The Washington herald., 1912-05-19

uvV mas Oeeu 8uDecrlDeus ana - potne
spent. to secure the nomination OF
Mr.. Roosevelt. the fact Is that It costs
lot OF money nowadays to run for
the chief once in the gift Of the ma
tion. Never before has the Presidency
been. 50 expensive a luxury. The bust
ness OF maintaining a BOOM which
Involves the keeping up Of wide
spread popular interestsand settlement
demands lavish scattering Of dollars;
and the mere incidental expenditures OF
travel over long distances In special
car. with stenographers, &C. run up
10 a pretty hgure.
Fortunately, Mr.. Roosevelt Is not
Obliged ~ pay for these things out OF
his own pocket. Not being a rich man,
he could not possibly AFFORD to do so.
But many personal expenses to be met
from his private purse. are unavoid-
able. From this time on, whenever he
Is at home, he will be expected to keep
open house. Political supporters from
all parts of the country viii come TO
see him. and will have TO be enter
tanned. He win be obliged to hire
several clerks merely TO answer his
mail.
On the other hand. Mr.. Taft's mana
gers md plenty OF demands upon their
political exchequer. They must tight
Roosevelt publicity with Taft publicity.
and to do so costs money. But in many
ways the conflict is much cheaper for
the President than for the colonel For
one thing. II Mr.. Taft has any travelling
TO do, Congress makes him an annual
allowance OF S25.O0O with which to pay
for It; and. for another item. the gov
eminent provides him with all the
clerical assistance he wants, and he
never has to buy a postage stamp.
The nominee on either ticket. Republi-
can or Democratic, will find himself
obliged to meet many extraordinary ex-
penses before election day arrives. Ben
jamin Harrison was helped out during
that period by his son-In-law. Robert Nc
Kee, and by other friends who contrib
uted. Mr.. Taft, who. as everybody
knows, was a poor man. borrowed
heavily from his brother. Colonel RooSe-
Welt, while not wealthy, inherited a for
tune of about $4,000 from his father,
glass importer in New York. and so
was comparatively independent
The total cost OF naming the men for
President and Vice President Will be
something like S2.5oO, 90 for each ticket
This estimate, it should be explained, in
cludes the railroad fares and hotel bills
OF the tens Of thousands Of delegates
who attend the county conventions Then
there are the State conventions, and final
ly the great National Convention, with,
perhaps, 1000 delegates and half as many
alternates. All of this means the ex-
penditure Of an immense aggregate Of
money.
It Is an odd thing. by the way. to con-
slider that the national conventions have
no standing under the laws Of the United
States. They are not recognized or their
doings made valid by the statutes But
they serve the purpose for which they are
intended-nameIy, the selection of eandi-
dates by the great political parties-and
II Is undeniable that they are most in
tersstIng from a purely spectacular point
Of view. Nowhere else in the world can
the psychologist find such an opportunity
for studying at leisure the emotional
freaks of a mob.
After the nomination comes the cleo
ton. the total cost OF which is some
thing like IS, 900 0O0-this being the ap-
proximate expenditure for choosing a
President for the United States In 1896
Mark Hanna spent pearly 100000 to
elect Mckinley, one-half OF this amount
being contributed by New York City.
One insurance company gave 10000. and
one railroad $4,000 Exceptional con-
ditions made II comparatively easy to
obtain contributions for the Republican
cause. big business" being badly fright
ened by the menace OF Bryan. and cor
respondingIy willing to go down deep into
it's pockets. ...
It is well within the mark to suppose
that the two national committees. Re
publican and Democratic, will together
spend Sc, 10000 during the approaching
campaign. Each Of them will send out
at least 5000 speakers. popularity known
as "spellbinders," whose salaries will
run from IS to $50 a week. with an extra
allowance OF s. a day for expenses When
II is understood that these persons will
exercise their oratorical persuasiveness on
the stump during a period Of eight weeks,
It will be seen how this item must mount
up.
But for every stump speaker employed
by the national committee. the State COM
mittees will have ten The rent of build
ings in which the campaign meetings
are held Will amount to a tidy sum- And
then there Is the Item Of printing. which
will be not Iess than half a million dol
lars for the Democrats, and as much for
the Republicans. Each national COM
mittee will send out at least 100000
documents-largely speeches made, or al
legged to have been delivered. in Congress,
and as such franked through the mails.
The balance of such literature will go by
express TO the chairmen Of the various
State committees for distribution.
Even with such economy, each nation
al committee will spend something like
10000 for postage stamps. And an
other rather expensive item Is campaign
buttons, of which 100000 will bear the
portrait Of the Republican candidate.
and an equal number that of his Demo-
cratic opponent. There win also be
100000 autographed likenesses Of each