Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-30
New Election
Bv Frederic j HaSkin

statement is required to be filed with
the state officials; in others it must be
given to the public in pamphlet form;
While in still other states it is required
that the statements shall be printed
in the newspapers.
The Virginia law requires that all
candidates shall file a true statement
of expenditures, and if it can be shown
that the successful candidate has used
money corruptly, or that it has been
so used by others with his knowledge
and consent, he forfeits his office. He
is required to swear that he has used
no money other than that shown in
his filed statement, either directly or
indirectly The law was framed care
fully, and with each party watching
it's chance to get evidence that would
lead to forfeiture of office by the op-
posing candidate, it's spirit is lived up
to unusually well.
In some of the states the candidates
cigar is tabooed, and provision is made
even against treating. This law, when
rigidly enforced, is said to remove
nearly all the drunkenness that used
to be so prevalent when the people ex-
ercised their high privilege as sover-
eign suffragans. All these things have
served to reduce the ranks of the venal
voter, and he had indeed become
numerous host some years ago. A
ago that there were at that time at
least 10000 venal voters in the city
of New York alone, and gave election
statistics to prove it. He also looked
into upstate conditions and reached
the conclusion that there were more
in proportion above the Harlem river
than below 1t, and showed that nine
elections out of ten in the city and
state were Decided by such narrow
majorities as to give the venal voter
the balance of power. He calculated
that about 70 per cent Of the voters
of New York are .uncorrupted and
incorruptible. f A1F '-aaa S''~
Money flows more freely in presiden--
tiaf campaigns than in any other Kind
Of political fights The stake is a very
great one, and The results FAR reaching.
Estimates vary as to what 1t costs
from beginning to end to register the
will of the sovereign people at the
great quadrennial battle of the ballots.
much as s20iO00,00o, and others 60 as
low as $15,00o,Q00 But it is at least
plain to thinking men that there may
be many millions spent for purely legi-
tiTnate purposes-in other words for
educating the people and getting out
the vote. For instance, it costs S30O,o0Q
in postage alone to reach every one of
the fifteen million voters in the coun-
try.
Even in a not over-rich national
headquarters it is not possible to hold
the daily expenses of administration
below the three thousand dollar
mark. OF course the greatest expense
is the literary bureau. The speakers
bureaus are expensive luxuries with
speakers costing in salary and ex-
penses from $1OO to $500 a week. There
are also the wheels within wheels, the
state funds, the county funds, and the
city and precinct funds. All told, it
is easy for the man who has an idea
of these things to imagine that it does
cost $40, 100000 to elect a president.
But this means less than "a cents per
year per voter.
More money has been spent in cam
paigns since the beginning of he
first Mckinley Bryan campaign than
in all the years of national history
that went before. 1t is said that the
Democratic campaign committee had
but $25000 the year that Buchanan
was elected, and that Abraham Lin
coins first campaign cost the Repub-
licans only 100000. A single city of
the third class will often spend that
much today. - -~- t~9t~
A member of the house of repre-
sentatives showed recently that there
mas 'De6n a lOldl ol pfVUVVtVVV GA
pended by the national committees of
the several parties in the last twelve
campaigns, two-thirds of which was
spent in the last four contests. Upon
this showing 1t appears that the "edu-
cation" of the American voter has
cost 12 cents annually during those
twelve campaigns. =s 80
1t is manifestly impossible that a
party without funds can compete with
a party with money in this business
of educating the voters. If time
should come when all the money was
arrayed on one side and all the pa
triotism on the other. the patriotic
side would be at a great disadvan-
tage. 1t is this possible evil that the
Colorado law seeks to remedy.
TOmorTow-The Thirteenth Census.
I-Preparing for the Task. ~