Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-09-21
METHODS IN
CAMPAIGNS
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN

| w tional campaign is matter
| of business as we'll as poll
| tics. Some of the most successful
managers in the national. as we'll as
in local politics, have been men who
Won their spurs in commercial af-
| fairs long before they took an inter-
est in things political. Mark Hanna
! is notable example. Prior to 1896
he was looked upon as a successful
| business man rather than as a poll
| tician, yet when he entered the field
| of politics, Hanna was able to de-
| feat such veterans as Joe Manley,
of Maine; Plat, of New York; Quay,
| of Pennsylvania, and Clarkson, of
| Iowa: What has been said of Han
ma is also true in the case of Will
liam F. Harrity, who was chairman
| of the Democratic national commit
| tee in 1892. He was known as a
business man rather than as a poll
| tician. Many thought that Mr.. Roose-
welt made a mistake in 1904 when he
named George B. Cortelyou as head
latter had no experience in the game
of politics, his work having been
confined entirely to business and the
government service. But Cortelyou
was a success.
That the head Of the national COM
mittee is a ticklish position goes
ofttimes i blams med for re results mo" Quite
beyond his control. A case in point
is that Of Senator Carter, of Mon
tana. who headed the Republican ma
tional committee in 1892, a year in
which the tide had turned so strong
ly to the Democrats that the best of
politicians could never have divert
ed it.
The problem of success in the
management of national campaigns
is divided into three parts-how to
hold the vote of the rank and file of
the party and arouse their enthusi-
asm for the ticket; how to convert
voters from the other side as well
as the great mass of Independents;
and how to take advantage of the
mistakes the other side is liable to
| make.
A Costly Error
The most costly mistake that any
party manager was able to take ad-
vantage of was in the campaign of
1884, when James G. Blaine, in re-
ply to the greeting of the ministers,
did not immediately repudiate the
speech of DR.. Burchard characteriz-
ing the Democratic party as one of
Rum, Romanism and Rebellion. 1t
is true that the Plumedf Knight did
SO late ron, but not before the Dem
ocratic managers had flooded the
country with copies Of the Burchard
late. The advantage taken of the
utterance of General Hancock char
acterizing the tariff as a local issue
helped to bring about his defeat.
There are tire eways of attain
ing the results. The first is through
that their value is limited to the
arousing of enthusiasm of the rank
and file, that mass meetings do not,
as a rule, make votes. AS evidence,
it is pointed out that Mr.. Bryan in
his campaigns had large and en-
thusiastic audiences, many people
coming to hear his oratory, although
determined not to vote for him. The
second is through the distribution of
campaign literature. This means
the. speeches of party leaders, leaf
let's on the issues and badges and
buttons with the party emblem ana
portraits and the names of the can
didates. The third is the insertion
of articles and editorials in the daily
and weekly newspapers throughout
the country. This is one of the most
important and highly effective meth
DDS. Much attention is paid to 1t
by party managers; 1t came into
back in 1888. The controversy over
free raw materials was then on.
Both sides began to send the press
articles on this subject and then on
other issues.
Getting the Dope
The national committee is aided In
it's work by a campaign or eXecu-
tive committee The informa lion on
which the campaign is conducted
comes from two sources. First, from
the managers themselves and those
close to them politically: AS they
try their knowledge covers the en-
tire field. 1t may be stated as gem
eral proposition that each manager
is presumed to be in charge of the
campaign in his territory: The sec
chairmen of the various state COM
mittees. They are supposed to be
continually keeping the national
managers posted. Their information
as to local conditions is derived from
the heads of local organizations:
During the campaign of 1900, how
ever, Chairman Johnson, OF the Dem
| ocratic executive committee, revived
the idea of having direct represen-
| tative in every election precinct
throughout the United States. <Abram
S. Hewitt originated it. He did it
| in the campaign of 1876 when man
aging the canvass of Samuel j. Til
den for president. Mr.. Hewitt had
two sets of blanks prepared for
preliminary, the other final can
vass OF voters The experiment.
| however, was not entirely success
| full. For the work was found to be
| too volumnious for the national COM
n.ittee to undertake, hence the latter
| body continued to depend upon the
state organizations for news as to
the situation. Chairman Harrity did
so to a great extent in the campaign
of 1892. That year the information
received by him was accurate enough
to enable a calculation coming with
in two Of the electoral votes that
Grover Cleveland re ceived.
Three Kinds Of States
For campaign purposes the states
are divided into two classes. The
first are those that are doubtful,
with chances favoring the ticket.
Much attention is concentrated on
this class. There is usually one, and
sometimes even more than one mem
Der of the campaign committee do
ing nothing but attending to the cam
| paign in each such state. In the
days prior to election reports several
| times a day are received. TIE sec
| end class is of those that are doubt
full, though more apt to be carried
| by the opposition.
The press bureau is usually COM
rose1 of two sets of men. First,
those who do nothing but read the
newspapers and magazines in search
of campaign material. This work is
both important and laborious. The
| second class is of men who write
| the articles sent out for publication
by the bureau. During the campaign
Of 1900 the Republican headquarters
in Chicago had seven men in it's press
! bureau. Five were readers, while
two got up the articles. The coun-
try Wee6lies get this matter in the
shape of patent insides, the country
Gailies as stereotyped stuff, while
proof sheets are mailed to the more
important papers, and are apt to I'M
dergo extensive revision prior to pub
| LEGATION. During the 1900 campaign
list of country papers, with a Cir
culation of $1,000, received from
one side three and half columns of
circulation Of 1000, 900, received plate
matter. Statements were also sup
piled to three special classes of coun-
try daily and weekly papers, their
combined circulation being in the
| n'eighborhOOd of 5000 900 The most