Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1896 — CAMPAIGN EXPENSES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CAMPAIGN EXPENSES.

COSTS MORE TO ELECT EACH SUCCEEDING PRESIDENT. 4 tiada Subscribed by the Great Parties Are Expended Lenitimately, end Not to Buy Votes-FtTe Million* • Will Be Scattered This Year.

Bi*r Campaicn Fnnda. The election of a President of the •United States is a costly affair and the handling of campaign funds is conse-

quently a matter of great importance to both the great political parties. The most exact business principles must be followed and for this and other reasons the appointment of a man to have charge of the finances of a fift-

' (A Great Collector.)

tfonal committee Is a most momentous (question. With every recurring campaign the expenses of election show jlntTcase. Competent judges predict it hat not less than $5,000,000 will be expended by the two national commit(tees in the great battle this year. The Kite Gov. Curtin, of Pennsylvania, said ot long before bis death that it cost jess to elect Lincoln in 1860 than is now often spent in a single Congressional district, and yet the work was just as. thoroughly doifls as that of any committee the party has had since. 1 The nse of large sums of money by national committeesDbegan with the two committees that managed Grant's

eanvnsses in 1808 Und 1872, and so (rapidly did the exit r a v a g a n ce i(ijerease that in 1880, Ut the time of Garjfield's election, the national committee handled, or others to,a ndle df o r it, more than $1,000,000, while it has s

been estimated by tA Shrewd Dispenser.) Chose whose opportunities for knowing (were good that throughout the country there wa: spent by different committees l'n the aggregate more than $4,000,000.. The expenses of the campaigns of 1884 »nd ISSB were about the same. In the ■campaign of 1892 the national comBalttces each collected and expended ever $1,500,000 and the State commutes collected for their individual use •bout a quarter of that sum. ! The charge that most of the money Raised for campaign purposes is used to corrupt voters and purchase votes is Iboth silly and false. The expense of a (presidential battle are of a legitimate nature. Four years ago the Republican National Committee expended $200,000

in the publication and circulation of campaign documents. An addl--11 on a 1 SIOO,OOO was devoted to the campaign orators and their expen- ' ses. A little over $200,000 went to the Congressional ‘•districts where the

contest was close and the outcome doubtful, and where it was used to pay (band bire&nd the cost of the uniforms of marching clubs and of parades y and (public meetings. Something like $300,000 uias sent to the chairman of the State committees of the doubtful States, •r.d the cost,of maintaining the national headquarters and of the local campaign in New York City consumed the jbalance of the funds raised by the national (Committee. The expenses of the ■ [Democratic National Committee In 1892 iwnfed in some minor details, but its punds were expended through about Ebe same channels as the Republican ommittee, the campaign methods of (both parties being very similar, i With the growing use of money in politics it has been found more and aiore desirable that thf chairman of a (national committee should be a man of (large private fortune and of

Standing in the husnness world. When subscriptions are (•low in coming iu, j*nd he lias as yet lonly promises in |Keu of cash, he. i*iust become responsible for or advance the funds (■coded to meet cur-

wnt espensc3. [A Liberal Giver.] ,These advances frequently amount to (several hundred thousand dollars, while Iftf there Ts a shortage at the end of the j campaign the chairman Is the one looked to to make it>good. Contributions to the campaign funds come in the ,«ain from 'men of large means within the patty, some of wliem give as high *s ?100;000. Large corporations also •eontvibaii- handsomely in hope of securing political favor. In some cases these large’concerns give to both of the kreat parties, thus making themselves jwfe in any event. There is a considerable class of men anxious to secure political prominence or to occupy high (positions who give lavishly as a means f advancing their political interests. JFmally comes the aggregate of small ipopula- subscriptions, which foots up

a large sum, and which represents men of moderate means, who take a patriotic pride . in the success of ’ their cause. ; Preside ntlal candidates, as a rule, are not depended upon for large subscrip-

IA Political Financier.] tions. The only •xceptjons have been Mr. Tilden and *r. [alne. The former Is said to have •pent over half a million dollars In the campaign of, 1870, and Mr, Blaine’s contribution to the campaign of 1884 Is said )to have exceeded $150,000. ( The ImportamMiandTnflueace °f this gpotenl eleetiottedhng argument—hard cash—baa developed some very successtail and shrewd beggars of money for campaign purposes. Republican veterans, when In a reminiscent mood, delight to' talk about .the late Marshall Jewell, who as a collector of campaign lands, perhaps, never had his equal. When others failed Jewell always succeeded, and lt |a told of him that in Boston In a single day He raised $170,000.

Zach Chandler was a good deal of a dikmond in the rough, but he was a ehresrd judge of human nature, and he knew pretty well what chorda to strike in order to make men generous, lie was chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1870, and there was no lack of funds in that campaign. August Belmont in the campaigns immediately following the war was another good collector. So was William 11. Barnum. who succeeded Mr. Belmont as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Roswell V. Flower and Levi IVMorton are also both expert beggars. The moneys expended by the national and State committees represent only a part of the cost of a presidential campaign. Conventions like those held in St. Louis and Chicago costtat a-modest estimate from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 apiece, and the check of business during the campaign which follows them involves a loss of many millions more. Taking all these things into consideration. it may be roughly estimated that a presidential campaign costs the country about $20,000,000.

[?]ACH CHANDLER.

WILLIAM H. BARNUM.

STEPHEN B. ELKINS.

STEPHEN W. DORSEY.

WILLIAM L. SCOTT.