The Johnson City comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1916-1917, 1916-11-16
THE ELECTION AND ITS LESSON


President Wilson may well be attrib
uted to two causes:
/. The main cause, of course, wa
the great popularity Of the Presiden
and his administration. Mr.. Wilsol
was very much stronger than his par
ty. He ran far ahead OF other Dem
ocratic candidates in every State l.
the Union. In Tennessee he ran
nearly seven thousand votes ahead 0
Gov. Rye, who led the State ticket
No Democrat has received such pop
lar support since the days Of AndreN
Jackson. This is shown by the fac
that President Wilson carried ever.
State west OF the Mississippi rive.
except three, Notwithstanding near,
all of these States are normally Re
publican. No other administration
since the organization of the govern
ment has been so strong in popula
favor and in the confidence of ths
people.
2. The other cause was the mis-
take of the Republican campaign ma
ayers. They put their money doNl
on the table on every spot that wa.
regarded as vulnerable. With a cam
paign variously estimated at from
thirty to seventy millions of dollars
they went after every State, whicl
before the election was regarded II.
doubtful, and in every instance tn.
got what they went after. The ori.
reason they did not get California
Idaho, Washington, and other West
ern States is that these States wer,
regarded as so certain to go 70
Hughes that it vas thought to b
useless to waste money on them. Til
money was therefore concentrated j.
the doubtful States of the Midi
West and East, and Wilson, to t.
CONSERVATION of the plutocrats, Gan
ried the far West. This is too. clea
to require argument. The facts al
so plain that he who runs may reaG
The same things which made Wills
so popular in the Republican Stat
of Kansas and New Hampshire mao
him popular in the doubtful States {
New York, New Jersey and Connec,
cut. That staunch Republican jou-
nal, the New York Tribune, says
yet the vote Of Massachusetts An
Maine, the almost unbelievable fig
ures from New Hampshire, indica.
that the sam esprit which was abro,.
in Kansas and Minnesota was to b
felt and seen in Ne wEngland."
1t is impossible to believe that nea
ly all of the Western Republical
States, and one of the New Englaa,
Republican States, would go for til
Democratic candidate, while all of tn
really doubtful tSates would go fo.
the Republican candidate.
There was a cause for this.
IhS ucItluS tile udy DeIOie the e4GC
ton was 10 to 7 in favor of Hughes
This confidence was not inspired b,
a popular demand for the election O.
the Republican candidate, for ther,
was none, but was based upon tn,
fact that there was a campaign func
of enormous size to be used in the
doubtful States. 1t was so used ana
as a result Mr.. Hughes carried ever,
doubtful State in the East and Mid.
die West. ,
What is the significance of all this
1t is that elections of a Presiden.
have been and may yet be controlled
by the use of money. When that fac,
is established this country becomes
a p%lutocracy where money rules. ano
not a democracy where the people
rule.
So long as ~mililonaires are allowed
to contribute Millions to elections in
the hope Of getting rid of an income
tax, and so long as tariff barons are
permitted to invest millions in elec
tons in the hope of getting it back
ten-fold in tariff schedules, our re-
public in insecure.
1t is no answer TO this to say that
the Democrats would nave done the
same thing if they had had the money.
What the country needs is a law
that will make it impossible for an,
political party, or any combination OF
capitalists, to buy an election.
Too much money is being used in
elections for what are denominated
legitimate expenses, Campaigns are
100 long. Reforms along these lines
are imperative.
No me man should be permitted
to give more than one thousand dol
lars in any single campaign, and as
a condition to his right to give this
much he should be required to ankle
an affidavit showing the amount he
has given, to whom, and when paid,
and be required to file his affida1 ii
with a designated public officer, where
it would be subject to inspection by
tn epublic.
The present Democratic Congress
will fail of its duty if it does o
enact a law beforethe 4th of March,