Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-09-14
High Cost of
"Gold-Digging"
Na,x Norl- " Crad
New York v oTld

| On the witness-stand under oath Chair
man HAYS Of the Republican National
| Committee knew of no campaign fund in
| excess of S3,07e, 600 Treasurer Upham
Of the same committee added 100000 to
this sum and later increased the total TO
81, 900, 600 Henry NJ. Blair, Treasurer
Upham's assistant, a professional manager
Of drives. testified that the Ideal, as
presented TO him when he took the Job
OF shaking down the Republicans, was
S5.O0O,O ,O0O exclusive of State, local and
private funds.
Whether the amount sought was
s., ,O79. 900 or So, 3,779, 900 or SIS, 10000 or
S., ,OO0, 900, as confessed by various excel
lent Republicans, or Sl5,000,0O0l as
charged BY Governor Cox, is a question
that may be left in abeyance while we con-
slider another matter. How costly these
drives" are was shown by the Inter-
church Movement, which was wrecked on
the rocks Of extravaganza. We have no
details as yet as to the expense which the
Republicans incurred except in three In
stances, but they are instructive and from
them some reasonable conclusions may
be reached.
In Cuyahoga county, o. (Cleveland),
Dudley s. Blossom testified that in comb
ing that district for cash two squads of
20 teams each, the teams consisting OF II
men, were employed, field force of 4S0.
In Cook county, Ill. (Chicago), Frederick
G. Barber, whose salary was 5000 week,
swore that he had 500 expert solicitors on
his payroll. The headquarters expense
of Henry NJ. Blair, embracing rent,
stenographers, clerks, attendants and mes
sengers, was estimated by him at $4,000
a month.
The country had been divided into
regions and zones, each with high-priced
supervisors well supplied with clerical
help; there were organizations In most
Of the States, and, has been shown,
quotas had been assigned to "a cities, In
many Of which squads and teams were
already at work. Outlays at all points,
no doubt, were on the same lavish scale,
noted in Chicago and Cleveland. Besides
salaries ranging from 5000 a week down.
ward, there were handsome allowances
for expenses" and there were dinners and
luncheons galore. Regional directors re-
work ers from SIS to Sl00.
This drive, as stated by Treasurer
Upham, has been actively in progress all
along the line since July / last, although,
as he says, he made his quota for States
early in 1912 and had collected before
the meeting of the National Convention
in June last s1,S00,000. If the head
quarters expense, admitted by "Get-the-
Money" Blair to be $4,000 month, is
to cover period of one year as is probable
for preparations for the grand raid must
have been made long ago, we shall have
In that one item an outlay of $40, 900,
which Is more than one-quarter of the
sum first named by Chairman Hays
The overhead" at Chicago was large, of
course, because it applied to headquarters,
where the experts and the efficients
congregated, but the drive
itself was conducted on the same generous
scale, as we have seen by the testimony of |
Barber and Blossom, and the conclusion |
must be that the total expense has been |
or is to be prodigious.
From what has been developed by the |
Senate committee, In spite of the repeated |
attempts of its Republican members to
smother the inquiry, it is evident that /
Chairman Hays $3,079,000 would not
have sufiiced to pay the salaries and ex-
penses of his thousands of gold-diggers
If that young gentleman were as wise as
ne is smart he would acknowledge the /
accuracy of Governor Cox's estimate of
SIS, 900, 900, sum which former Senator
Weeks of M Massachusetts, says business
men can well afford to pay for a Repub-
lcan administration.