Evening star., 1938-01-11

over the country, D,v;d ,,wr.,o.
the banquets were
attended very largely by Federal Office
holders or by persons who had profited
directly or indirectly through the
$4,800,000 lump sum recovery"
appropriation placed by Congress at
the disposal of the New Deal execu-
tives.
There's no law against soliciting
money from officeholders unless you
happen to be an officeholder or Fed
eral employe yourself. BY one means
or another, they manage to get $1o0
more or less from every officeholder
who can possibly afford it and whether
or not he goes to the dinners. In ad-
dition, Of course, the Democrats get
money directly or indirectly from some
Of Americas 80 families" or their
heirs and they do not hesitate to sell
campaign books at $3.50 apiece to
some of those self-same corporations
which are the object of so much atten-
ton by the administration spokesmen,
from the President down.
But, when all is said and done. the
Democrats have found a way to
finance themselves which does not
depend primarily on the rich people
OF the country. They get a lot of
relatively small contributions from
lot OF people instead of a small num-
Der Of big contributions from a few
people.
Wallace Explains II,
Perhaps the best statement of the
case was made by that frank and
straightforward public servant who, no
matter how you differ with him on
public policies, remains the most
objective personality in the whole New
Deal-the Honorable Henry Wallace.
secretary OF Agriculture Speaking at
his home town, Des Moines at the
jackson Day dinner there, he said In
part:
They tell me the people who at.
tended this banquet have paid s25
each, and that at least $40 Of this
money goes into the Democratic cam.
palgn fund. Some people criticize
this way Of raising money. I think
1t is much superior to most of the
ways by which party funds have
been raised in the past.
1T is all important, in my opinion,
tnat both parties should receive their
. FUNDS as nearly as possible from q
multitude OF small gifts. There was
Time when the campaign funds of
Doth parties came largely from the
great corporations or from those who
mad made their money out of great
corporations. In the future I trust
the day will come when there will
be literally millions Of small contrib
utors to both parties -,
I wish all individuals identified
With other parties might also have
an opportunity to support those par
ties by small contributions. When the
day comes when party funds are so
derived We shall have a truly healthy
political situation in this country.
6otn parties will belong to the people"
A Distinct Challenge.
In that last phrase is the challenge
TO Glenn Frank and the Republican
group who have undertaken to re-
organize the Republican party. Will
the Republican party become again
as 1t was in the days of Abraham
Lincoln and in the days of Theodore
Roosevelt? True, in the time of ct.
r. he was denouncing the male
factors OF great wealth." but pri-
Vately he was writing to the late E. H,
Hartman, the railroad magnate, that
you and are practical men," and
his party was receiving large contri-
buttons from big business men Of
the country.
Theodore Roosevelt, however, was
ahrewd enough to see that the true
test OF his progressivism was whether
ne needed the reactionary point of
view OF the large campaign con-
tributors or merely accepted their
financial aid on the theory that they
We're oeneficiaries OF Nations pros
perity and ought to help him be.
cause he believed his formula would
preserve prosperity by avoiding reyo-
!utlon. He sent on December 2, 1902.
!or instance, a message to Congress
IN which he vigorously denounced
monopoly and appealed for Federal
control OF corporations, but he nut his
plea Tor reform on this ground:
lnsistence upon the impossible
means delay in achieving the possible.
exactly as, on the other hand, the
Stubborn defense alike Of what is
good and what is bad in the existing
tystem, the resolute effort to obstruct
any attempt at betterment, betrays
blindness to the historic truth that
wise evolution is the sure safeguard
against revolution"
The Republican party TODAY is in
the throes of reorganization. Within
1t are many men who still feel as
IT. r." did about monopoly and about
certain evils in big business opera
lions, but they are apt to be over
awed by the other men in the party
who think the Republican party must
stand or fall on orthodoxy and ultra
conservatism and give not an inch
to the trend of the day because this
Is ,ridiculed as New Dealism."
Would Electrify Party,
II the new Policy Committee could
dnd way to finance the Republican
party by small contributions an in.
dependence would be asserted that
would remake the party and give 1t
. real backbone OF progressivism.
But the task is admittedly difficult.
The Federal machinery and Federal
funds are in Democratic hands. Even
Mr.. Wallace's constituents in the realm
OF agriculture-the county agents and
county committees formed by the
A. A. A.-played big part in the
1885 campaign. In fact, the billions
OF dollars Of public money spent for
Agriculture in the form Of direct pay
ments and benefits were themselves
IN influence upon rural voters, s,of
which they were intensively reminded
IA Septemher and October. 1874. hv