The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1920-03-31
WOOD BARREL" OUTCRY IS
ECHO Of THE KING EPISODE

: matters r:thcr closely arc inclined 10
! believe that the great bulk Of the money
| spent since January has probably
/ conc from Mr.. Proctor personally.
OF course. all talk about campaign
{ contributions IS always associated win
/ implications OF interests to DE- served
I Out IN South Dakota last week, tor
! example. the air was full Of charges
! that Wood was the candidate OF the
Steel Trust. the Powder Trust and
other corporations. Init! Il Congress
sional investigation discloscs the exact
facts, | believe that these charges
, ar" wide Of the mark. II will probably
lurn out that tn" two largest single
contributions 10 the Wood campaign
/ have come, ono from q man who has
made his money III the manufacture
ui soap, and th" other from another
man whose fortune rests on chewing
sum. Anybody who can figure out
just how any President OF the United
, States could b" Improperly subservient
to- theS" particular varieties OF purely
, ruminativc and ablu"n; commodities
iS welCoIn" 10 tho amusement of his
ingenuity.
Not Wall Street Conspiracy
; The big corporations have learned
~ be wary about contributing TO cam
paign funds. They have been in hot
water too often. 1t is true that there
is one New York corporation man who
mad" himself responsible AT the bank
for the S5".oon not mentioned in SEN
dlbI DSiiI - NIdI SfS. tOuL nc pSlOTSS
20 the newer generation, which hasn't
; learned wisdom yet. The picture which
represents kihE as having been chosen
10 b. Woods manager by a group of
corpol ationS is a joke. King is close
TO Wall Street. it IL true. and doubt
! loss ne got some contributions from
his associations there. But II wasn't
any, Wall Strc-t conspiracy that
wished King on Wood.
The King episode Is evidence Of the
aIuatcurncss Of the Wood campaign,
no, OF its wickedncss. The man who
introduced King TO Wood was Louis
Shirman. the playwright who drama
tizcd Winston HhurchIll's plays and
Oh" Of group Of authors who are
moro Jealous for Wood to be Presi-
dcMt than wise in the ways politics.
Unpuestionably., too much money has
been spent on the Wood campai gn.
Quite apart from any charges If i'm
rr"pri"ty either in TIE getting of this
money or IN The spending OF it, the
larishn"ss with which the money has
propri"ty in itself: and ii not impro-
rricty. II Is certainly within the field
Of foolish unwlSdum. Tn" lavtshness
with which money WAS spent IN South
Dakota was apparent 10 everybody. II
- J." assumed that the amount Of
money spent by Wood IN South Da-.
h0ta Was S5",onG--and this assumption
may bc either too large or too small.
then it might be said that the first
'.n thousand was uSrfuliy expended,
'hH' the second ton thousand was OF
no n"lr aud that The third ten thou
sHnd began tr HAY" actually miSchiev-
Gus effects IN ttr creation OF a sentt-
mint Of reaction against such e1traEas
$4,000 for Advertising
WH.i" II = not prUbabl" that Lowdeu
las spent rs muCn money throughout
n" c"u't.! - Wood has. The guess Of
nj.
;nar II that S'a'" Lo"dcn spent fully
IS much aS Wood The State head
quarters of each Va equally elaborate;
. tn" ADV 'rtiN'mCn;S "t Zach in the news
rap"rs serm"d ~ b. roughly equal IN
quantity; m"r""v'r good deal Of the
gossip Hh"ul LoWdru expenditures con-
- rued its'.lt with an clahorately printed
.,ud illustrated booklet about Lowden
. Wh."ii Was circulated through the state
Gossip >aId--ard IN this particular field
gossip Is NOR" than usually liable to
= rrr--tha' COPY of this booklet had
E,,r SONY tn every male voter N the
state. that ~" hn"klCts cost forty cents
.a'u. and 'nIt The cApcnse Of mailing
:h'.u waS four cents. If gossip In this
"asc Is onj" t~"uiy-iive percent correct.
the amour. involved would 30 very
IarEc.
Gossip IS noiOriously inaccurate in
this field. Observing the quantity OF
Wood advertising in the South Dakota
. papers, and bCtuE familiar with the cost
oil advertising, estimated lIldl inc
Wood expenditures IN newspaper adver-
. tisinE alone must have been close to
$4,000: but later. when discussed this
potn with one of the Wood managers,
was con, inccd that the amount was less
than $4,000.
Beyond Standards Of Propr1sty
In the same way one OF the Lowde1
managers told me that the Wood mon
ayers had made single contract to
spend $4,000 on poster and billboard
n6N-artjSinP in T1linpiS. hlt when II
looked further into this charge, I dis,
covered that il rested on nothing moro'
-, ICouunueI On rage Toni II,