The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1916-10-13
THE OLD RELIANCE

lunu ever TdlSeu ny any party,
amounting to 100000 or more
larger than the notorious slush fund
that the late Mark Hanna "fried out"
of the predatory Interests that prof
tied by Republican favoritism, and
when votes were shamelessly bought
up in "blocks of five"
Whence comes this record break
ing campaign fund of the Republi-
cans? Not from the rank and file of
the party, for no special plea has
been made to the people for funds,
and if there had been the most liberal
response would have reached very
small fraction of this stupendous
sum. 1t comes naturally from the
source upon which the Republican
party bosses have always confidently
relied-the predatory interests that
controlled Republican legislation and
profited thereby. That their profits
were great is evidenced by their large
and willing contributions.
The Wilson administration has put
stop to the special favors of gov
eminent to this class and placed all
lines Of business on a fair and equit-
able basis of competition, and these
trust-manipulating and monopolizing
leeches of fair and honorable business
methods are leading the pack with
the cry, Anything to Beat Wilson,"
That they are ready to do anything,
whatever the means, to defeat the
man and the party that have deprived
them of their chief prop of monopoly
is evidenced by their former exploits
in "the good old times of Hanna, as
some of the Republican bosses now
call it.
1t is reputed that the National Re-
publican Committee has already CON
tracted for $1,0O0,000 worth of ad-
vertising. This means that that part
of the press of the country that can
be reached through it's business de-
partments is already semi-subsidized
to print and send broadcast through
their columns specious, misleading and
truth-subverting charges against the
present administration. Agricultural
publications, which are reputedly non
partisan, are largely relied upon.
These papers reach a great majority
of the farmers, and their pages are
filled with fulsome praise of the old
Republican party along with the bald
est misrepresentation of the achieve
ments of President Wilson's admins
tration and what they mean to the
country. These subversions of the
truth, appearing in alleged non-par-
tisan publications, are accepted as
facts by many farmers, who may
thus be induced to vote the Republican
ticket without stopping to disabuse
their minds and to take thought of
what the present administration has
done for the welfare of the farmers
as well as all other lines of business.
A million dollars spent in this sort
of advertising, but what of the other
two millions? Some of it of course
goes for office expenses at committee
headquarters, for speakers, etc, but
the great bulk of it will be thrown in
to the close, doubtful States, where the
change of a few hundred or a few
thousand votes may insure them the
electoral vote, to bride individual
voters. We see some self-righteous'
Republican organs throwing up their
hands in pharisaic horror at the sug-
gestion, as they cry that such an in
situation is a reflection upon the hon
esty of American voters. We admit
that it is, but at the same time the
truth cannot be hidden nor denied.
One has only to look as far as Ohio
and Indiana where, within the last
two years, wholesale indictments were
found by grand juries against many
hundreds of voters for bartering away
their votes. The regular prices for
votes ranged from $500 to $1,000.
And these purchased voters were not
the riff raft of the population; they
were farmers, business men, and even
professional men. We dimly recall
that minister CT the Gospel was in
one list. Hundreds of them pleaded
guilty, were fined. and many of them
disfranchised. What has been may
easily be again, and in the close
States, where a few hundred votes
may change the result, some of this
large Republican campaign fund is
as sure to find its way as that day
follows night. "The good old times
of Hanna" are to be revived.
But what do the better part, the
greater part, of the American people
think of it? Isn't this unprecedented
campaign fund of the Republican Ma