Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-11
mfr. orundy: Yes, sir.

''Mr. 0rundy: Yes, sir.
Senator Caraway: And you were
down here to see that they got their
money back?
"Mr. Grundy: Yes, sir. I was help
| ing every way could"
Here is q frank and open statement
| by Mr.. Grundy of the reasons why great
campaign funds are collected. 1t Is Tor
| the purpose Of influencing legislation IN
favor Of those seeking special favorS at
the hands Of Congress.
Il Is not uncommon to hear It said
! that If such legislation is passed, the
party responsible for its passage will not
be able to receive revenues for party
purposes.
Beginning Of Big Bribery.
The extensive use Of money in cleo
| tions In this country did not really be-
| gin until the early COS. In 1895 one
| of the most successful national politi-
| clans this country has ever produced,
Mark Hanna, whose daughter, Ruth
Hanna Mccormick, just received the
Republican nomination for Senator in
the State of Illinois, managed McKin-
ley's campaign. He systematized and
deep in the soil Of American politics,
| namely, the practice of assessing cor
porationS and business men who might
| be benefited or injured by legislative
action. The campaign fund Of 1895
was unprecedented in its size and in
the rapidity with which 1t was collected
during the closing days of the cam
paign. Mr.. Hanna established the nee
eSSary connections with financial cir
cles and then organized the collection
Of contributions as carefully as he had
previously organized the distribution Of
reading matter. Banks, insurance COM
| panieS and other large corporations
were assessed in accordance with their
wealth and in accordance with the BEN
ef1ts which they were supposed to re-
.ceive. AS a corallarY to the practice
Of assessing corporations, 1t was found
| that large corporations would contrib
ute to both parties in order to make
sure that their business interests would
be protected which ever was in power.
| Sometimes the money was given freely
and voluntarily and sometimes 1t was
demanded by political leaders.
Following the enactment of the Fed
era1 lew prohibiting corporate contri-
buttons. men of great wealth connected
with great enterprises would give the
| money. This was the case OF Mr..
| Smith in Illinois. for whose campaign
Mr.. insult, connected with the public
| service corporations in Illinois and
throughout the country, put up most
| Of his money.
While corrupt practice acts have been
enacted in practically all Of the States
| in the Union today and We have Law
upon the statute books Of the United
States passed in 1928, relating to the
election of United States Senators, there
is no law upon the statute books at the
present time relating to primary cleo
lions Of persons to the United States
Senate or to Congress.
First Publicity Law.
The first national publicity Law was
passed in 1910. The next year the law
was amended, extending its application
to candidates for nomination and cleo
ton to the offlces of Representatives
and Senators in Congress. Another
amendment was passed in 1918. These
constitute the sum total Of the Federal
laws up to 1925.
The decision by the Supreme Court
Of the United States in the Newberry
case was a severe blow to those who
| favored legislation prohibiting corrupt
practices in elections. The Newberry
case was a five-to-four decision, four
members of the Supreme Court holding
| the law constitutional, four members
| holding in substance that Congress had
no authority to pass laws regulating
primary expenditures and one member
of the court, Mr.. Justice McKenna hold
| ing it unconstitutional because it was
passed before the enactment of the law
providing for the election of Senators
| by the direct vote of the people.
While we have no adequate laws upon
the statute books dealing with campaiSn