Evening Star Newspaper, April 11, 1930, Page 34

SENATE SEEN FIRM FOR CLEAN VOTING Mheeler Says Only Those ¥ Winning Office Fairly Wil Be Admitted. PR { Declaring that “the voting polls of %his country must not be made a Zmarket place,” Senator Burton K. heeler, Democrat, of Montana sound- #d a warning over the National Radio ?orum last night that candidates seek- Ang entrance to the United States Sen- @te “must come here with clean hands.” # “Even though they may be successful An debauching the electorate of their own State” he declared in the forum, rranged by The Star, and sponsored by the Columbia Broadcasting System, #they will not be successful in obtain- Ang a seat in the Senate of the United States.” » Senator Wheeler discussed “Cam- aign Expenditures and Their Con- E—u)," tracing the development of ribery, “corrupt practice” and buying Bt votes from early Roman days to the Present. 1 Sees Senate Determined. : Further amplifying his warning for the future, Senator Wheeler declared: *Let there be no mistake about this imatter. Those who are seeking seats n the United States Senate in the soming elections might just as well nake up their minds that if they ex- pend huge sums of money in corrupt- ing the voters of their States they will be denied seats in the upper branch of ghe Congress of the United States of America, because the Senate is de- fermined as far as that body is con- Zerned to prevent the seats in that body from being bought and sold on the auction block. = “Why shouldn’t they?” he asked. ‘It §s not a question of personal fortunes, feelings or career of the Senator'-elect epplying for admission; if that were | Jpr ghe only thing involved, it could and svould be undoubtedly forgiven, but it is the integrity of the election that 18 in guestion, and the election to a seat in the United States Senate.” ; ‘Purity of elections,” he said, “is of the utmost public consequence.” Refers to Newberry Case. . Senator Wheeler referred to the New- erry case, recent testimony of Senator Grundy before the lobby committee, the -areer of Mark Hanna, “whose daughter, uth Hanna McCormick, just received the Republican nomination for Sena- tor in the State of Illinois,” and to Smith of Illinois. ¢ Interpreting a statement by Senator rundy before the lobby committee, enator Wheeler said it was a “frank and open statement of the reasons why Lreat campaign funds are collected. It for the purpose,” said Senator Wheeler, “of influencing legislation in favor of those seeking special favors at the hands of Congress.” Campaign Expense Issue. Senator Wheeler's speech follows: Ladies and Gentlemen of the Radio Audience: I have been requested to A}nlk to you tonight upon the subject of campaign ‘expenditures and in view of the ap- ‘proaching elections I feel it quite appropriate. In the now famous case of Truman H. Newberry, the friends of Mr. New- berry offered a resolution which passed the Senate of the United States stating #that Newberry be declared a duly ‘elected Senator from the State of Mich- n for the term of six years” and it also declared that “the expenditure of such excessive sums in behalf of a candidate, either with or without his * ¥=nwledge and consent, being contrary 10 sound public policy, harmful to the honor and dignity of the Senate and dangerous to the perpetuity of a free government, such excessive expenditures are hereby severely condemned and dis- approved.”: Having first seated Mr. Newberry, the Senate of the United States then declared that the acts which he had committed or permitted to be committed were harmful to the honor and dignity of the Senate and dangerous. to the perpetuity of free ernment. It was as if the judge ‘of a court should say to the defendant, *“I find you guilty but permit you to go -Iree to ply your trade as bef . In the short space of time allotted to Jme this evening, it will be impossible for me to discuss all of the phases of .campaign contributions but at the out- ‘get I want to say that I am not so “much interested ‘in the amount of anoney that is raised as I am in the sources from which it is collected and Zthe method by which it is expended. It seems to me that it must be apparent %o any thinking man that it is next %o impossible to spend legitimately the “huge sums of money which have been recently spent in some of the senatorial fcampaigns, and, of course, the evidence ‘before the committees of Congress Fhowed that the inevitable did happen ‘and that the money was used for the Zurpose of corralling the illiterate voters Zof some of the big cities and in em- “ploying thousands of .workers on elec- ion day, which was merely a subterfuge Aor buying votes. H History of Election Bribery. Z Bribery and corruption in elections Zare not new in the history of the peo: Zples of the world, but it has had a fa “reaching effect uj most civilisations, ‘whether it was in e, England or some ‘other country. In order that those who iscoft and seek to ridicule some of us Zwho are insisting upon the purity of the “ballot box, let me briefly recall how the “crime of bribery in elections was looked fupon and what effect it had in some of Zhe other countries. Let us for a brief Zmoment see what took place in Rome. ¢ Bribery in elections was one ol the Airst symptoms of the decay of the sgreat Roman Empire. Patriotie states men of that time clearly saw that it “would end the liberties of the Roman ople, and the people instinctivels felt that they must throttle this e Af they were to continue to .zl:t as 8 Aree people. As early as 18 . C. Zex Cornelia punished bribery of woters with exile; but severe as this enalty was, the abuses continued and 4dncreased. Heavy fines were added and ‘citizens were deprived from holding ‘office, but In spite of what was supposed 2o be the strong Roman character, fin- anciers and politiclans of that day trampled it beneath their reckless and Jsordid feet and were able to prevent the execution of the laws because of the ‘growing indifference of the Roman peo- ple themselves. “Sufficient unto the day are the benefits thereof” became sthe unspoken rule which guided the ‘great body of that once mighty people. e Roman citizen had become de- “bauched so far that he was ready to cast his suffrage for anybody who ‘would do him any favor or even enter- ain him. Bribery in all its forms, gross ‘and subtle, had utterly corrupted “Roman character. The financiers and liticians understood this well and Jaughed at the corrupt practice act be- use they knew they could disregard Is there no parallel between this ab- sence of Roman civic virtue and the low {deals oI the politicians and voters in isome of our large cities today? Listen “to Mr. Mackey, Mayor of leiphia, ‘when he tesf before a committee of ithe Senate: Voting XIs Described. “Senator King: But they vote the b] untne‘n 'Izpu lican Absolutely (laughter), . 'When = “Mr. Mackey: ‘because the leader is Republican. one ward to another voters in Fhiladelphia- reside in the wards you just referred to? “Mr. Mackey: About one-third. “Senator King: Then one-third of the voters in Philadelphia have no knowledge of American institutions, but Just follow their leader.” Now let us for a brief moment turn to England. By the English common law bribery was treated as treason, especially in the case of judges. Lerd Chief Justice Thorp was beheaded for accepting bribes. The Earl of Middle. sex was fined 50,000 pounds, quarter of a million dollars, . We all recall the terrible fate im- gre est reign of corruption came under George III, from whom our forefathers successfully rebelled. Refers to English King, If we accept the philosophy of the defenders of huge campaign contribu- tlons, we never should have rebelled against George III. That monarch was & superb practical politician. He would be greatly admired by a certain class of ‘American politicians ‘¢ he living to- day. Indeed, George III would compare favorably with our so-called ablest party managers. _He used offices to influence votes in Parllament. He distributed cash in order to secure election of mem- bers to Parliament; he resorted to every device of political manipulation so much admired in the United States by some of our financiers and so-called stand- pat politiciand, He was highly skilled in tl technique of influence, thor- oughly practiced in the art of practical politics. He would have been one of the first to join with the Senator from New Hampshire in denouncing the pro- gressive Democrats and Republicans of the Northwest -as the “sons of wild jackasses” and he would likewise have been one of the first to have thought that after insulting them he could get them back into the party fold in ex- change for “30 pieces of silver,” as is apparent the “Old Guard” are seeking to do with the progressives at this time by promising to assist them financially in the coming elections. But unless I miss my guess, you will not find the progressive Republican elections tainted with the corrupt funds of the Old Guard politicians. ‘The rreunt corrupt practice act of the United Kingdom grew out of the so-called practical politics of George . In support of my statement of the common law a8 it relates to corruption. I read from Shepherd on the law of elections as follows: “Bribery by a can- didate, though in one instance and though a majority of unbribed votes remains in his favor, will void the par- ticular election and disqualify him from being re-elected to fill such vacancy.” Senate's View on Bribery. ‘The Senate of the United States has never adopted the harsh rule that has been adopted in Great Britain by their courts, namely, that bribery of one elector by a candidate or his party managers or agents without his knowl- edge or consent will void the whole election. It has never been necessary to do 8o In this country for the reason that in all of the cases where Senators have been refused seats there has not only been evidence of expenditures of huge sums of money, which shock the sensibilities of decent, people, but there has likewise been evidence that it came from corrupt sources or had been used to corrupt the electorate of the country. As an example of wholesale corruption, I call your attention to what took place in Allegheny County, Pa., where 11,000 people were put on the pay roll on election day. They were, according to Senator Caraway, taken from the largest families so as to get the most for their money. It was a device for buying votes. Justice Keating, a British jurist, in the Norwish case said: “It seems hard THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FRIDAY, ~ UPHOLDS PURITY OF ELECTIONS SENATOR BURTON K. WHEELER. at first sight that a single act of bribery should void an election, but when an act of bribery is committed, the whole election of the party bribed is tainted. It is no longer an election. It is utterly void.” I cite these authorities to show the policy of the people of Great Britain in dealing with this public cancer which grew to such magnitude under George III and which has ended the life of more than one great nation. Considers State Angle. ‘The argument is always made in these cases that it is hard on the candidate and that the people of a State have a right to select whosoever they see fit to represent them in the United States Senate regardless of whether or not he corrupts the voters by the expenditure of money in the primaries to such an extent that British courts have held and the Senate of the United States has held that it is dangerous to the perpetuity of free institutions. Those who would de- fend this sort of thing on the ground that 1t is hard on the candidate or on the ground that it is entirely within the province of the State to elect that sort of a man overlook entirely the fact that our forefathers in drafting the Constitution provided that the Senate of the United States should be the judge of the qualifications of their own mem- bers, and they entirely overlook the fact that the office is not created to satisfy | questioned by the ambitions of any candidate. The office was created as au instrument of the people who made it and it does not belong to the candidate but belongs to the people of the United States. It might be well to ask what had been the results of this drastic treatment of corruption by the English law and English courts? First of all, from a greater debauchery of elections than the world ever knew since the time of the fall of the Roman Empire, England has developed into a period of remark- able purity of elections. Purity of elections is of the utmost public consequence. Why are large contributions made to political parties in the United States? Listen to the testimony given by Sena- tor Grundy before the lobby committee. Mr. Grundy after testifying to the large | sums of money which he collected for the Republican national committee was Senator Caraway, s follows: Helping All He Could. “Senator Caraway: They put up the money to bring that mandate about and they ought to get the legislation they bought and paid for? “Mr. Grundy: If that platform was g:cklnto law they would get their money c] “Senator Caraway: They would get their money back? “Mr. Grundy: Yes, sir, “Senator Caraway: And you were down here to see that they got their money back? ‘Mr, Grundy: Yes, sir. I was help- mg’::ry way I could.” is & frank and open statement by Mr. Onmdyo!umr-nuwnygnt e Dirsee of infiscncng etisiation 1 of influs favor of those seeking special favors at the hands of Congress. It is not uncommon to hear it said that if such legislation is passed, the g:rty responsible for its passage will not able to receive revenues for party purposes. Beginning of Big Bribery. ‘The extensive use of money in elec- tions in this country did not really be- gin until the early 90s. 1896 one of the most successful national politi- cians this coun hut Mark Hanna, wi daughter, Ruth Hanna McCormick, just received the Republican nomination for Senator in the State of Ililnois, managed McKin- ley’s campaign. He systematized and developed a practice which was rooted deep’ in the soil of American politics, namely, the fmma of assessing cor- ations and business men who might benefited or injured by legislative action. The campaign fund of 1896 was unprecedented in its size and in the rapidity with which it was collected during the closing days of the cam- paign. Mr. Hanna established the nec- essary connections with financial cir- cles and then organized the collection of contributions as carefully as he had previously organized the distribution of reading matter. Banks, insurance com- panies and other large corporations were assessed in accordance with their wealth and in accordance with the ben- efits which they were sup to re- .ceive. As a corallary to the practice of assessing corporations, it was found that large corporations would contrib- ute to both parties in order to make sure that their business interests would protected which ever was in power. Sometimes the money was given freely and voluntarily and sometimes it was demanded by political leaders. Following the enactment of the Fed- eral Jew prohibiting corporate contri- butions. men of great wealth connected with great enterprises would give the money. This was the case of Mr. Smith in Illinois, for whose campaign Mr. Insull, connected with the public service corporations in Illinois and throughout the country, put up most of his money. ‘While corrupt practice acts have been enacted in practically all of the States in the Union today and we have a law upon the statute books of the United States passed in 1925, relating to_the election of United States Senators, there 18 no law upon the statute books at the present time relating to primary elec- tions of persons to the United States Senate or to Congress. First Publicity Law. ‘The first national publicity law was passed in 1910. The next year the law was amended, extending its application to candidates for nomination and elec- tion to the offices of Representat.ves and Senators in Congress. Another amendment was passed in 1918. These constitute the sum total of the Federal laws up to 1925. The decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Newberry case was a severe blow to those who favored legislation prohibiting corrupt practices in elections. The Newberry case was a five-to-four decision, four members of the Supreme Court holding the law constitutional, four members holding in substance that Congress had no authority to pass laws regulating primary expenditures and one member of the court, Mr. Justice McKenna hold- ing it unconstitutional because it was passed before the enactment of the law providing for the election of Senators by the direct vote of the people. ‘While we have no adequate laws upon the statute books dealing with campaisn B e The Truth About Rudolph ALENTINO written by his wife NATACHA RAMBOVA THE Rudy who won his way into the hearts of thousands of screen fol- lowers is brought to you for the first time as he really was. This is the first authentic story ever written, and by his wife, who vknew him best. - The Great. Newspaper Begins Sunday, April 13th, in he Star. of The Nation’ s Capital AFPRIT 11, -1930. g SRSy e mm o tion 5, article 1, referring to the and Senate, reads: “Each be the judge of the election returns and fications of l&- own members.” ing elections might up their minds that if they expend huge sums of money in corrupting the voters of their States, they will be denied seats in the upper branch of the Con- gress of the United States of America because the Senate is determined as far as that body is concerned, to pre- vent the seats in that body from being bought and sold on the auction block. Question of Integrity. Why shouldn't they? It is mot & question of personal fortunes, feelings or career of the Senator-elect applying for admission; if that were the only thing involved, it could and would be un- doubtedly forgiven, but it is the in- tergrity of the election that is in ques- tion and the election to a seat in the United States Senate. What does that mean? What duties devolve upon a member of the United States Senate? They are the most varied and far reach- ing with which any officer under any free government is clothed in any country in the world today. We ratify every treaty with foreign nations; only by the advice and consent of the members of this body are appointment to office made under the laws and Constitution of the United States, We pass upon every law affecting taxation, tariff, inter- state and forelgn commerce, banking. trusts and our great undeveloped nat- ural resources. Nor is that all; we are also members of a court, the highest court known to man; we alone can try the impeachment of judges of the Nation; the Senate of the United States is the grg:‘;; tribunal that can unseat a Presf- You are all familiar with the powers of the Senate. I enumerate therl:noomy that we may understand the magni- tude of the election to that body. founders of this Nation placed in the hands of the United States Senator as much gower, if not more, than any other official of the Government. There- fore, it is expected that the election to @ place in that body would be defended zealously, determinedly and fiercely by the people and if not the people, by the Senate itself, not because of per. sonal feelings of the individual Sen tors in regard to the matter, but in or- der that our institutions might not be polluted at the fountain head. Ladles and gentlemen, the voting polls of this country must not be made & market place. The electors of this country must not be debauched. With the concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer hands, public opinion must be aroused to the necessity of becoming more and more vigilant for the protec- tion of their own !lghu and privile . 1 am glad to stand here tonight before this microphone and issue a warning to those who are seeking entrance fnw the upper body of Congress that they must come here with clean hands, and even though they may be successful in debauching the electorate of their | own State, they will not be successful in obtaining a seat in the Senate of the United States. This wonderful mnew powder _cleanser Temoves spots and stains o fabrics—i and furs. n, be C NOT LEAVE A RING Tttt Jome 1115 “F” Street ' A great hat sale of over 2,500 Neéw [/ Spring atyle . . . right before Easter o 22 5 Tl AT match your costume in Red Green Sand Monet Waikiki Black This hat_is a_copy of a $10 model Illustration shows a soft and crush- able trico straw hat —one of our outstanding of the season. 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