Evening star., 1924-10-08
Rate by MaiI-Paynble in Advance.
Maryland and Virginia.
All other states.
The Corruption Charge.


rupt practices. raised yesterday at
scranton. is one of those awkward
wCal,ons Il two-cdsed sword. which
may cut both ways. harminG the
wieidcr as we'll AS the enemy. II ID
not an uufamiiar spectacle to see II
swung fiercely in u presidential cam
paign, but it is a singular fact that
rarely, if ever. has it appeared in the
hands of d candidate who has not
ultimately lost the fight.
The specific charge is that an enor-
NOUS fund is being raised by a certain
committee to prevent the election Of
La Toilette, who, according to Il letter
read by the Senator at Scranton, is de-
nounced as 4 dangerous radical men.
acing American institutions. The
ostensible purpose of this fund is to
"buy the election In plain language.
enough votes are to be purchased in
the doubtful or close States to give
the electoral votes of those States to
Coolidge.
Mr.. La Toilette places this prospec-
tive fund at from "a. .000, 900 to S5 .000,.
00o. He calls ii a slush fund, which in
plain terms means a vote-buying fund
The sum of 81 900 900 would, at the
low rate Of s5 a vote. secure some
500, 900 votes. If these were properly
distributed through the States in
which there now appears to be a close
margin between Coolidge and La Fol
Let n he al no
But the absurdlty of such Il l',an,
and therefore the absurdity of such
charge, is apparent Immediately when
the ma gnitude Of the undertaking to
buy the votes of 500 900 or perhaps a
million people is realized. Such a job
could not possibly be pulled off in
secret. Vote sellers are persons Of
loose conscience and wretched judg-
ment, shameless in their corruption.
1t cannot be believed for moment
that in such a great number of politi-
- prOstitutes-if as many as that
5l.st in this "ountry-there would not
5is many &c ,Axpose their own shame
"a therefoi~. the corrupt work Of
desc seducing them.
They are going to buy my voters"
= an old cry. MY voters are not to
- trusted. They are moral weaklings,
.-.o1ing only for profit. I warn you,
4onest men and women, that you are
associated in your support Of me by
.cr of crooks who can be pure. .siSed
- the enemy, and that unless we can
aold those crooks to us we will lose
,Ge election
That is the simple substance Of the
cry Of corruption. 1t is an insult to
the intelligence and the honesty of
those TO whom it il addressed.
Senator Bcr lh. chairman Of SEN
ate committee on campaign fund in
vestigation. says that If direct COM
plaint is filed with him he will at once
summon the committee for an invest-
CATION. That is right. OF course, the
committee cannot very well get TO-
Gcther and develop the facts in time
20 Weld results before election. But
-caanwhile Mr.. La Toilette has served
his purpose of putting his following
c2a guard against being bought. That
Will perhaps hold his supporters in
line. And the topic of corruption
makes a fine talking line which he
may he expected 10 develop effectively
before his audiences. But he should
have enough political memory to real
iZe that the corruption charge is usual
l. regarded by the public as a confess
sion of impending defeat. If he has
any doubt on this point he might con-
suit the Democratic candidate of 1904,
who raised the same cry on the eve
sf the election which overwhelmed
him by an avalanche of votes.