Evening star., 1920-05-28
S5OQ,0DO REFUSAL
AIDED Mr.. WILSON
TO BEPRES|DENT
Declining of W. C. Procter's
Gift to Princeton Led to
Political Step.
ny DAVID LAWRENCE.


William Cooper Procter's half-mil-
| lion dollar contribution to the cam
paign fund of Gen. Leonard Wood
stirred fond recollections here today
in the minds OF many friends Of Presi-
dent Wilson. who pointed out that an
other half million dollars contributed
just ten years ago this month in an
other cause had as much to do with
j, eleCting Woodrow Wilson to the
presidency as any other circumstance
!; in his political journey TO the White
House.
! Mr.. Proctor gave $500. 900 in 1910 to-
: ward the establishment OF Il graduate e
gchool in Princeton University. OF
which Mr. Wilson was then the presi :
dent. but the latter turned the gift
down because the Cincinnati soap
manufacturer attached certain condl-
tons to the expenditure of the money
which involved the retention of GER
tain personnel in the college. Mr..
Wilson argued that gifts should come
without strings attached and the IN
cdent provoked such a controversy
among Princeton alumni that II LED
Air. Wilson To resign reluctantly the
presidency Of the college and accept
the guhernatorial nomination when
the democratic leaders in New Jersey
were eager for him to take. Again
and again that half million dollars
among Princeton men as the Hrst
important contribution toward Mr..
Wilson's first campaign for the presl-
dency.
Nr. Proctor Seen ms Unselhsh.
Mr.. Procters testimony in defense
of his expenditures for Gen. Wood
did not create the Impression that he
contributed large sums of money for
any selfish purpose. He contributed
heavily to the Hughes campaign in
1916. Cross s-examination on the stand
rather led to the conclusion Of disin-
terested observers that MIR. Proctor is
the kind of a man who was persuaded
by ardent and enthusiastic friends OF
, Gen. Wood that he ought 70 use his
fortune to help advance the candidacy
Of so vigorous character as Gen
Wood
OF course, the game OF roping men
of wealth into political campaigns is
an art in itself. and in every case the
patriotic opportunity" offered TO the
man of means is emphasized rather
than any suggestion OF personal ad-
vantage in the form of political office.
On the other hand il has been GUS
tomary for successful candidates to
the presidency not to forget some OF
the wealthiest contributors TO their
campaign funds. either in ambassa
dorships or cabinet posts.
4 The bold action of Gov. Lowden of
Illinois. in spending considerable
inOrey 10 pe nOUilldttu-Out SptHuIHs
it out of his own pocket rather than
be under obligations to any individual
or group of individuals is a marked
contrast to the method in which the
Wood campaign has been conducted
though the general is not wealthy and
was dependent entirely upon the
voluntary contributions of interested
friends. The general himself doesn't
! solicit campaign contributions. Few
candidates ever do. It's when the men
4 yx-h or nd n nA l.
date do the soliciting for funds that
the embarrassing promises are made.
Even President Wilson found after
the first campaign in 1912 that some
1 of his managers had promised jobs md
certain courses of action Of which he
had no knowledge with the result that
= the President-elect met some bitter
feeling inside his own party at the
outset. some of the grudges still re-
imaining.
The whole effort of the inves stigat-
ing committee of the Senate is to
4 show that the various candidates for
the presidency are being backed by
individuals or private interests who
will have string on the next Presi-
ident of the United States. OF course,
there is no proof Of that even in the
case of the largest contributions. but
il is within the power of congress
does just the same. The Kenyon in
vestigating committee gets plenty of
publicity. The reporters attend en-
masse. 1nsinuating questions which
might provoke many a libel suit if
asked outside of Congress by one in
dividual of another are given the wild
est currency. Both sides suffer
Supoena With Freedom.
Men are subpoenaed without a scin-
itilla of evidence. Bernard NJ. Baruch
was called purely on the basis of a
story published in the Hearst papers
tn - 4
million dollar fund for Mr.. McAdoo.
1t turns out that Mr.. Baruch swears
that he didn't contribute a cent On
the other hand the effort to besmirch
A. Mitchell Palmer by the implication
that he got contributions from con-
Germs which evaded their income tax
obligations and were later required to
pay millions of dollars in back taxes
to the Treasury is in effect a critf-
cism of the Department of Justice,
which would never have anything to
! do with income tax matters. even
though a concern were guilty Of eva
sion The administration of the in
come tax and indeed all prosecutions
are conducted by the Treasury De-
partment's law officers. who are onIv
technically on the Department of Jus
tice's roster.
The whole episode is another in
stance of the way congressional
committee can be handled for parti-
san political purposes, though in the
present instance the effort is entirely
inspired by the Johnson followers in
the Senate and is aimed not merely
at democrats. but at republican rivals
of Senator Johnson. Again and again.
congressional committees have con-
Quoted inquisitions of this kind with
out proving anything especially. but
raising political smoke screens of
doubt and insinuation. The present
pre-convention campaign has been a
costlier one than usual, but the ex-
penditures have been distributed over
more candidates and the cbntests
!. under the primary system are more
responsible for the situation than any
newly developed cupidity or political
corruption. Most OF the money has
been spent in publicity and adyer-
tising, and not in buying votes.
II CCopvr;0ht 1oo0