Milford chronicle., 1940-09-06
LOOKING FORWARD
~ FRhNKLrs WArTAAN
fssliriiS Dlseetor. nepahIican Natlsaaf
Cunzslitse


Wendell Willkie has demonstrated
to the country the kind OF leadership
Il can expect from him II he is elect
ed TO the Presidency. He did this In
connection with the very smelly
campaign book activities Of the DEM
ocratic National Committee.
Likewise Mr.. Willkie has demon-
strated how practical application
with yigor and punch can be given
to platitudes about the moral cli-
mate" Of America and political NOR
ality" OF which President Roosevelt
| Is always talking.
II will be recalled that IN 1885 the
! Democratic National Committee de-
yised the advertising racket in a
Convention Book in order to shake
down corporations for campaign con-
tributiOns and thus eVade the Fed
eral Corrupt Practices Act.
Corporations @FOrced To Buy
Subsequently the committee "sold''
many thousands Of these books to
corporations, first at $3.50 a copy,
then at SIS copy and finally, with
Mr. Roosevelt's autograph as the al
legged bait, at $3.50 a copy. The cor
porations which were forced-and
that word is used literally-to buy
advertising In the book or the books
themselves were with few excep-
tons either doing business with the
Federal Government or under some
form of regulation of the Federal
Government.
The fact that the Democratic Ma
tiOnal Committee took in some ST.
100000 from these operations, as re-
ported by the committee to Congress,
did not arouse public indignation SO
much as did the revelation Of the
methods used to shake down these
corporations
Well-authenticated stories were
put IN the Congressional Record
showing in 1896 that corporations
doing business with the Federal Gov
ernment were threatened, intimi-
dated and cOerced into signing on the |
dotted line-or else.
When these sordid stories became
public 1t might have been expected
that Mr.. Roosevelt would have de- 4
nounced the whole business-w
have rebuked his National Commit
tee for engaging in a project which
so hagrautly violated the Federal
Corrupt Practices Act which makes
unlawful the giving OF taking Of con-
tributions by or from corporations
in connection with the election Of
Federal officers.
Blessed By Roosevelt
Mr.. Roosevelt, of course, did moth
ing of the sort. Indeed, he gave the
whole unlawful mess his benediction
by autogTaphing more than 1000 OF
these books so they could be sold
again to corporations, this time at
the ridiculous price of $3.50 each. Mr..
Roosevelt undoubtedly thought he
was making the bad corporations pay
through the nose for his campaign
expenses. How he must have chuck
led
But old John Q. Public, the aver
age man on the street, did not see
the joke. He was somewhat outrag- Il
ed at such brazen political immoral-
ity. So, when Congress came to re-
wise the Hatch Act several months
ago II undertook to make unlawful !
the merchandising of advertising,
and commodities for the ben
eft of a political campaign. MIR. f.
Roosevelt prOfessed to favor that
although representa- i
ives Of his National Committee did !
heir best TO have It pigeonholed. {
Failing to stop the passage of the {
new law, the representatives of the '
Democratic National Committee de- \
,ided to ignore it. They went ahead Z
With plans for the solicitation of ad-
for this years convention {
,Ook and Mr.. Roosevelt aided and {
Ibetted them by holding the bill for I
light days on his desk before sign y
ng it-until the Democratic Nation n
j Convention was over. III
Announcement Ignored Law \
But even the signing of the law 4
lid not deter the Democratic lead Y
re-. They blandly announced that .
hey proposed to proceed with the I
ale of their Convention Book. The n
My difference from 1886 was that 5
his year they proposed to charge :
My 25 cents for 1t. I
Again, did Mr.. Roosevelt denounce T
his fragrant violation of the law? v
Ie did not Wendell Willkie, how
YER. got quick action with mighty
last about the whole business. Inn s.
after the Willkie attack, ?
ew Deal Attorney General Robert y
|. Jackson pronounced the Demo- =
ratio National Committee plan as ~
So did Democratic Sena- D
II Hatch, author of the legislation n!
such undertakings. Some NJ
ayh have passed-but not one word 81
as been heard from the great prea- ~
lei Of political morality v
Oosevelt. re
II is no wonder that self-respect- ea
e Democrats are deserting their III
irty by the tens of thousands to Sc
lpport Wendell Willkie. They are "
red Of a man who talks one way r.
I'd acts another. N