Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-09-28
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN FUNDS
ARE RUNNING LOW
Daily Letter by Frederic }. HaslSfn

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24-Cam-
patgn funds are running low this
year. No authoritative statistics
have been compiled, but on a con-
sentative estimate dimes are being
dragged in where dollars formerly
flowed in, and it is not to be over
looked that there is a decided differ
ence between dragging" and flow
ing"
All Of which mean that the poll
ticians of all parties are up against
it. They have on their hands a fight
that would call normally for larger
expenditures than have ever been
made for such purposes, and they
are discovering that they will have
only about a tenth of the
that they should be able to COM
mand. Party organizations have al
most doubled in size since all the
women have suffrage, and the de-
mands that are made on the COM
mites have more than doubled, but
when the hat is passed it comes back
practically empty.
Men who r responsible for fl
nancing the various committees are
growing gray and haggard. Others
who have always counted in CAM
paign years on lucrative employment
vi Ia NASiA
the committees are jobless and con-
tractless. 1t is a sad situation. The
Glooms have driven all the Joys out
of politics.
1t is not many years since a nat
ional chairman announced that in
his judgment contributions to cam
paign funds should be limited to
81, 900 and another politician of
equal prominence declared that that
limit was too high-$100 should be
the maximum.
This year the man who could get
thousand dollar donations would be
hailed as his party's savior, while
the hundred dollar producer would
be rated as little less than a gem
ius.
Those who would question the
truth of this, need only go to the
headquarters of either of the domi-
nant parties and undertake to sell
any plan or proposition that in
wolves the spending of money. They
will be convinced in short order.
They will hear tales of poverty that
are more than distressing, and, what
is more to the point, they will find
it next to impossible to do business
with the committees for the good
and sufficient aso that the COM
mittees have no money with which
to do business.
One Mans Sad Experience
One man whose business is in the
line of campaign publicity features
had a particularly unhappy expert
ence in Washington this week. He
had worked out a plan that had
everything to recommend 1t and that
he was confident of selling to a GER
tain committee as soon as he could
lay it before the chairman. He ex-
pected a contract representing sever
al thousands of dollars. He got
what tradition says the little boy
shot at.
Did you sell your proposition"
a friend inquired.
Did I sell it?" he echoed. Say.
that chairman isn't buying. he's SELL
ing! He sold me a poverty and hard
luck story that was so sad we wound
IN weeping on each others shoul-
der and before / left he had me dig
cling up a ten-spot to help keep his
| committee out of the poorhouse. And
guess I was lucky to get OF at
that price!" .
AS vet no one has come forward
| with a satisfactory explanation OF
the state of affairs. The same indi-
| viduals and the same interests that
| heretofore have been interested in
| the succe of this or that party to
the extent they would contribute
freely and more or less literally to
campaign funds are-presumably-
| still interested. There are as many
reasons why they should contribute
in 1922 as in 1920, or 1916. or 1900,
or in any other year. Our political
methods have not changed. 1t has
not been unlawful to 10 that which
will cause a campaign treasurer to
smile.
AS a matter Of fact. this having
been a t~ariff-making year 1t would
be taken for granted hat contribu-
lions would be more liberal and
more numerous than ordinarily.
| Moreover, a bitterly contested cleo
| ton is in prospect, with a possibility
Of a shift in the party control of the
| legislative branch of the govern
ment, and that would be expected,
normally. to be productive OF fat
| party exchequers.
In the ACE of all this the actual
| situation 1t the time the campaign
! should be in full swing is little short
| Of appalling to the party workers.
and that may be said for both the
Republicans and Democrats. Ex-
pected contributions simply are not