The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1912-04-04
.FAyORS THE COR.
RUPT PRACTICE ACT

! Ben w. Coleman, Judge of the
Ninth Judicial District of Nevada,
sends the Silver State the following
communication relative to the Corrupt
Practice act:
Ely, Nevada, April 3, 1912.
To the Men and Women of Nevada:
During the last regular session of
the state legislature, Tin 1917 a bill
was introduced in the senate known
as senate bill No. 110, generally call
ed the Corrupt Practice act, the pur-
pose of which was to prohibit corrup-
tlon in primary and general elections.
and generally to purify politics. One
of the aims of the bill was to prohibit
the expenditure, by candidates for
office, of large sums of money. That
such expenditures are an evil. no one
will deny. Probably there are in Ne
vada today many men who are still
hampered with portions of the debts
contracted during the campaign of
1910. The practice sometimes leads
not only to defalcations, (Which cause
sorrow and modification in the home)
but to bribery and other evils. Why
is it that a greater number of good
men do not run for officef Largely be-
cause their inherent honesty will not
permit them to take anything more
than the salary attached to the
office, and they do not feel that they
can afford to spend large portion Of
that salary to get the office. Take
for instance, as an illustration, the
assembly. The compensation for an or
dinary term in the assembly is 5000.
Under the present method of cam
paigning the expense is often as
much. If man is elected he must
put in his time for nothing and pay
out of his own pocket his expenses
while in attendance upon the session
of the legislature. Think of it!
Now, only three classes of men can
afford the Office under these condi-
tions. G The rich man who cares
nothing for expenses; (2) the man
who does not intend to spend a large
sum of money to be elected, and (3)
the corrupt man who figures on get
ting back what he spends, and a great
deal more, through bribery and other
corrupt methods. The rich man is
usually too busy LOOKING after his
private interests to run for Office The
man of moderate means who will run
for office and not spend money is rare,
as every man has pride and does not
wish to run for Office, feeling in ad
vance that his failure to, spend money
freely may give his opponent an ad-
vantage. Allowing for few excep-
tions, we have eliminated the men of
the first and second classes. This
leaves the man of the third class-the
corrupt, bribe-taking man. This man
of tn third class is the one our present
system forces upon us, as a lawmaker,
entirely too often. He is looking out
for himself all of the time. He never
considers the people, whose servant
he is. Do we want him? OF course
not. Then we must make such laws
as will enable the man of the second
class to run for Office, feeling that he
will have an even chance of election.
The Corrupt Practice act is the key to
the situation.
What can be more desired than
purity in politicsa Who is there who
will stand up and say that he be-
lieves in corruption in our electionsf
Not one. There may be those who
prefer such conditions but they will
not say so openly. But the bill men,
toned was defeated in the assembly.
What was the reason for itss The de-
feat of that bill may be attributed to
the same cause to which every bad
law can be charged, that is, to the
Indifference and lack of intelligent
cooperation of the people. do not
know the name of single man who
voted against that bill, nor do I wish
to. / will give them, however, the
credit of having been animated bv
pure motives, but the bill as it
passed the senate, ought to become
law with some additional provisions
The only way to get the desired law
is by the intelligent cooperation Of
all who believe in good government.
1t can be obtained. 1T SHALL RT.
procure the election to the legislature
of those who will pledge themselves
to vote for such bill, and in the fu-
ture, to punish those who are elected
pursuant to such pledge and then
betray the peoples trust.
There is common practice among
candidates for Office which is radical
ly wrong, that is, the peddling or dis
tributing of cigars and liquors while
campaigning. No man who is worthy
of American citizenship can he in
fluenced by such things. No other
should be. Under existing conditions
if one candidate INDUCES in this
practice, Others feel that unless they
follow the custom they lay themselves
open to the title of tightwad.
Another custom which is a burden
to candidate is that of having ear
riages and automobiles out on election
day to take voters to the polls.
This practice exists in cities, where,
as rule, the average voter does not
have to walk more than two bloc0s to
vote. Any man who is entitled to the
elective franchise, would be willing to
walk that distance, and man who is
not sufficiently interested in the well
fare of the country to walk such
distance to vote should not be permit
ted to influence its policy. The can
didate who INDUCES in either of these
practices must be organized against.