Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1910-06-03
Mead Put in A Hole BY His Own
Supporter

Some of the Mead organs have com
planned because so many papers have
condemned their candidates methods,
but the Mead contingent is largely re-
sponsible for bringing out this feature.
At the outset other aspirants and their
friends were informed by Mead ieuten
ants that candidates who ran against
him would know they had a bank account
and were otherwise warned to keep out
of the race.
After a while DIR. Mead announced
that he was not spending dollar but
instead of taking him at his word some
of his own organs now rise and declare
that it is all right for him to pay the
men who are going up and down the
State in his behalf. The Burlington
News, which is supporting Mead, in
commenting on an editorial in the Mont
pelier Journal makes this astonishing
declaration:
"Men have gone up and down the
State for months in the interest of the
Mead candidacy. What is the matter
with that? If men went up and down
the State in Mead s interest we have no
doubt he paid their expenses. If he did
not, probably they would not have gone,
unless they were rich. And then the
case would look suspicious. If these
men are working in the interest of
Mead, there is no reason why they
should not be paid. "
One simple and very sufficient rea-
son why these men should not have
been paid by DR.. Mead is that the law
prohibits such payment under a heavy
penalty. Mr.. Lewis, DIR. Mead's man
ager, was very particular to show he
was paying his own expenses.
The law which we have quoted sew
eral times but which apparently has not
yet become clear to some newspapers,
says:
mo person shall in order to aid or
promote his own nomination, or the
nomination of another person, as a can
didate for public office, by caucus, con-
vention or nomination paper, directly
or indirectly, himself or through another
person, or by or through committee,
give, pay, expand or contribute, OF
promise to give, pay, expend or con
tribute any money or other valuable
thing, except for personal expenses as
provided in the following section. "
ANY person may incur and pay II
) order to promote his own nomination OF
the nomination of another person, as
cdnuludIe lOr puDlc Office, MS OWl
personal expenses for travelling, fol
writing, printing and preparing fol
transmission any letter, circular OF
other publication not issued at regular
intervals, whereby he may state his pc
sition or views or the position or views
of another person, upon public or othel
questions; for stationery and postage
for telephone and other regular mess
enger service, and for other petty per
sonal expenses, but all such expenses
7 shall be limited to those which are di
rectly incurred and paid by him. y
= The penalty for the violation of this
= law may be $4,000 or any other sun
above 500 in the discretion of the court
3 1t applies not only to the candidate him
self, who pays out money unlawfully
) but to a lieutenant of candidate WIFI
D pays out money to another, either TO
travelling expenses of delegate to thu
D State convention or any other purpose
outside of the own personal expenses o
the man making the payment as provid
ed. 49, Burlington Free Press. May 80.