirants for mayor down,
has to have his headquarters in some
building conveniently situated from
which he can direct all the details
which he may think essential to his
own success as well as cooperate in
the general plan of battle that the lead
ers of his party have outlined for him
| TO follow The rent of the rooms of
1 these Headquarters will average about
| a thousand dollars in each instance
/ In addition to that is telephone serv-
| ice, clerks and incidentals.
4 The work of sending out circulars,
appeals, recommendations and letters
for candidates did not begin until the
close of the city registration. as the
changes in voting population are such
in New York that registry of one
year is of no value the next. During
/ political campaign like the present
i one the average number Of letters sent
to each registered voter is three from
each of the big parties. This is equiv
alent to the sending Of nearly 100000
letters. which this year will represent
| in the item of postage alone about $780,
600 (most of this stuff goes with one
| cent stamp. exclusive Of cost of print
i ing. folding and addressing, which
i brings the total bill Of campaign lit
erature of this sort up to nearly $780,
600.
i Other Items of Expense.
In addition to this each party has
got out innumerable pictures of Its
candidates and other printed matter,
which is distributed By hand or is
| pasted up on biiIboards. whose total
cost it is hard to estimate. Beyond
this a very considerable sum is spent
among the foreign newspapers in this
city. There are more than 100 OF
these, and each one of them has a
greater or less appeal to a certain class
Of voters Advertisements are Insert
ed in some of them. and in others ar
ticIes favorable to certain candidates
are caused to appear. In the latter
case the recompense is in the form OF
purchasing several thousand copies 81
| the publication for general distribu.
ton.
In addition to the million or million
| and half that viii be spent By the
| political parties themselves in getting
out the vote for mayor This year there
will be bills that win run up into hun,
| dreds of thousands of dollars that the
| city itself win have TO pay. no matter
| who is elected. The printing of the
| ballots, the rent of polling places and
the pay of the army of election clerks
cost fortune. Therefore. taking ii
all in all municipal election like this
runs into good deal of money. There
will be approximately 100000 votes
cast, and for every ballot put in the
boxes So win have been spent-S2 by
the political parties and 81 by the city
Barrel of sauerkraut For President.
]. When President Taft returns from
his western trip he will find In the