The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-10-18
MACDOWELL HAS ANOTHER
IDEA--COMES BACK WITH
USUAL CHARGES OF GRAFT
Leader Editor Beclouds Issue With Mouthings
Peculiar to His Kind-ldaho People
Cannot be Misled by Puerile
Attempt to Discredit State

is any "swag" to be handed out 1t is
handed to the newspaper that re-
mains silent on disagreeable truths
which the public ought to know, and
as a peace offering the "swag" is
handed to such publishers. When
the Idaho Republican cannot pay its
operating expenses it goes to the
bank and borrows the money and
does not go out among local men to
gather up enough "swag" to pay Its
bills and get released from threat
ened attachments.
No Slush Funds
In the fifth paragraph of Mac
Dowell's letter he refers to publish
ers getting their hands into the
enormous slush funds provided by
the Republican central committee of
Idaho This shows once more how
much Mr. Mcdowell is out Of touch
with current events. The Republi-
can central committee has not had
any money IN its treasury for months
and has even been short of money to
buy postage stamps, saying nothing
of having any slush funds to hand
out to anybody. In the campaign
referred to two years ago, if there
was any slush fund the Idaho Re-
publican did not receive cent of it,
but received commercial advertising
rates for political advertisements
published for the Republican central
committee and treated them thruout
just the same as other people who
took commercial advertising. Mr..
Mcdowell merely guessed at this
and Judging other people by himself
he guesses that there must be some
slush fund and division of slush fund
or there would be no action by any
body such as he refers to. He is
probably moved by the prospect of
getting easy money and assumes that
all other men are actuated by the
same thing.
We do not believe that the Idaho
Statesman received one dollar from
the slush fund, but we believe they
did receive payment for the display
advertising done for the Republican
central committee. What they did
draw from that campaign was libel
suit for publishing those display adj
vertisements and they had to expend
a large sum Of money defending in
court to show that what was printed
In those advertisements was abso-
lutely true. This was the suit
brought by Ray McKaig in which he
tried to prove that he was not an
associate of Kate Richards O'Hare
and that he did not give aid and COM
fort to the enemy of his country.
The "Kept Press"
The Nonpartisans levy against
their membership for a definite fee
to be used for keeping their press.
They are the only organization we
know of that do those things and
they, judging that others are like
themselves, not willing to operate
press unless they are kept, have per-
sistently referred to the independent
commercial newspapers of the state
as the kept press" The Idaho Re-
publican is a commercial enterprise
rendering an advertising and news
service from which it makes its ex-
penses and profit most of the time.
1t is a taxpayer, never having al
lowed its taxes to be delinquent for
half minute, sustains payroll and
always pays it in cash and never
keeps anybody in its employ who is a
deadbeat or does not pay with rea-
sonable promptness all their debts
about the community. Nobody Sup
ports us without getting equal Sup
port in return, for we give dol
lars worth of service for every dollar
we accept in our treasury.