Crittenden record-press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1909-191?, 1911-08-24

II both parties are machine ruledAthen
it would matter little to the average
voter which prevailed, as one party ma
chine IL as Objectionable when in
power as the other. Party, bosses,
lobbyists and corruptionists are all OF
a kind.
Urges Remedy To Deprive Machine Of
Power.
If then It be true that Kentucky Is
yet machine-ridden in the party that
claims to be the dominant party here.
what is the remedy? Surely not to set
up another machine-ridden party.
That might be swapping the devil for
a witch. But I maintain 1t Is to so
regulate government as that neither
party can II it attempts to, prevail by
a machine. In the past the effort has
been-and such was the advice Of Sem
ator Blackburn only six weeks ago-to
smash the machine. That Is very good
as far as II goes. But there Is nothing
yet to prevent another machines being
Immediately got together. which would
be no better than its predecessor My
idea Is. to make the operations Of the
machine more dificult, and to deprive
II Of the dangerous power under the
law II now uses and abuses To do
this, first, I urge the Statewide, man.
datory primary election law. held at
the public expense. in which all can
didates must be nominated at the same
time. the officers Of the election being
public officials, not party appointees.
Let anybody become a candidate VIII,
can muster enough support to repre-
sent 1000 voters on his petition (for
State office); let the printing Of bal
lots as well as circulation Of literature
setting forth each candidates propos-
ais and contemporaries be by public
authority. the candidates bearing only
actual cost Of printing and postage.
Prohibit campaign funds of larger size
than to defray such expenses and the
candidates travelling bills and adver-
Using. Prohibit the gathering Of those
big funds that are so necessary and de-
lectable to the committee" Thus
your machine would be shorn Of its
power for evil. and there would be no
more machines calling for smash
ings." This, you will recall. is one OF
the planks of our platform, and one
In the platform on which I went before
the people and because Of 1t in part
was selected by them.
A machine can not run without
greasng That Is true Of political as
we'll as other machines. The lubricant
of the political machine Is campaign
fund" That Is the committees
power in final analysis. AS II Is most
frequently operated against the people.
it has no chance of getting its funds
from that source. Special interests. or
party appointees In office. are then the
sources of the supply. Take up the lat
ter first. In Kentucky we have not
civil service protection for the appoint
i've officials. They are at the mercy OF
their superiors in office. The body hav-
ing the most places at its disposal Is
the Prison Commission. 1t Is now
elected by the Legislature in joint ses-
sion. II must get Its votes there.
Hence that Commission concerns itself
mainly with seeing that its friends are
elected to the Legislature. In order to
elect its friends it must have the
means. local committees and campaign
fund. These are supplied partly by
the appointees. the prison guards. who
are not only assessed" unmercifully,
but must see to it that local commit
tees are right" The Prison Commits
sion having such intimate relations
with the Legislature, by reciprocity
methods. are also sought by other in
terests" as representatives before
that body or its committees. Whether
the Commissioners receive personal
pay, or contributions to the cam
paign fund" Is all one to the public.
The system fosters the machine idea
and in fact has been so employed in
Kentucky. The penal institutions OF
SnAa int
litical asset and managed accordingly
I propose to make these boards bi'
partisan-one party acting as kind
of check to the political manipulations
of the other, and preventing assess
ment of appointees, hoping to abolish
that feature entirely; then let them be
appointed by the Governor. They
would no longer have either the power
or the incentive to NEEDLE in electing
friendly Legislatures or tampering
with that body after it's election. My
proposal is to take that Commission
out of politics, by making 1t non-polit-
ical as far as possible, and removing
both the opportunity and means for
its becoming a professional lobby at
the Capital. That is one way 10
smash a machine" by withholding its
lubricant. You will find a plank to
that effect In our platform.
Special interests Need Attention.
Special interests have been much dis
eussed Of late. We are learning more
and more about their ends and ways.
They are of the tribe who would reap
where they have not sown; who want
special immunities or favors which
their competitors do not share. They
are essentially monopolists, in that
they want to enjoy conditions from
which others are excluded. This they
can do in this country only In one OF
two ways either have legislation
favorable to them. or have the laws
executed partially in their behalf. The
former Is much preferred by them.
therefore they are most active about
the halls Of legislation everywhere
in Kentucky, New York, Ohio. West
Virginia, Missouri. Illinois, Colorado.
California, and at Washington. Those
plying in Kentucky are such as either
want a kind of monopoly In buying
from us, or In selling to US. or In ex-