The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-01-13
ON SECOND THOUGHT
BY JAY E. HOUSE
(From Philadelphia Public Ledger.l

The introduction of a bill in con-
gress to limit expenditures in elections
to a nominal sum is noted by the te1e-
graph. We wish our representatives
in congress wouldn't do that sort of
thing. AS a good American citizen,
the congress at Washington is the
only one we have. We should like
to be proud of it. We cannot be
proud of it so long as it INDUCES in
impra ctical, visionary and hypocritical
horseplay. And that's all legislative
attempts to limit expenditures in cleo
lions come to.
Any man gifted with thimbleful
of brains and an ounce of experience
in politics knows that an attempt to
limit expenditures in politics by leg
islative enactment is a futile proceed
ing. 1t is a play to the gallery; a
refuge for the shdking aspens of pol
itics. The expenditure of great sums
of money in political campaigns is
regrettable thing. 1t is a thing the
candidate regrets as much as anybody.
Nobody likes to spend lot of money
getting himself elected to office But
no method has yet been devised to
prevent it; probably no such method
can be devised.
We ran twice for office and were
! thus involved in four campaigns-two
pre-primary adventures and two with
the electorate. And, gosh, how we
hated it all! Each campaign cost ten
times as much money as could legally
be expended under the Corrupt Prac-i
tees Act. Not dollar of it was i'm
properly used; it was all spent 1egiti-
mately. After the campaigns were
over we filed sworn staten ents show
! ing that we had kept within the law,
and the documents were filed away in
! the archives of a state together with
the sworn statements of senators, gov
errors, congressman and others who
| had also perjured themselves like gem
| tlemen.
Every attempt to regulate the prae-
| tice seems to make the matter worse.
At the time they were adopted pri-
mary election laws were believed to be
a panacea for the evil. 1t costs any
where from five to twenty times as
much to run for office now as it did
under the system which was swept
! out of existence on a great wave of
popular indignation.
| We now are about to comply with
| the request of a customer who sent US
copy of Conrad's Victory and
asked us to read and comment on it
| honestly and without resort to Japery
of any sort. When. at 10 o'clock in
the evening, we sat down to peruse
! it AdelaiRe said, you'll never read
| that book" And her intuition seemed,
as usual to be correct. We found it
prosy, indefinite and meandering in
construction and sorely lacking i'll
terminal facilities. Two or three times
1--we had the impulse to throw Vic
! tory at the picture over the blue
davenport. We never can tell whether
| that picture is a sunrise, a sunset,
clump of date palms or a storm OF
the prairies- We hate it with all the
emotion of rough, untrammeled ma
| ture, but it was painted by a gentle
imam FRIEND of Adelaide's and we
have endured thru the years for that
reason.
Meanwhile, Adelaide had retired for
the night. A little later we heard her
| pattering down the hall and she came
into the living room, wiping the i'm
perceptible cobwebs of recalcitrant
sleep from her eyes. "Aren't you
lever coming to bed?" she asked. IT'S
after o'clock and I haven't slept a
wink. Every time I doze off you turn
a page and wake me up; you can't
finish that book tonight" But we did.
| Conrad has something. We don't
know what it is. but he has it.
| There was time when the asser-
! ton of a gifted fellow columnist that
one has one chance in five of filling
B
have intrigued us. But, having re-
/ Gently filled a flush against king
full, we merely ask, What of it?
While our interest lags, we are
| frank to say the incident was not with
| out value to US. We fancy it will be
months before we again have the
| temerity to tilt the pot before the
draw on such security as a potential
flush provides.
1
| Our hat is off to the New York Tri-
bune.- Somebody on that paper knows
what ''ratiocination" means, and the
Trib linotypers can spehi it.
| OF all the words. 'ratiocination"
gives US the most trouble. ''Esoteric"
for years gave US a hard battle, but
we finally subdued it and it now fol-
lows US everywhere.
We did intend to purl a jest from
| Mr.. Wright's asseveration that ut is {.
! godsend to all who feel that they have
work to do that requires clear think
! ing" But consideration of the aspects
of the intended jest impels us to leave
it lay" Anybody can purl a jest from
such material.