New Britain herald., 1930-05-03
PRIMARY INPENDITJ RES

I-ol II S 1'4Cl ' lIt senate SptCldI committee on campaign cApendi- ,uros frankly declared she was Tn favor ot better safeguards in the eX- pcnditurc Of money 70 secure sena- torlal nominations. The lady ought 10 know for she talks from experience, having expended s244S57 in secur- ng the Illinois nomination over Senator Dcnccn, who only spent $:449S.
 Resides. the lady asked when does a primary campaign begin ? Does 1t begin d few weeks before the primary election date, or docs 1t be- gin several years previous thereto :
 IL was a fair question and remains unanswered. The average politician is Inclined 10 set up his fences all the umc. and possibly going to some ex- pensc occasionally long before there is pubic interest in the coming primary or election.
 The expenditure Of s244S57 to ob- tain the Illinois primary, however, is considerable. The committee sensing the enormous expenditure, '' has announced it will go into it. with the proycrbial hammer and tongz. II is barely possible that tbe upshot will he that Mrs, McCormlc]. will not oe allowed 10 take her seat should she bo elected over J. Ham Lewis. tho Democratic nominee.
 All oc which brings Us back to the rules applying 10 senatorial nominees. There is no federal lcgis- latton about It. The federal corrupt practices act ot 1910 was held un- constitutional in the Newberry case by q five 70 four vote. Subsequent - 1hcn the present corrupt prac- uces act vas passed in 1925, jt Was made 10 apply only 10 elections. and not to primaries.
 Consequently Mrs. MeCormick has no, broken q federal law by eHpend- nS nearly quarter Of million dollars 10 obtain the nomination. Snc has only taken advantage Of il.
 Action against Mrs, Mccormick 0oncrer. is possible under Article i.
 5e.ion 1 ot tho L. s. Constitution Fms provides that leach house shall De tho judge Of the elections. returns and qlauIcattons Of itz members. ''
 This IS inc rock upon which Frank I- smith's ship collapsed in l2-e; 1t vas tho rock upon which William :. Nare's political bark Tas wrecked in 1929. Under this ConstI- utonaj provision. the Senate car judge Of the "quahficauons" Of its members. and f too much money was expended dgring q primary tha' can bc taken as evidence their "qualIcauons" arc below par
 l. must not uo overlooked that in some cases which have been before roc saua,- state laws. and not fed = oral applied. In the case Of sena- tor Noooarrv. for instance, he Wa charged uuh ..o,aung the Michigan la'" eeEarllns primary expenditures If 'ne Michigan law had not occ1 invoked. however. it still would have Ur-7 possible 10 invoke tho Consri- ra1onsl .0le togsrdIng hls "qaauJ- cauone."
 Opponents O. tho primary system ~oo sr. fond oc qc,rung out that such hg.e sums os money wcro rol ,>p7adoa on behalf Of senatorial candidates prior 10 ,hc adoption Of popular rrnlsrts- in most Of tac states invariably overlook the facts of history.
 Before ,ha adoption ot the 17th amendment regarding popular cleo ton os senators. when their cho1cc ! lay with lc@ieIatprc@. there vas more fraud prayttccd and more Of il charged .aan since inc sncndment was adopted. The most famous case was that ot Senator Lorimcr Of Hi nois, resulting in h,s unscatns after stormy public attention.
 The Lortmer case. however, was only one Of F cases before the 17th amendment in which an attempt vas made 10 deprive senators Of their seats because Of the corrupt use oi money in the state legislatures which had elected them The charges. how ever, were dismissed in nine Of these cases; in two the senators resigned and in the case of Senator Lorimer he was unseatcd.
 Fundamentally the prevention ol the use Of huge sums in order tc gain a senatorial nomination are subjects for state study. It ir a mat, ter that could be easily ~urbcd ii the political machines within some of the states were 5uf.icinctly inter. cstcd in achieving this end It is significant that in the two states where large expenditures have figured in recent ycars-Pennsyl- vania and Ilhnois-the political ma. chimes arc q stench in the nostrils Of thoughtful citizens elsewhere.