Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-02

growing disposition abroad to demand
headliners or none at all. In a word, the
lesser oratorical luminaries are threatened
with eclipse because the people want to
see and hear the men of first magnitude
rather than the small fry and the expense
of circulating one or the other is almost
tic same.
The literary output in a political contest
for national supremacy figures up to the
colossal. Editions of speeches and
pamphlets are turned out by the millions
and they are printed in nearly every
suoken language. The party papers are
enlisted and organized for a cooperative
onslaught on the political enemy. They
arc freely supplied with editorial sheets,
political news, cartoons, campaign poetry,
ready-to-print plates and ready-to-circu-
late supplements. The bill board posters,
the window Autographs, the buttons, the
songs, and the various campaign novelties
are all elements of campaign publicity.
The question of political advertising
presents a big problem Immediately in
front of the campaign managers. Four
years ago the republicans used space in
popular magazines and similar class pub
locations and a limited amount of such
space was used again this year by both
the great political parties. The republicans
confined their announcements by pro-
claiming the records of the candidates.
while the democrats undertook TO solicit
campaign contributions In this way. The
democrats injected some real humor into
the political arena by the wording of their
advertisements-in large type the reader
was told that for twelve years under re-
publican rule his. cost of living had been
increasing much faster than his wages,
81. 49,. aENA H. 400 Iv1rv N----A..Al
with his poverty, he was invited to cut
eff the coupon on the lower right hand
corner and mail it. together with s., to
the treasurer of the democratic national
committee. 1t is doubtful, therefore, II
this plan of advertising met the expectation
that 1t could be made to pay its own way.
Involving, as II would, a very large out
lay, l consider the matter of political ad-
vCrtising one of the serious problems Of
the new campaigning yet to be solved.
Last, but not least, the financing Of our
presidential campaigns is being completely
me-tamorphosed. No law governing cam
paign contributions requiring publicity or
limiting their amount has yet been enacted
so far as national campaign funds are
concerned, but the court OF public opinion
has registered several verdicts. which are
proving just as effective as law in cur
failing the abuses toward which former
methods were heading. The time has
passed when great sums of money, sub
scribed by the officers of a few big cor
porations, may be depended on to supply
the sinews of political warfare. Practic-
ally all the funds employed in national
campaigns used to be collected in New
York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston,
and 1t was an almost unheard of thing for
contributions to come in from any part of
the country outside of these money GEN.
tiers unless by some zone already in official
life or hoping to be.
This year the democratic campaign fund
was collected in large part by direct ap-
peal to individuals through newspaper sub
scription lists. 1t was announced that not
over $4,000 would be accepted from any
one contributor, and while this limit was
evaded in at least one instance. there was
no general rush to override II. and the
subscriptions in excess of 81 900 were very
few indeed. On the republican side, while
there were no stipulated dead lines. the
large subscriptions which would have ex-
ceeded the democratic limit could be
counted on the fingers, and the total num-
Der Of contributors not only went we'll into
the thousands for the first time. but were
distributed geographically over all the
states and territories.
The grand total doubtless looks large,
but it must be remembered that, in the ma
ture of things. large sums of money are
needed for entirely legitimate purposes OF
a campaign covering so large a country.
For the first time in our history. forty-slx
states participated in the election Of a