Evening star., 1937-01-25
Politics Is Business.

If any one ever doubted that politics
Is business, the discussion of finances in
the meeting of the Democratic National
Committee would effectually remove that
doubt. Furthermore, 1t is big business.
For, under the proposal of w. Forbes
Morgan, treasurer of the committee, 1t is
planned to go ahead and raise S10O00,0O0
to be expended by the Democratic Ma
tional Committee during the next four
years, particularly in the last of the
four years, when the Democrats will again
seek to elect President. A million
dollars will be needed this year, according
to Mr.. Morgan. OF this s50o,0oo would
be used to pay off the committees deficit
and the remainder to carry on the activi-
ties Of the national organization, with
particular emphasis on keeping the State
organizations in good running order.
The gross receipts of the campaign Of
1886 were almost s4,000,000. including
S335,0O0 of borrowed money, Mr.. Morgan
reported to the committee. But this was
not enough to conduct the campaign.
The Democratic treasurer believes that
In time of peace-the off political years
1t is wise to build up the war chest for
future campaigns. If he has his way,
the committee will have on hand suff1-
cient funds always to keep out of the
red. Admittedly keeping out of the red
is both wise and desirable. At the same
time, the Democrats are planning to do
quite a bit of spending during 1937-half
q million dollars-when their party is sit
ting on top of the world. Economy does
not seem to be the watchword, although
Of all times, the coming year might be
considered safe time in which to
economize.
When it comes to raising money, the
Democratic National Committee is both
businesslike and versatile. It gives din
ners, to which the faithful are asked to
subscribe, and 1t sells books and other
things. The national committee is plan
ming now a series of victory dinners" to
be given the night Of March 4. the ami
versary Of President Roosevelt's first in
auguration. The price of plate at the
main dinner in Washington is to be sl00,
of which the committee hopes to realize
nearly $95. 1t has already sold about $50
copies Of de luxe edition Of the Demo-
cratic Convention Book and the Demo-
cratic Book of 1886, autographed by the
President, at $100 per copy. Now 1t pro-
poses to sell 1900 more copies at $3.50
copy. The faithful probably can see what
Is coming to them.
There are three sources Of revenue
for the national committee. The first
is from the disinterested citizens who
sincerely and earnestly believe in Presi-
dent Roosevelt. The second is from those
who have Government jobs and the third
Is from those who hope to have Govern
ment jobs. No attempt is made here to
give the proportions Of the contributions
made by each group. However, bit
of conversation at the recent national
committee meeting may be enlightening.
The Democratic national committeeman
from Michigan, Edmund G. Shields, is
reported to have said that when people
contribute (to the campaign funds) they
want recognition from the powers they
think exist, politically. You would be
surprised how happy contributors were
to get those receipts and to carry them
and show them to us whenever they
wanted something"
This. as Chairman James A. Farley ad-
mitted, was pretty frank"