Evening star., 1949-06-12


terest, appropriate money for con
gressional as well as presidential
campaigns.
1t has been pointed out, how
ever, ID that If the Federal Gov
ernment bore the cost man.
splinter parties would emerge h
enjoy lush campaign funds" ant
(2) Congress might discriminate
against bona 'fide parties havins
large followings.
There can be no doubt abou
the evil, the question is about thu
remedy. The idea of Fedora
financing has long history, with
Its roots going back in the 19tf
century when the so-called male
factors of great wealth." repre-
senting oil, steel, wool, the tariff
protected industries and th'
railroads directed the course o
Government from New York
Philadelphia and Cleveland. Th'
big contributors paid their none!
and got their choice.
The Lewis Comeback
In more recent times the patterr
Of contributors changed, particu
larly In the Democratic Party, bu
the expectation of a payoff re-
mains. In 1886 John l.. Lewis ane
his United Mine Workers contrib
uted $450,000 and loaned $50, ,00t
to the Democrats. In 1887, aftel
Roosevelt had denounced both ths
steel companies and the miner.
for work stoppages, Lewis intonee
, at a Labor Day speech:
ut Ill behooves one who has
supped at labor's table and who
has been sheltered in labor's house
to curse with equal fervor and fine
impartiality both labor and its ad-
versaries when they become locked
in deadly embrace"
After the 1914 campaign, Presi-
dent Truman tried to reward Ed.
win w. Pauley with the undersec-
retaryship Of the Navy for his owr
and his associates contributions tt
the campaign. The Senate refused
to go along, and Pauley's nomina.
ton was withdrawn. Now there Ii
talk of rewarding Mrs. Perle Mests
and other contributors with am.
bassadorships for their prompt
dollars.
In the old days Republican Boss
Matt Quay of Pennsylvania de-
scribed the getting of such pres
.tige jobs as shaking the plum
tree" The other side of the coin
or collecting, was called frying
the fat" from the anticipating
donor.
Federal Share Proposed
BY 1907. however. Republican
President Theodore Roosevelt, ir
his annual message to Congress
proposed that the Federal Gov
ernment assume a part Of the cost
OF conducting national campaigns
THE need for collecting large
campaign funds would vanish" he
wrote, "if Congress provided ar
appropriation for the proper ane
legitimate expenses of each of the
great national parties. - Their
the stipulation should be made
that no party receiving campaign
funds from the Treasury shoulc
accept more than a fixed amount
from any individual subscriber OF
donor: and the necessary publicity
for receipts and expenditure,
could without difficulty be pro.
svided."
:. William Gibbs McAdoo, Presi-
dent Wilson'S son-in-law and 9
former Secretary of the Treasury
revived the idea. with drastic
amendments. in the 1920 cam
paign, by asserting that all private
contributions should be prohib.
tied. He proposed:
s. 1.-THE expense of the national
elections should be paid for out
of the United States Treasury
and 1t should be made a crime fol
q man to contribute a dollar tc
influence an election. Not only
then would we be, spared the hu-
initiation of begging for funds. but
the cost Of campaigns would be
reduced to one-fifth what they are
now. . II the National Gov
ernment paid the expenses oi
the national campaigns and speci-
fled the legitimate objects foi
which expenditures might be
made. politics would be purified
enormously"
No Bills introduced
The late Bronson Cutting. the
liberal Republican from New
Mexico. told a conference Of Pro.
gressives in Washington in 1881
Every one Of us knows thai
the sums Of money spent IN cam.
paigns are not spent in order tx
educate the voters. On the con.
trary they arc spent In order tt
confuse voters. - I am Ger.
tain that the voters would be fal
better off and better educated Il
these huge campaign funds wers
eliminated and instead they wert
given q brief and definite state.
ment Of the attitude Of the vari.
Gus candidates such as might bs
provided under a publicly financed
system Of elections"
The Library of Congress Legis.
lative Reference Service, ths
Senate librarian and the bill
clerks of the two houses have nj
record Of any bills having beer
seriously considered to carry ou
the idea of Federal financing o.
campaigns.
Apparently there are no prec'
edents for Federal legislation
At a recent press conferenc,
! President Truman said the ide,
was discussed informally In thu
Senate committee when tn,
Hatch Act was under considera,