Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1916-10-20
THE $4,000 BUGABOO.

| Inc S1U,OUU election fund story
that the opponents of Governor Lister
have made so fine a bugaboo of dur
ing the past few weeks was convert
ed into pale blue smoke when the
governor opened on the subject in a
thrilling speech at Seattle last Mon
day.
Apparently Governor Lister had
hoped to avoid the necessity of going
into the matter in a public speech,
fearing that it would be too much of
the nature of a elf-advertisement of
a generous course on his part. The
governors friends knew the facts
and indeed many of his political enc
mics who tried to injure him with
misstatements concerning the matter
also knew the truth, and it was these
constant misrepresentation on the
part of the Mcbride supporters and
the insistent urging of Governor Lis
ter's friends that finally moved the
governor to tell the story, the story
of the great and awful $4,000 cam
paign fund and the alleged levy upon
state officeholders.
The simple facts are, as he tells
them in the speech published in an
other column, that when he finally
became the nominee of the Democrats
in 1912 there remained but three
weeks of the campaign period. There
was no time to gather together cam
paign funds by voluntary contribu-
lions from those devoted to the party
cause-as is usually done. There
fore he raised fund of $4,000 him
self, which was used in advertising
and for legitimate campaign purposes
and expenses. The business which
Governor Lister had been engaged in
prior to 1912 did not prove profitable
and the obligation incurred when the
$4,000 was raised could not be
promptly met by an honest man in
office. Other candidates and, subse-
quently, appointive officeholders ben
Gifted by Listers campaign, but he
carried the $4,000 burden himself
and said nothing.
Eventually 1t became necessary to
take up the matter with certain other
bankers. 1t so happened that two of
these were Republicans and, strange
as it may seem now, they insisted
that it was in no sense just or right
that Governor Lister should bear the
burden alone.
Just as soon as the facts became
known, friends of the governor in
Office and out, came forward and in
sisted upon doing their part in taking
care of the obligation. The act was
entirely voluntary and spontaneous.
There was no assessing Of officehold-
ers, nor anything in the least resem-
bling it. Governor Lister did not
know what was being done nor who
was doing it. Out of admiration for
the man, of approval of an honest and
courageous official, and Of apprecia-
ton of the generous and self-sacri-
fcing friend, there sprung the deter
mination to relieve him of anything
more than his share of the burden.
In this connection it may be re-
called in passing that Ex-Governor
Hay, who was Listers opponent in
1912, spent-according to Mr.. Hays
own figures-the sum of $4,000
merely to secure the Republican NOM
ination, to say nothing of his expend-
lures in the subsequent campaign.
And as these harpoonists who have
tried to make much of the Lister
! $4,000 campaign fund" story very
we'll know, all campaign funds are
ordinarily made up by the adherents
of q party or of movement, and by
personal friends of the candidates and
official associates who believe in them.
Thus is the malicious yarn by Gov
ernor Listers adversaries and critics
concerning the awful campaign fund
and the assessment Of officeholders
not only resolved into pale blue
smoke. but side by side is revealed
the vicious Inconsistency and bad
faith of his opponents and the fine
integrity of the man they attack, for,
as he said in this speech, II would
ten thousand times rather have the
loyal people who are around and as
ISOLATED with me assist in my cam
paign than to have any public service
corporation or any brewery in the
state of Washington pay the money
for that purpose, expecting and know
ing that 1t would have right to con-
troll the Office were elected"
THE BREAK WITH FOGARTY.