Evening star., 1930-12-12
SENATE COST TAG
BEING PREPARED
Toilers in Office of Nye Tab
uIate Sheet Showing Cam
paign Expenditures.
BY LEMUEL r. PARTON.

OA LEM OEL Es GhA1ONs
Toilers in the ONCE Of Senator
Gerald p. Nye, chairman Of the Select
Committee on Senatorial Campaign
Expenditures, are working on a sheet
which will be q sort of cost tag for the
United States Senate.
When the figures are all added up
they are expected TO show just how
much 1t costs to man the Upper House
Of Congress. 1t will set opposite each
record Of expenditures the number Of
votes obtained for this amount of
money, thus allowing computations Of
the ratio Of money and votes. The
total Of expenditures for the last pri-
mary and general election campaigns
Will run into many millions. No final
estimate Is now possible, as the In
complete records show only what the
candidates say they spent. The COM
mittee Is compiling additional figures
of its own.
Legislative Remedy Planned.
The writer, noting on Senator Nye's
sheet entries all the way from Senator
Glass cents to Joseph r. Grundys
$42O, ,701, asked Senator Nye what was
to be done about it, II anything
whether this summary of heavy spend
Ing would constitute a possible chal-
lenge of the direct primary law, in
strument of democracy and the doom
Of the bosses.
We are working on constructive
remedies" he said, "and no matter how
many millions the total shows, it will
give no ground for an attack on the
direct primary. Nobody wants the old
ooSs-ridden convention back"
Senator Nye was asked whether the
remedy, remedy would be legislative or edu-
Legislative" he said. "After we
have finished our Computation Of 1osS
expenditures in the primary and gem
eral election campaigns, I will intro
duce at the next session Of Congress
a law with teeth in 1t, governing pri-
mary expenditures. It is perfectly
feasible to do this. and 1t is my opinion
that the hugh expenditures Of money
and the supposed advantages enjoyed
by rich men In campaigning for the
Senate are due to inadequacy of the
present law.
Ask New Primary Law.
I'VE will fight for q law to put n
decent limitation on expenditures.
not only by the candidate himself. but
by others In his behalf. We hope to
make 1t possible to tell where the
money comes from to elect candidates
and Just how it Is spent. There is
ample legal and constitutional basis for
such legislation
Senator Nye said o number Of polit-
ical economists on the faculties of
American universities were cooperating
with the committee in preparing the
forthcoming remedial legislation.
a.
Rions. 1t probed the Pennsylvania
campaign in an executive session today.
Nothing was given out as to total ex-
penditures in that, State, but It was
learned from q reliable source that
about $1,500,0O0 had already been
chalked UP. Massachusetts, and Colo
RADIO viii be taken up Monday.
The committee, in its travels and its
probing. has turned up money machi-
nations which sound like tales of SOCK
less Jerry Simpson and the Populists.
They have found the loose purse
strings about evenly divided as between
the Republicans and Democrats.
@. o. p. Gets Moneys Worth.
There are many interesting deduc-
tions to be made from Senator Nye's
huge sheet Of foolscap. One Of them
is that the Republicans seem to know
11IOtC &0Out BStIlDB bflelI moneys worth
than the Democrats. The writer ex-
amined the records Of 40 States in
which there were contests in both par
ties, making possible q comparison of
money spent and votes obtained in each
group. In the 1880 primary the Re-
publican top spender was returned the
winner in 10 States out of the Is for
which returns are in. with only 8 high
spenders losing. In the Democratic
group 5 top spenders won and 10 lost.
Thus, the Republicans scored 769 per
cent victories with their high-money
candidates and the Democrats 1913 per
cent
This, Of course, might be construed
as demonstrating the superior economic
efficiency Of the Republicans, If good
economics means getting more for your
money but Senator Nye is not cunning
for either party, and no such compar-
iSonS will appear on the big sheet. But,
all in all, it will be unique expense
account, from which all sorts Of con-
illusions may be drawn.
(Copyright, le3o)