El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-17
w
ASHINGTON, d. c., Aug. H.
While England may not have
as complete a publicity law on

/ its Statute books as the United States,
! il is generally conceded that nowhere
| is there to be found more efficient cor
rupt practices act than that govern
/ ing English election. There are those
who complain about the bargain and
sale of honOrs, such as peerageS, bar
I onetciCs, and knighthOods. but it is
/ generally admitted that there is little
/ cnance of ones way being bought into
= public service. IIillaire Belloc for five
years a member of the house of COM
! mons, charges in a recent book which
| he has written, that immense secret
political funds are gathered and dis
penseG, and that any one who is a can
didate of either party gets all the
funds he wants He charges that rich
Englishmen who are long on money
and short on position furnish the
money for these hOnOrs, just as in
years gone by nothing was thought
in our own country of promising 4
, rich man a position in the diplomatic
service if he would contribute a given
sum TO the necessities of the political
campaign.
KrqUires SmOOfhness.
Be all this as it may, the man who
gets by" with corruption in English
politics must be a slick Individual and
litical enemies as well as from the
government And he has little show
of success if he starts out to let those
around him and back of his candidacy
his actually knowing the details there
Of That is a game that always has
been played successfully in the United
States. Many a candidate can truth
fully make affidavit that he has spent
only a given sum of money in his cleo
ton and that he has no knowledge OF
any other money being spent IN his
/ behalf or other influence exercised For
! he has been careful not to know.
But in England such a course avalls
nothing II a candidate has been
elected through votes fraudulently, or
, by any other form Of corrupt or illegal
practice secured, no matter if he has
not been in the slightest degree re-
spcnsibIe therefor he forfeits his seat.
In other words, his friends and sup
pUrteTs cannot do for him what he
could not do for himself even though
he knows nothing of their acts. There
are many instances where seats in the
English parliament have been declared
forfeited for the most trivial offences.
In one case 4 certain prominent poll
tician was elected to parliament and
II was afterward found that his
nephew HAD treated four voters to a
luncheon before the election. 1t was
not asserted that the candidate IN
whose behalf this act was done had
any knowledge that it was done,
neither was il represented that the vot-
ers who might have been corrupt IN
this way could have determined the
election, since his majority was large
And yet he was ousted from his po-
sition as promptly as if he had with
his own hand bribed a thousand vot-
ers-
ExeeIs In Severity.
1t is conceded that for severity OF
enforcement there is nowhere to be
found an election law comparable with
the English law. Its letter is fol-
lowed absolutely 1t Is complained.
however. that in spite of this the big
parties have central offices which cor
respond to our campaign headquarters,
and that the purse strings of the CEN
trail offices arc pulled under the im-
mediate direction Of the party leaders
and party whips Parliamentary cleo
tions do not occur at fixed periods
like our congressional election, ana
while, during the election seasons brib-
cry is severely punished and the use
of money is strictly limited to well
defined purposes. it is asserted that the
law is sLcnt with reference to between
election periods, and that here IS
where the real campaigning IS dono-
The English law provides that any
one who treats. uses undue influence,
offers 4 bride, or impersonates an
other. or who attempts to do so, or
aids or cCunSels others to do so. COM
mits corrupt practice. Any candidate
for the house Of commons who commits
corrupt practice cannot sit in that
body for seven years. and If it be any
other form than treating or eXerting
undue influence he shall be debarred
ment. The milder forms of corrupt
practices, such as treating, subject the
person committing it to imprisonment
at hard labor for as much as a year
and fine not exceeding $1,000. No
candidate can spend over 5000 for his
personal expenses, such IS hotel bills,
railroad fare, stationery, postage, and
the like. All other expenditures must
be made through an authorized cleo
ton agent Money may not. be eX-
pended for hiring cOnveyances to take
voters to the poiIs nor for bands OF
music torches. and the like
The Legal Expenses.
The legal expenses of a candidate
are those paid out for one election
agent certain number OF clerks, COM
mittee rooms, advertising, holding pub
lie meetings, stationery, postage. etc.
but in the aggregate they must not
exceed an amount fixed by the number
of voters on the register. Any one
offering employment beyond the terms
of the law is subject to a fine which
may be as much as $500 Every cleo
tion circular or poster must bear both
the name of the printer and publisher.
Complete accounts of all election eX-
penses must be kept by every one
authorized to make them, and every
item of expenditure of 40 shillings
$50 or more must be accompanied by
a voucher.
The English corrupt practices act
was passed in 1888, under queen Vic
been regarded by most observers as
the worlds model election law. Indeed
it is back to that law that nearly every
modern corrupt practices act in the
world traces its origin. The Mass
achusetts law was one of the earliest
passed in this country embodying the
salient features of the English act.
except that feature which forfeits an
election if the friends and supporters
of a candidate commit corrupt prac-
tees in his behalf.
Although some of the states have
gone a long way in the direction OF
pure elections. none OF them has gone
far enough to insert such a provision,
and II no state has it beer serl-
ously proposed There are those
however. who would make the can
didate responsible for the acts OF his
workers, and the day yet may come
when the English idea will prevail on
this side Of the water.
Colonies Follow Mother Country.
Nearly all of the English colonies
have election laws modelled in general
form after those of the mother country.
If we are indebted to England for
our best election laws, we are in
debted to one of her colonies for the
greatest of all the departures of re-
cent times in election holding-the
australian, Ct secret ballot The secret
ballot laws have proved the greatest