Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-28
Politics at Large
By C. Could Lincoln.

| ed In the nomination OF Representa-
tive William s. Ware, q "wet," for the
| Senate, the Senate investigating COM
mattee Is now busily at work in Chi
cago digging UP information regarding
large expenditures in the Republican
primary which nominated Col. Frank
l.. Smith, an anti-world courier, also
for the Senate. 1t seems the irony of
| fate that this should be the work Of a
1 committee headed by Senator Jim"
Reed of Missouri, who Is q bitter.
ender against American adherence to
the World Court, and who Is also a
wet" If these Investigations should
result in denying seats to both these
Republican nominees-in the event Of
their subsequent elections-the vic
| tories OF the vets in Pennsylvania
and of the anti-World Court group in
Illinois will be largely wasted so far
as increasing the strength of the
"wets" and the irreconcilables in the
Senate itself is concerned. There is
no doubt, however, that the wet VIC
! tory in Pennsylvania and the wide
| publicity which 1t received has added
impetus to the drive for modification
| or repeal of the Volstead dry law,
! and that the victory of Smith in
Illinois encouraged greatly the Sen
ators opposing the World Court.
X X 4
Senator Reed is Democrat. and the
work he has been doing as chief ex-
aminer Of the Senate investigating
| committee, the Democrats hope, may
| result in aiding the election of Demo
cratic Senators not only in Illinois and
in Pennsylvania, but in other States.
| The election Of a Democratic Senator,
however, in Pennsylvania would bring
TO the Senate a dry in the person Of
| former Secretary of Labor William b.
Wilson of the Wilson cabinet. He
would also be a supporter of Amer
| lean adherence to the World Court.
| 1t must be admitted that it would re-
| quire practically a political revolu-.
ton to bring about the election of a
Democratic Senator in the keystone
| State.
In Illinois George E. Brennan, the
Democratic nominee for the Senate,
is wet of the wringing type. Fur
thermore. in view of the. wet senti-
| ment in the State. particularly in Cook
County, which is Chicago; in East
Louis and in other populous cities of
the State, Mr.. Brennan will pole a
! very large vote. Some of his sup
| porters insist he will win. Here, too,
there must be a tremendous turn
tory. Mr.. Brennan's chances next
November seem far brighter than
| those of Mr.. Wilson in Pennsylvania.
y
Already in the investigation of the
Illinois Republican primary it has
| been developed that more than a
quarter of a million dollars was ex-
pended for both Col. Smith and his
opponent. Senator William b. Nc
Kinley, respectively. This figure may
be greatly increased before the in
quiry ends. Furthermore, there have
been charges of gross corruption,
though these have not yet been def
nitely established. When former Sen
ator Truman H. Newberry of Mich
igan was nominated and elected over
Henry Ford in 1918, 1t later developed
about $685. was expended for him
in both the primary and the election.
The cost of elections, like the cost of
living, has apparently gone up since
those days, and a. dollar expended for
campaigning does not go as far as 1t
did eight years ago. The Newberry
case created a furore here in Wash
ington, and while Newberry was seat
ed, he eventually resigned and retired
from the Senate because of the un-
pleasant HOtoIISLS tho SohISSe AAeNN
brought about.
4 \ 4
II was in 1912 that the Senate by a
vote of SIS to % threw out Senator
BILLY" Lorimer, Republican, of I'LL.
nois. after charges of corruption had
been made in connection with his cleo
ton in 1909 by the State Legislature.
In those days the direct election Of
Senators did not exist. 1t was not
until 1918, that the constitutional
amendment for the election OF SEN
ators by popular vote was adopted. 1t
may be noted in passing that the d.
rect election of Senators and the pri-
mary system were not responsible Tor
the Lorimer case, nor for that OF Sen
ator William A. Clark of Montana, who
a few years earlier had been accused
of corrupting a State Legislature to
bring about his election. The prf-
mary system has been assailed by its
opponents since the revelations In the
PENNSYLVANIA primary this year and
declared responsible for the large ex-
penditures of money in Senate nomi-
nations and elections. The primary
system is not so much at 1ault as
some of the candidates and their sup
porters operating under that system.
In the Lorimer election 1t developed
that Jackpot" or slush fund OF $780,
900 was raised to influence members
of the State Legislature to vote for
Lorimer The Lorimer case hung on
for three years. The first vote IN the
senate was taken in 1911 and Lorimer
was declared entitled to his seat by
a. vote of 46 to 40. But later evidence,
unearthed first by an Investigating
committee of the Illinois State SEN
ate. was responsible for a second in
yestigation by the Senate committee
on privileges and elections. initiated
hy the late Senator Robert M. La Fol-
Iette of Wisconsin. 1t is coincidence
that Senator Robert NJ. La Toilette,
ir., of Wisconsin Is now sitting as a
member of the Senate COMMITTEES
which is investigating the Illinois
primaries.
The testimony In the Lorimer case
was to the effect that Edward Hines,
head of Chicago lumber company, had
raised the slush fund for the election
Of Lorimer. In fact, Charles s. Funk,
an official of the International Harves-
ter Co., testified that he had been ap-
preached by Funk with a request that
his company donate $4,000 toward the
800 900 fund.
One of the facts developed by the
Senate committee in its present inves-
tigation in Illinois is that Samuel In
sui, public utility magnate, was the
bright particular angel of the Smith
campaign for the senatorial nomina-
ton, contributing more than $125, 900
to the Smith cause Mr.. Insul was
catholic in his tastes, however, for
he contributed lesser amounts to
the candidacy of George e. Brennan.
putting up $4,000 OF the total $4,000
which Mr.. Brennan admits was ex-
pended by him and his managers in
his campaign for the Democratic NOM