1 READINGS ON PARTIES AND ELECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO READINGS ON PARTIES AND ELECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES BY CHESTER LLOYD JONES ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1912 All rights reserved COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and clectrotyped. Published January, 1913. tforfoooto J. 8. Gushing Co. Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. -Co CAROLINE LLOYD JONES 261240 PREFACE As our civilization grows more complex and our population greater, the organization and working of party government be- comes something in which the citizen feels an increasing inter- est. Whether we welcome the change or not, the state plays a growing part in our everyday lives ; our food is standardized, the charge for moving of goods or persons from place to place is regulated, many businesses formerly considered private are subjected to control because of the peculiar relation in which they stand to the public. The house of the citizen is no longer his castle within which the state may not prescribe the manner k)f life, and a large part of our population is no longer " free " to work where it will and for as long as it may please. When such a change in the sphere of the state is coming over our national life, it becomes important, as never before, that the people who are subject to regulation should exercise control over those who set the laws. Party is the means by which public policy is determined. To have efficient control we must have parties responsive to the popular will, parties whose actions turn on public policy, not on the will of agents whom the public cannot control. Government of the people is government by party in all modern states. Clean government and normal party action are possible in a democracy only when those who are governed understand how they are governed. It is to make easy of access some of the best discussions illustrative of the development, present organization, abuses and remedies for the defects of our party government that this book is published. It is not a source book ; indeed, the chief reliance has been upon secondary and contemporaneous writing, but it is believed that the material will, for this reason, have vii viii Preface added interest because it deals with the living, growing forces of the present time. I am indebted for assistance in securing the material for this book to Dr. Charles McCarthy of the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library, who has placed the invaluable collection of material made under his direction at my disposal. My thanks are due to the authors and publishers of the selections for their permission to reproduce them. Mr. Leo Tiefenthaler, sometime assistant in political science in the University of Wisconsin, has been a willing collaborator who has aided much by criticism and suggestion. CHESTER LLOYD JONES. MADISON, WISCONSIN, November, 1911. CONTENTS I. PARTY CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT PAGE irty Government in England and the United States Contrasted Goodnow, F. J., Politics and Administration. Macmillan, New York, 1900^ p. 148 et seq I The Conditions of Party Government in the United States Smith, J. A., The Spirit of the American Government. Macmil- lan, New York, 1907 ; p. 203 et seq. (excerpt) . . . .12 The Necessity of Strong Parties in the United States Wilson, W., Constitutional Government in the United States. Columbia University Press, New York, 1908 ; p. 204 et seq. . 20 II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PARTY ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES 1. The Early Fear of Party Influence (a) Madison, J., In the Federalist, No. X, 1787 . . . .28 () Washington, G., Farewell Address. Writings of Washing- ton, Evans, L. B., ed. Putnams, New York, 1908 ; p. 531 etseq. (excerpt) 33 2. Early Mention of Caucuses and their Importance Adams, John, The Works of John Adams, edited by C. F. Adams. Little and Brown, Boston, 1850; Vol. II, p. 144 37 3. The Congressional Caucus Ostrogorski, M., Democracy and the Organization of Political Parties. Macmillan, New York, 1902 ; Vol. II, pp. 13-19 . 38 4. How the Congressional Nominating Caucus Worked Niles, Weekly Register, I, 3d ser., p. 388 et seq 44 5. The Transition from the Congressional Caucus to the Nominating Convention Dallinger, F. W., Nominations for Elective Office. Longmans, New York, 1903 ; pp. 29-34 46 Contents III. THE CONVENTION AND THE DIRECT PRIMARY PAGE 1. The Strength of the Conversion System Meyer, E. C, Nominating Systems. Madison, Wisconsin, 1902; pp. 48-54 53 2. The Corrupt Convention La Follette, R. M., Primary Elections. Address delivered before Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 12, 1898 . 57 3. Weaknesses of the Convention System Meyer, E. C., Nominating Systems. Madison, Wisconsin, 1902; p. 57 et seq. . 63 4. Non-Partisan Municipal Primary Elections Laws of Iowa, Chap. 48, 1907 (excerpt) 67 5. Legislation Needed to Supplement Primary Election Laws Merriam, C. E., Primary Elections. University of Chicago Press ; pp. 163-176 71 IV. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION AND THE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT 1. The Composition of the National Convention Woodburn, J. A., Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States. Putnams, New York, 1906 ; pp. 152-162 . 80 2. The Call of a National Convention Official Call, by the Republican Committee, 1908 ... 86 3. The Work of the National Convention Woodburn, J. A., Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States. Putnams, New York, 1906; pp. 176-196 . 89 4. A Favorite Son Boom Milwaukee Sentinel, June 17, 1908 99 5. Convention Enthusiasm Milwaukee Free Press, June 19, 1908 101 6. Convention Oratory Cochems, H. F., Speech nominating Robert M. La Follette for President, 1908 103 7. The Election of the President of the United States Fuller, R. H., Government by the People. Macmillan, 1908; pp. 120-134 106 8. The Electoral College Gauss, H. C., The American Government. Hammersly, L. R. & Co., New York, 1908 ; pp. 19-22 115 Contents xi The Electoral College, its Defects Dougherty, J. H., The Electoral System of the United States. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York; pp. 281-324 . . .118 V. SENATORIAL ELECTIONS 1. Constitutional and Legal Provisions concerning the Election of United States Senators (a) United States Constitution 125 () United States Statutes 126 (who compose a majority of the common council, county board or State legislature, as the case may be, and upon the outside a band of corrupt capitalists and business men, and dominant over all a political boss assisted by flying squads of trained and experienced lobbyists drilled in the busi- ness of collecting corruption funds from the bribe-givers and distributing them among the bribe-takers who compose the ring. As no single cause has called this institution into existence, so no remedy alone will completely eradicate it. Education, moral suasion, enlightened political action directed against it all these and others are effective cures within certain limitations. 1 McGovern, F. E., Proceedings of the American Political Science Asso- ciation. 1907; pp. 266-276. Party Problems and Remedies 275 But without legal repression to break the ground and pave the way for them these remedies have nowhere proved successful. General denunciation of graft is safe, but ordinarily quite ineffec- tual. Specific denunciation of political corruption is never safe unless it be either accompanied or preceded by successful prosecution of the individual denounced. Besides, scolding never pays, never reforms ; while even to the dullest mind prison stripes inculcate the appropriate moral lesson. In the work of putting corruptionists behind prison bars the first and most indispensable requirement is an honest grand jury. Without the assistance of such an agency political corruption has nowhere been successfully exposed. . . Not only is the grand jury charged with the special duty of accusing those who have directly wronged the public, but it also has at its disposal the means for properly accomplishing this work. Without stating its reasons or outlining its purposes, it may compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and documents. It meets in secret and usually enjoins secrecy also upon all who appear to testify before it. Thus its action cannot easily be anticipated, influenced, forestalled or frustrated, as proceedings before an examining magistrate may be; for secrecy of procedure is the one essential prerequisite to the obtaining of legal evidence of this species of crime. Second only in importance to the employment of grand juries as a legal agency for the repression of political corruption is the assistance furnished by immunity laws. Such statutes have been devised as substitutes for the constitutional privilege against compulsory self-incrimination, and while fulfilling this legal re- quirement also compel the disclosure of evidence of crime which otherwise would go unpunished. Bribery, which is by far the most frequent offense involving political corruption, is essentially a crime of darkness. As a rule but two persons have knowledge of it, the bribe-giver and the bribe-taker. Of disinterested spectators there are none. In- stead, the parties to a bribery transaction contrive to meet in 276 Readings on Parties and Elections secret, there arrange the details of their compact in private and leave behind no record or memorandum of it. Each is equally guilty, and each has the strongest motive, therefore, for con- cealing the crime. In the absence of an immunity statute, for either to disclose the transaction may result in his own prosecu- tion ; for in such case his admission of guilt can be used against him, while as to his partner in crime it would be mere hearsay, not evidence. Under these circumstances the punishment of this and kindred offenses has often been placed practically be- yond the power of the law. To meet this situation and to enable those charged with the enforcement of penal statutes to cope with crime of the sort here under consideration, immunity laws have been enacted. If it be said that it is unjust that bribe-givers should be permitted to go free while bribe-takers are sent to prison, or vice versa, the answer is, that it is better that one of two guilty persons should be given immunity than that both should escape prosecution, and a crime which strikes at the very foundation of free institu- tions should go entirely unwhipped of justice. . . Provided with an honest grand jury and armed with an im- munity law, any community can, if it will, root out and expose political corruption so far as legal agencies are capable of un- covering and arraigning at the bar of justice crime of any sort. But the conviction and punishment of those arraigned is a far more difficult task. This is so from the very nature of the case. In bribery, for example, the testimony of the accomplice or partner in crime, when clear and convincing, is always sufficient for indictment, but may prove inadequate at the trial. The defendant, whether guilty or innocent, can, if he will, oppose his oath to that of his accuser as to every material circumstance in the case and sum- mon to his assistance from among his friends the full comple- ment of witnesses who will swear to his former good character and unspotted reputation. It is true that sometimes there may be additional corroborative facts upon the side of the prosecu- Party Problems and Remedies 277 tion ; but ordinarily the case will go to the jury upon the oath of the State's principal witness, in opposition to that of the ac- cused. The situation of this witness, moreover, is not above criticism, nor can his credibility be placed beyond question. Of necessity he is a self-confessed criminal, whom, if his testimony be true, the immunity law alone keeps outside of prison bars. Then, too, there are always the presumption as to the defendant's innocence and the burden of proof resting upon the State to es- tablish his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Under these cir- cumstances is it strange that in many cases where good people are well satisfied there was guilt there should be acquittals at the close of jury trials ? In such cases, however, the mere fact of prosecution is not without significance. Though ultimately unsuccessful a public trial may have accomplished all or nearly all that a conviction could. Here the facts are laid bare beneath the eye of the whole community, and public opinion draws its inferences from such facts quite independently of the verdict of the twelve men who happened to sit as jurors in the case. And, after all, the break- ing up of a vicious system and the elevation of the standard of official honesty, not the punishment of any man or set of men, are the important things. In like manner great good may be accomplished and a real victory for honest government won, wherever official miscon- duct is even fairly, impartially and fearlessly charged with crime. In a country such as ours, public opinion is unquestionably a mighty force. Anything which goes to mold it by arousing public attention and directing public thought to specific wrongs which threaten the State, is of the highest significance and value. The average person, moreover, who commits bribery, or any of the crimes which involve political corruption, suffers quite as much punishment as a conviction can impose before his case is even called for trial. Exposure and disgrace, the deserved es- trangement of old time friends, the inevitable and almost un- conscious suspicion of even his nearest kindred, his own remorse, 278 Readings on Parties and Elections heightened and intensified a hundred fold because of an awakened public conscience these are the things, more than prison stripes, which strike deepest into the heart and most mortally wound the pride of the average man who has risen in business or official station sufficiently high to have an opportunity or a mo- tive for the commission of this species of crime. I speak now, of course, only of those who, though guilty in fact, cannot be or have not been convicted. That there are many such no well informed person can doubt. Manifestly the great danger here, however, is that innocent men may be unjustly accused under circumstances which make it very diffi- cult, if not impossible, for them completely to vindicate them- selves. In such cases great and even irreparable harm may be done. The only safeguard against this possibility is the exer- cise of caution and sound judgement, equal care at all times for the rights of the accused and the State, and the prosecution of no one for a merely technical offense in which there is not also moral turpitude. In the work of prosecuting these quasi-political offenders serious obstacles, of course, are encountered at every turn. From the beginning to the end, not only of each case, but of each campaign against official dishonesty, they line the road at almost every point. First in order of treatment, though possibly not of importance, is incompetence, timidity and disloyalty on the part of prosecut- ing officers. An illustration of what I mean was recently fur- nished in this State in a case where a district attorney was re- moved from office by the governor because of his refusal to prose- cute indictments for bribery which had been returned by the grand jury of his county. Fortunately instances of this kind are rare. But when they occur the gravity of the situation needs no comment. If the man who must bear the chief burden of this work is not equipped or lacks relish for his task, little in- deed can be expected in the way of accomplishment. Next and more important among these obstacles are weak Party Problems and Remedies 279 and perverse juries, both grand and petit. Some trial juries seem to be immune to evidence of crimes involving official dis- honesty and refuse to convict no matter how overwhelming the proof of guilt may be. Not to be outdone, grand juries have likewise refused to indict, although abundant evidence to war- rant such action was submitted to them. It is matter of current history that the law relating to the manner of selecting grand jurors in this State was recently changed because it was found, at least in some localities, that grand jurors selected in the old way by aldermen and supervisors would not do their duty. . . The witnesses called by the prosecution in actions involving political corruption often sympathize more with the defense than with the State and their disposition whenever possible to suppress evidence, distort facts and suggest defensive matter is another obstacle to the successful prosecution of this class of cases. At the trial it is not unusual indeed to find the State's principal witness in league with the accused and willing to tell the truth only so far as he may be compelled to do so under fear of prosecution for perjury. Erroneous rulings prejudicial to the State made by trial judges upon matters of law constitute another serious impediment to the successful prosecution of these offenses. In this class of cases legal technicalities invariably assume formidable propor- tions. The plain, ordinary, unofficial crook who steals in the old- fashioned way when no one is looking, and not by securing the passage of a resolution through the county board or common council or a bill through the State legislature, when charged with crime usually comes into court, pleads not guilty to the informa- tion, and goes to trial upon the merits in the court where he is arraigned. Not so with the suspected grafter. He usually begins battle with the State by filing an affidavit of prejudice against the pre- siding judge. This, of necessity, will compel a change of venue to another court, and will occasion delay, sometimes a delay of many months. When the case is finally called for trial in the 280 Readings on Parties and Elections court to which it has been sent his usual practice is to file a plea in abatement, in which the existence and regularity of almost anything under the sun, no matter how remotely connected with the indictment, may be challenged. If this plea be ruled against him, he will demur. If the demurrer be over-ruled, he will next interpose a motion to quash the indictment. If this be denied, he will then file a special plea in bar. If beaten upon this issue also, he will reluctantly plead to the merits, and if convicted will promptly obtain a stay of execution for the purpose of enabling him to appeal the case to the supreme court. Thus the trial upon the merits may be the smallest part, and often is the least interesting proceeding connected with the whole case. Needless to say, the attorneys who represent defendants in these cases are among the leaders at the bar. No money, no effort, no ingenuity will be spared to save the least of these dis- tinguished gentlemen from merited punishment ; for, no matter how poor or humble or insignificant the individual grafter may be, back of him stands the whole body of corruptionists, the political boss and the special business interests he represents, all of whom have waxed fat by means of the grafter's knavery. Every one of these dilatory pleas involves delay, and delay usually weakens the State's case. Undoubtedly it is often with this object in view that resort is had to them. Upon any one of these questions the trial judge, if he be weak or partial to the accused, may make a ruling which will then and there end the prosecution forever. For, as a rule, the State has no right of appeal in criminal cases. If it had this right, as it should, weak and vacillating judges would no longer resolve every doubt against the State, in order thereby to avoid reversals in the supreme court and so keep their records clear. . . Moreover, even supreme court judges sometimes become ex- tremely partisan. It is interesting now to turn back to the opinions written in bribery cases when the present crusade against political corruption was only just begun. Passing by the Tweed case in New York and the Butler case in St. Louis Party Problems and Remedies 281 monuments both to the bad law which such partisanship may promulgate in order to protect a political favorite or save from prison a party boss let a single instance suffice. In the Mey- senburg case (71 S.W., 229) decided five years ago by the su- preme court of Missouri the majority opinion savagely attacked Mr. Folk. Almost everything he did in the conduct of that case in the court below was reviewed and criticised, and the opinion then concluded with the following stump speech : This record abounds at every turn with errors committed, but none of them, however, in favor of defendant. It would fill a volume properly to note and comment upon them. It will not be attempted. Those already mentioned must be taken as indices of the rest. But I will say this for the record at bar that it occupies the bad preeminence of holding a larger number of errors than any other record in a criminal case I ever before examined, and that, if this record exhibits a sample of a fair trial, then let justice hereafter be symbolized by something other than the blind goddess with sword and scales. Decisions such as these by courts of last resort, based now upon partisan bias and again upon technicality and legal hair- splitting to the utter disregard of the claims of justice and the suggestions of common sense, are specially vicious in their far- reaching effect upon trial judges. Intimidated by them, cau- tious men upon trial benches too often become dwarfed in func- tion and paralyzed in judgment until they are mere "umpires at the game of litigation." Another obstacle to reform along the lines here proposed is hostile public sentiment. All men are opposed to dishonesty in the abstract and are willing to applaud an assault upon it under- taken in another city, county or State. But it makes a world of difference whose ox is gored. . . Reform of ourselves or of our city is seldom either pleasant or popular. Besides, to assail political corruption, no matter where, is to throw down the gauntlet to the most powerful political and financial influences. It is only natural that these forces should resist the assault with all the power at their command and should even assume the 282 Readings on Parties and Elections offensive and in turn make war upon the agencies of the law en- gaged in the task of enforcing its penalties against them. Thus, venal newspapers will be enlisted in the contest and an under- current of hostile sentiment will be started, which, sooner or later, will manifest itself in mis-trials, perverse verdicts, adverse rulings by trial judges and indefensible decisions by courts of last resort. Notwithstanding all these difficulties, however, political cor- ruption may be repressed by legal means. Recent history proves this. To doubt that in the future this history will be repeated is to doubt the permanency of free institutions and the capacity of a free people for self-government. 6. VIOLENCE AT ELECTIONS 1 Cases of intimidation and violence in .elections though decreasing in number are still, especially in the crowded dis- tricts of our large cities, the accompaniment of every closely fought election. Thug methods were resorted to at the polling place of the nth division of the Tenth Ward, in North Broad street, yesterday. As a result J. S. Ridenour and William Acker were beaten into unconsciousness and then taken to the Eleventh and Winter streets station. Two other William Penn watchers J. B. and George Kelly were also beaten and arrested. . . f . . . The assault, it is charged, was prearranged. There can be no doubt about that, it is declared, for each victim had re- ceived warnings that in case of his seeking to interfere with the workings of the Organization he would be hurt. The thugs made good their threat. After being released after 5 o'clock, Mr. Ridenour told the following story : "At 7 o'clock all the Penn party watchers were in front of the polls, but were refused admittance. The doors were not opened to the voters until 13 minutes after 7. A mob had col- lected. . . 1 Public Ledger. (Philadelphia) November 3, 1909. Party Problems and Remedies 283 " Charles McConnell, the Organization division leader, shoved us into the line and ordered us to wait until about a dozen strangers voted. As soon as we had voted we demanded t6 see the inside of the ballot box. McConnell ordered the lid taken off and then grabbed me and thrust me toward the can. I did not see the bottom of the can, however, for he jerked me away as suddenly as he had thrust me forward. " A man giving his name as Andrew Rodgers appeared next and we challenged his right to vote. Our objections were sus- tained, but the most remarkable scene ensued. Another man, Charles Hall, desired to vote, and we also challenged him. Rodgers, against whom our objections were sustained, was then permitted to vouch for Hall, and the word of Rodgers was taken as sufficient reason why Hall's vote should be accepted." Watchers Beaten Unconscious "We challenged several others and were told to keep quiet. Finally one Thomas Campbell, who was registered from the rear of 1310 Cherry street, where there is no house, by the way, asked to vote. George Kelly challenged him. Campbell then cursed Kelly and ran toward him. Before Kelly was aware of Camp- bell's intentions he was struck in the face and Kelly fell back against the wall. With an oath, Campbell kicked at Kelly and was about to strike him again. I seized Campbell's arm and appealed to John McCluskey, the judge of the election, for aid. McCIuskey and the entire board left their places and the room filled with men as if by magic. Then I was struck with a black- jack. The blow came from the rear and I fell. I remember noth- ing more until I found myself huddled in a corner with Acker stretched across the doorway. I attempted to rise, but was kicked. After several attempts to gain my feet I grasped the leg of the table and pulled myself to my knees. I was then thrown across the still unconscious Acker and thrust outside." Injured Men Arrested Then ensued one of the most remarkable bits of police politics that has ever been seen here. Kelly, a policeman of the Elev- enth and Winter streets station, pulled Ridenour and Acker to their feet and, in pursuance of the demands of the Organization workers, announced that they were under arrest. Ridenour 284 Readings on Parties and Elections fainted from loss of blood. A well directed blow had ripped his scalp behind the ear and the bridge of his nose was crushed. In all justice to the policeman it must be said, so the victims have heard, that he was evidently acting under instructions. He helped the two men to their feet and half dragged them to the Hahnemann Hospital. There four stitches were put in Ride- nour's scalp and his nose was set and bandaged. Acker's in- juries were not so painful. Only three stitches were required to close his wound. Ridenour and Acker asked the policemen to be allowed to telephone to their employers. They were refused this privilege and thrust into a patrol wagon. At the station house they were told that Director Clay had issued orders that no messages should be sent out from the station. Ridenour's friends made an immediate attempt to find him. At the Eleventh and Winter streets station a reporter . . . was dismissed with a snarling denial that either Ridenour or Acker was there. At the City Hall all inquiries were met with a pro- fession of ignorance. Another attempt to make the police of the Eleventh and Win- ter streets station tell where their" prisoners were met with a curt refusal and a denial that the arrested watchers were within the cell room. Shortly after 4 o'clock Acker was released, and, of course, the whereabouts of Ridenour and the Kellys was then made known. Confronted with this information, the police admitted that Ridenour was in the house, but refused to allow any one to see him. Commissioner Frank Gorman, secretary of the William Penn party's City Committee, was appealed to on behalf of Ridenour, and was told by the police that the beaten watcher had been released with Acker. This, however, was untrue, for Ride- nour was not released until 5 o'clock. At the police station those in charge told the reporters that the affair was not of their doing, but that they had acted under strict orders from the City Hall. Party Problems and Remedies 285 Mr. Gorman declared that almost all attempts of his to secure the signature of a Magistrate to a copy of the charge against the various incarcerated men had been fruitless, and that where he had got the signatures they were not honored by the police. Other Watchers Locked Up In the station house with Ridenour, Acker and the Kellys were four other William Penn watchers from various divisions of the loth ward. One of these was William Smith, a former police- man of the station in which he was a prisoner, and a William Penn watcher from the third division of the loth Ward. Smith said that policemen escorted voters in carriages to his division, and his arrest was the result of his protests. An at- tempt was made to assault him, Smith declared, and, as a result, the voting room was wrecked. The booths were partly wrenched apart to be used as clubs. Smith said he was dragged to the station house by several of his former associates. . . . . . Activity of policemen and other office-holders at many of the 1174 election divisions in the city was evident from the opening of the polls until their closing at 7 o'clock, and accord- ing to charges made at the Penn party headquarters, no attempt was made by the police in many instances to interfere with at- tacks on Penn party workers by ruffians. . . 7. DEFEATING THE AUSTRALIAN BALLOT BY THE VOTE l Laws intended to help the illiterate or crippled voter to take his part in the elections often form in the hands of corrupt party managers only a blind by which the secrecy of the ballot of those willing to sell their votes may be destroyed. I shall now describe . . . the working of Mr. Addicks' political 'machine,' and the methods by which he buys votes. . . 1 Kennan, G., Outlook. February 22, 1903; p. 432 et seq. 286 Readings on Parties and Elections The most valuable and useful cog in Mr. Addicks' machine is, unquestionably, the voter's assistant. When the State of Dela- ware adopted the Australian ballot system, it was thought neces- sary to provide the illiterate voter and especially the negro with expert assistance in the marking of his ballot. The Gov- ernor was therefore empowered and directed to appoint, for every polling-place, two voter's assistants one from each of the two dominant parties whose duty it should be to read or explain the ballot to the voter and assist him in marking it. It was not long before these voter's assistants became as Mr. Willard Saulsbury said in his letter to Governor Hunn mere 'tally clerks to see that purchased voters delivered the goods.' As the Union Republican party, in recent elections, has been one of the two principal parties, it has had its own voter's assistants, and has used them to keep watch and tally of its purchased vote. If Mr. Addicks had not been able, by means of these officers, to check up his expenditures and make sure that he received the votes for which he had paid, he would not now have twenty-one Senators and Representatives voting for him in the Legislature of the State. Voters might have taken his money just as freely, but many of them would not have ' delivered the goods. 7 In practice, the voter's assistant part of Mr. Addicks' machine consists of a secret booth, a corrupt voter's assistant, a cashier's office, and a cashier. The workers make ' deals ' with purchasable voters before election day, and then furnish the cashiers with lists of men bought and amounts of money promised. When the purchased voter goes to the polls, the corrupt voter's as- sistant sees that his ballot is properly marked and deposited, and then gives him something in the nature of a token, as a proof that the goods have been delivered. The voter thereupon goes to the cashier's office, surrenders the token, and receives the amount of money set opposite his name on the worker's list, which has previously been turned over to the cashier for the latter's guidance. At one polling-place in the Baltimore hundred, in the early Party Problems and Remedies 287 days, the token given to the purchased voter was a chestnut, which the assistant put into the voter's pocket. It soon became noised about among the colored men of the village that ordinary chestnuts at the cashier's office were bringing $10 apiece. Two or three negroes provided themselves with chestnuts from private sources of supply, and went boldly into the cashier's office to get money for which they had rendered no service. To their great surprise and disappointment, they were promptly hustled out, minus chestnuts and without any money. All chestnuts looked alike to them, and they could not understand what was wrong with their chestnuts, until they learned a few days later that all the chestnuts of the voter's assistant had been carefully and thoroughly boiled, for easy identification and as a pre- caution against this very trick. The Addicks managers now provide their voter's assistants with tokens that have been bought outside of the State and that cannot be easily duplicated or counterfeited. In Dagsboro, in last fall's election, they used a red celluloid button of a peculiar form which could not be obtained in Delaware. In the Balti- more hundred they had tin tags stamped 'O.K.' Tin tags were also used in Milford, Kent County. In other representative districts purchased voters were given a certain number of links of a small, fine chain, or peculiar large-headed black pins, which they stuck in their coats when they went to the cashier's office for settlement. The system was ingenious and worked well ; but in some parts of the State, where the voter's assistants could be fully relied upon, money was given directly to them, and they paid for votes in their booths. This was safer than making settlements out- side and involved less trouble. . . When Mr. Addicks' agents first began to buy votes in southern Delaware, they could 'get' only a part of the negroes, and a few men from the poorest class of whites ; but the corrupting influ- ence of money, used boldly and with impunity throughout a long series of years, finally had its effect upon men of a higher type 288 Readings on Parties and Elections men who could not plead poverty as an excuse for their acts. Well-to-do farmers in Sussex County, who own their farms and have money in bank, now sell their votes regularly every other year ; and as for the colored population, which polls in the two lower counties a vote of about five thousand, it has been cor- rupted en masse. Many informants in Kent and Sussex told me that in the circle of their personal acquaintance they did not know a single negro who 'voted his sentiments.' Every man of them sold his vote for what it wbuld bring. 8. REPEATING 1 In large cities it is impossible for the election officials to know all the voters. This makes it possible for corrupt party workers to get the names of men not qualified to vote on the registry books not only in one but in various precincts. Such votes once cast are as valid as any. The effect on the result of course is the same as if the ballot box had been stuffed by the election officials. For thirty-two years preceding the election of 1908, the num- ber of persons registering in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx increased every four years on an average 29,714. In 1908, on the other hand, the registered vote in the same territory de- creased 19,952, which, if added to the normal increase during the preceding thirty-two years, represented a total falling off of 49,666 in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx alone. It is also more worthy of note that far greater efforts were made to check this vote in this same territory than in the rest of the city. Despite this falling off of the registration in the elections of 1908, yet in this very same election a leader of an assembly district has stated that in his district alone he found 900 fraudulent regis- trations, and even then he believed that there were many that he had not discovered. This leader, moreover, is known as one 1 Finch, E. R., " The Fight for a Clean Ballot." Independent. May 12, 1910. Party Problems and Remedies 289 who is over-diligent in seeking to prevent these frauds. A care- ful investigation in widely different parts of the city following the election of 1908 showed that, even with all the fraudulent votes that had been eliminated, yet in many districts this vote ran from one-eighth to one-quarter of the total registered vote. The above statements are not those made by a writer solely for the sake of exciting attention, but are capable of demonstration and actual proof. It has been publicly stated that following the election had last November, those in a position to know have admitted that, owing to the precautions which were taken to prevent these frauds, 20,000 "tin soldiers," as they call the repeaters, had been prevented from registering and voting. This is the admitted statement of those who produce this vote. A conservative es- timate places the number of fraudulent registrations and votes prevented as upward of 30,000. When it is noticed that a Sheriff, District Attorney, a President of the Borough of Man- hattan and three Supreme Court Judges were elected by con- siderably less than 30,000, thoughtful men pause and wonder how often in the past has the true verdict of the people been over- ridden. New York City, because of its size and because the election officers do not expect to know their neighbors, furnishes the Mecca for those who make it their business to produce this vote. For many years now in this city personal registration has been required. Those who wish to vote must present themselves at the polling-place on one of four specified days within thirty days preceding election day, and there personally state to the board of inspectors their qualifications. This is done by answering and signing the following questions: Name and address, age, number of floor residing on, person residing with, whether na- tive born or a naturalized citizen, and if naturalized, in what court, length of time residing in the State, in the county and in the election district, from where last registered and voted. For the purpose of affording convenient access to the polling- 290 Readings on Parties and Elections places, the city is divided into election districts upon a basis of having 500 registered voters in each district. When the person applying to register presents himself this information is taken down by four separate inspectors, each of whom makes a sepa- rate record of the answers of the voter. Two of these inspectors represent the party casting the highest number of votes for Gov- ernor in the last preceding election, and two of them represent the party casting the next highest number of votes cast for Gov- ernor, and thus they represent at the present time the Republi- can party and the Democratic party respectively. On election day the voter presents himself again at the same polling-place and gives his name and address and signs his name and deposits the ballot that is given him in the ballot box. Now, if the board of inspectors knew their neighbors, as would be the case if the community was a small one, then fraudulent regis- tration would be almost an impossibility. The board of in- spectors would expect to know those applying to register, or at least to know their identity. The risk a repeater would run would be too great. In the City of New York none of the in- spectors composing the board expect to know the person apply- ing to register. It is an exception if they do know him. Probably out of 500 people that apply for registration, they may know fifty of them. This is the great fact upon which the producer of the fraudu- lent vote relies. In each election district one person, aided by assistants, is responsible for the false registrations to be pro- duced in that district. The object is to put on the rolls as many false registrations as possible. Of course, in many districts of the city it is impossible to produce much of this vote, but in other districts the conditions are such that the deficiency can be made up. Now, let us see how easy it is to do this. A man comes in to the registration board and gives his name as Thomas Robin- son, his address as a large boarding house or says he lives with Mrs. X., on the sixth floor of a ten-story apartment house having Party Problems and Remedies 291 four families on a floor; that he has been living there for two weeks ; is thirty-two years of age ; has been in the State three years and in the county six months ; is a native-born citizen and has not registered and voted before in this State, and signs his name. The board of inspectors do not know that these facts about him are not true and there is no one else to challenge him. The producer of this vote has seen Mrs. X. long before. . . If, as very rarely happens, inquiry is made between registration and election days, Mrs. X. is prepared to say that Thomas Robin- son is not at home, but that he lives there. Thomas Robinson, after registering in this polling place, has walked up the street and had himself introduced to the producer of the fraudulent vote in the next election district and has had furnished him another Mrs. X., and here he has registered under the name of William Jones and given the second Mrs. X.'s ad- dress. Very often, and despite all the vigilance used during the last election, it has even happened that Thomas Robinson has gone before the same board of registration officers and given an- other name and another address in the same election district, and put another name on the same roll. A person who is genu- inely interested in preventing these frauds can see them perpetu- ated by visiting any one of a number of different registration places. Now, on election day, a repeater often other than the repeater who placed the name on the roll, comes to each of these polling places, gives the name and the address that was registered, signs his name, takes the ballot, marks it and deposits it. When once in the box it is just as valid as the ballot deposited by any honest American who has waited for one-third of his life before he was entitled to deposit his ballot in the ballot box. . . Let us see how the producer distributed the false registra- tions in the block composing his district. His wife and he occupied the first floor above the basement of a three-story house made over to accommodate a family on 292 Readings on Parties and Elections each floor. Eight names were to be registered as living with them, and his wife knew her role. He had been able to provide some odd jobs for the man who rented the floor above, and in return this man and his wife were to stand cover for seven. The woman who rented the top floor was to pretend that five lived with her, in consideration of the payment of her rent for a month. The barber in the basement, favoring a steady customer, was willing to put a screen in the rear to cover a double cot and make pretense for two more. He had gone to every one who had taken names the year before and had urged the necessity of the great- est possible increase. In addition, he had canvassed the janitor and the lessee of every apartment house and the proprietor of every house with rooms to let. Wherever there was a vacant apartment he had endeavored, and in most cases with success, to persuade the janitor to say it was occupied by the persons whose names he furnished. The persons living in his district whom he knew he approached directly, and others he approached thru mutual friends. Those who were willing he paid either with a cash consideration or a future reward. A doctor, who was hoping to be appointed as a Coroner's physician, occupied a house with his father and brother, and was willing to take four additional names. The inmates of a dis- orderly house had been sent away and twenty-seven cots had been sent in, and the house had a sign as renting rooms to men only. A stable in the block had furnished cover for eleven more. If any questions were asked of these men, their only answer was to be that they worked and slept in the stable. He himself was employed in a city department, and consequently only put in an appearance for a few minutes, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Every one in the department understood that it was the month before election. He had kept in mind all the year around the real work that he was assigned to do. When- ever any favor was done for any householder or lessee, there was always the idea that this person might be obtained as a cover for additional false votes. Party Problems and Remedies 293 His efforts had almost brought the number up to 150, and he was counting on taking the chances of having a few register from residences whose owners would not be likely to scan the registra- tion list, or if they did, would be too fearful of notoriety and in- convenience to make any complaint. Following the usual cus- tom, he had arranged for the use of a vacant basement next door to the polling place. Here he had a helper in charge who had a list of the places from which the names were to be registered. Thruout the four days of registration he would be visited from time to time by a man whom he would know and who would introduce to him two or three men at a time, and these men would be sent into the basement, and there given the name and address and information under which they were to go up and register in the polling-place. As soon as they had registered they would come back to the basement and would be furnished with a slip upon which they would write the name and address under which they had just registered, and the name of the person with whom they had stated they lived. On the same slip they would also sign the name just the same as they signed it in the polling place. Having made this slip out and turned it in, they would receive $i apiece for registering, and go off with their leader to another polling place to meet the man who was there in charge of the same work. The object of having the information put on a slip and the name signed as the repeater had signed it on the registration book was to have this slip ready to turn over to the man who would vote under this name on election day. The man who acted as introducer is known as the "guerrilla" leader. On election day the same "guerrilla" leader and other "guerrilla" leaders would bring around the same or other men, only more men would be brought at one time and they would be brought faster, because, while there are four days to register the names, yet all the names registered must be voted on elec- tion day. It is the custom to get a start early in the morning, and so, after the polls have been open for a few minutes, there is 294 Readings on Parties and Elections usually a line of from seventy-five to one hundred men waiting to vote. In addition to the men brought by the "guerrilla" leaders, the producer of the vote in the particular election dis- trict usually knows a few local men whom he can utilize. Last year, it was said, two men, partners in business, who had re- ceived contracts under the city government, and who had an acquaintance with the producers of this vote in certain sec- tions of the city, were informed that they would have to act as "guerrilla" leaders. They demurred, but were told that if they expected any favors to come, they would have to so act. When considered in the abstract, it looks as if the fraud is bold, but when the concrete case is presented, as shown above, it is seen that the chance of detection is not formidable. The " guerrilla " leaders prefer to have men from out of the State, because at the close of the day these men can leave the State and their identity is lost. The devices used to give color for false residences are innumer- able. Old names are sought to be kept on the rolls, because it follows that the older they are, the more certain the investigator feels that they must be legitimate. Similarly, the names of dead men are oftentimes kept on the rolls. In the election of 1908 a name was registered which was that of a son whose mother said that he had died in 1904. This illustrates the humor in the remark of a Philadelphian "that they were still voting in that city the names of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence." The names of those who have moved between one election and another furnishes a fruitful source. From 30 per cent, to 45 per cent, of the voters in an election district move between each election. The remaining 70 per cent, to 55 per cent, represent the permanent roll. These men should be checked up during the period immediately following one election and in preparation for the next. But it has often been customary to make little, if any, investigation prior to the next registration, which must all take place in the thirty days immediately preceding. Then an Party Problems and Remedies 295 effort is made to check up the total registration in the city of New York, which numbers upward of 650,000 voters. It is im- possible in this short time to make any adequate investigation, and consequently, the few cases that are investigated are often done in a haphazard fashion, and such investigation must of necessity only concern a small portion of the names fraudulently registered. . . As greater efforts have been made for a clean ballot, so greater counter-efforts and more ingenious devices have been used on the part of those producing this fraudulent vote. In the last election transfers of fraudulent names were had between different election districts and between different assembly districts, so as to baffle the investigator in verifying registration. Again, squads of men have been hired in adjacent cities and brought to the city of New York for the purpose of having them sleep a few nights in one district and a few nights in another district and so on, and have them register in each of such districts. One man from out of town showed four different keys of the four places where he was to sleep a few nights. Again, names were put on the rolls of foreigners actually living in the district. When inquiry was made at the houses it was ascertained that persons corresponding to the names registered were living in these houses, and thus the investigator felt satisfied, not think- ing to ask whether these persons were naturalized. Another plan was to have unnaturalized aliens simply register on the statement that they were native born ; when asked where, they gave some other state in the union. Statistics have been so loosely kept that it is impossible to disprove this statement, even if time were available between registration and election. After election, the matter is dropped. A thoughtful person who learns for the first time that all a foreign-born citizen who desires to vote as a native born has to do is to make a statement on regis- tration day that he is a native-born citizen, is amazed at the effectiveness of the answer. Those seeking to eradicate these frauds are never sure that they have discovered all. Experi- 296 Readings on Parties and Elections ence has taught that often names which appear to represent genuine voters are nothing but a trick more clever than any be- fore discovered. In the event that an effort is made to arrest and convict per- sons falsely registering, no expense or plan is too great for the producers of these votes to undertake in an endeavor to prevent a conviction. It is the psychology of this dastardly business to guarantee protection to those who take the chances. Low bail in the first instance is always sought, and if the chances for conviction look good, the bail is forfeited. Another favorite method is to have the men escape by the inability of the in- spectors to identify the man as the person who actually at- tempted to register. If a conviction is secured, a persistent, determined effort is made to obtain a pardon, particularly before the next election, so that the producers of the vote may point to the pardon as their guarantee of protection before asking that the same chances be taken in the next election. The number of pardons of the producers of this vote is astonishing, and the number of those who actually escape conviction on what seems to the citizen wholly technical defenses is more astonishing. 9. THE EFFECT OF VOTE BUYING ON THE VOTERS 1 The effect of vote buying is not confined to the election returns and the dishonest party manager and his " friends." Citizens of unquestioned integrity too often feel that if money is being paid for voting it is a shame to let the rascals get it all. Many a voter sees no wrong in accepting a payment of " car- fare" or one to cover "time lost in voting." Before we can find remedies for the corruption of the ballot it will be necessary to look somewhat carefully into the causes of the corruption. It is not sufficient to say that the corruption is due to the party spirit of the time, or to our form of ballot, > Jenks, J. W., " Money in Practical Politics. " Century, Vol. 44, 1892 ; p. 947. Party Problems and Remedies 297 or to any other one or more of such external causes ; the causes lie deeper than that. In the first place, so long as we have, practically, universal suffrage, we shall always find many voters who are ready to cast their votes not from principle, but for their own pecuniary interest, though this number is smaller than many think. A large part of the "commercials" are paid to vote as they would vote without bribery. Not till the mil- lenium comes can we expect these most selfish voters to refuse to sell their votes, if the opportunity offers. We must in some way make it for the interests of the party managers not to attempt to buy. But, on the other hand, whenever an election is close, and "floaters" stand about, waiting for bids, the temptation is so great for party managers to buy, in order to secure the elec- tion of their candidates, that we need not expect the practice to stop, unless in some way, as said above, we can make the advan- tage to be gained from honesty greater than that to be gained from dishonesty. At the present time, under our present laws, the prize is so great and the risk so slight, that corruption is sure to be found in almost every close district. At the present time, many a man who will not sell his vote to the opposite party will nevertheless ask pay for his time on elec- tion day. From this receipt of his expenses in bringing himself and his workmen to the polls, bribery is made easy. The man feels that he is not selling his vote; he was expecting to vote his party ticket at any rate. But after he has gone thus far a number of times he loses sight of the real purpose for which he is voting, and the ballot seems to be cast for the good, not of the country, but of the candidate. If the candidate is to be benefited, why should he not pay for the benefit ? He can afford it. Not a few men, seeing money going freely into the pockets of "floaters," say to the managers: "If money is so plentiful, why should the scoundrels get it all ? Let us honest partymen have our share. Our votes are worth just as much to the candi- dates." In classes of university students, containing from ten to twenty 298 Readings on Parties and Elections voters, more than once I have found several from five to ten who had received from campaign managers their expenses home from college to cast their votes. These students were by no means common "floaters" ; their votes could not be directly purchased at all. But still, on first consideration, many of them defend the payment of expenses of voters by their own party, when they are unable to pay them themselves, not realizing that this is but a covert form of bribery, and that, after receiving expenses, one would not feel at liberty to vote independently. If people as intelligent and honest as are college students of vot- ing age will thus thoughtlessly encourage corrupt methods of voting, what may we expect from the "floater"? Another cause that has conduced to the corruption of voters is the lack of distinct issues between the parties. When party feeling is very strong, as in our country at the time of the Civil War, when most of the masses feel that upon the success of their party depends the existence of their country, votes will not be so readily sold; relatively speaking, only here and there will be found a man whose vote is ' purchasable. But when the issues between the parties are not sharply drawn, when a man feels that either party's success is of slight consequence, it is much easier to secure his vote by purchase without any consciousness on his part of corruption. 10. THE POWER OF THE UNITED STATES TO REGULATE ELEC- TIONS TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES l Though the regulation of voting is primarily left to the states the Federal Government exercises an important degree of control through its ability to insure the purity of Congressional elections. Mr. Justice Bradley delivered the opinion of the court. The petitioners in this case were judges of election at dif- ferent voting precincts in the city of Baltimore, at the election l Ex parte Siebold, 100 U. S. 371, 1879 (excerpt). Party Problems and Remedies 299 held in that city and in the State of Maryland, on the fifth day of November, 1878, at which representatives to the Forty-sixth Congress were voted for. At the November Term of the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Maryland, an indictment against each of the petitioners was found in said court, for offences alleged to have been committed by them respectively at their respective precincts whilst being such judges of election ; upon which in- dictments they were severally tried, convicted, and sentenced by said court to fine and imprisonment. They now apply to this court for a writ of habeas corpus to be relieved from im- prisonment. These indictments were framed partly under sect. 5515 and partly under sect. 5522 of the Revised Statutes of the United States; and the principal questions raised by the application are, whether those sections, and certain sections of the title of the Revised Statutes relating to the elective franchise, which they are intended to enforce, are within the constitutional power of Congress to enact. . . Congress has partially regulated the subject heretofore. In 1842, it passed a law for the election of representatives by separ- ate districts; and, subsequently, other laws fixing the time of election, and directing that the elections shall be by ballot. No one will pretend, at least at the present day, that these laws were unconstitutional because they only partially covered the sub- ject. . , The State may make regulations on the subject ; Congress may make regulations on the same subject, or may alter or add to those already made. The paramount character of those made by Congress has the effect to supersede those made by the State, so far as the two are inconsistent, and no farther. There is no such conflict between them as to prevent their forming a har- monious system perfectly capable of being administered and carried out as such. 300 Readings on Parties and Elections As to the supposed incompatibility of independent sanctions and punishments imposed by the two governments, for the en- forcement of the duties required of the officers of election, and for their protection in the performance of those duties, the same considerations apply. While the State will retain the power of enforcing such of its own regulations as are not superseded by those adopted by Congress, it cannot be disputed that if Con- gress has power to make regulations it must have the power to enforce them, not only by punishing the delinquency of officers appointed by the United States, but by restraining and punish- ing those who attempt to interfere with them in the performance of their duties ; and if, as we have shown, Congress may revise existing regulations, and add to or alter the same as far as it deems expedient, there can be as little question that it may im- pose additional penalties for the prevention of frauds committed by the State officers in the elections, or for their violation of any duty relating thereto, whether arising from the common law or from any other law, State or National. Why not? Penalties for fraud and delinquency are part of the regulations belonging to the subject. If Congress, by its power to make or alter the regulations, has a general supervisory power over the whole sub- ject, what is there to preclude it from imposing additional sanc- tions and penalties to prevent such fraud and delinquency ? It is objected that Congress has no power to enforce State laws or to punish State officers, and especially has no power to punish them for violating the laws of their own State. As a general proposition, this is undoubtedly true ; but when, in the performance of their functions, State officers are called upon to fulfil duties which they owe to the United States as well as to the State, has the former no means of compelling such fulfilment ? Yet that is the case here. It is the duty of the States to elect representatives to Congress. The due and fair election of these representatives is of vital importance to the United States. The government of the United States is no less concerned in the trans- action than the State government is. It certainly is not bound Party Problems and Remedies 301 to stand by as a passive spectator, when duties are violated and outrageous frauds are committed. It is directly interested in the faithful performance, by the officers of election, of their re- spective duties. Those duties are owed as well to the United States as to the State. This necessarily follows from the mixed character of the transaction, State and National. A viola- tion of duty is an offense against the United States, for which the offender is justly amenable to that government. No official position can shelter him from this responsibility. In view of the fact that Congress has plenary and paramount jurisdiction over the whole subject, it seems almost absurd to say that an officer who receives or has custody of the ballots given for a repre- sentative owes no duty to the national government which Con- gress can enforce; or that an officer who stuffs the ballot-box cannot be made amenable to the United States. If Congress has not, prior to the passage of the present laws, imposed any penalties to prevent and punish frauds and violations of duty committed by officers of election, it has been because the exi- gency has not been deemed sufficient to require it, and not be- cause Congress had not the requisite power. . . The counsel for the petitioners concede that Congress may, if it sees fit, assume the entire control and regulation of the elec- tion of representatives. This would necessarily involve the ap- pointment of the places for holding the polls, the times of voting, and the officers for holding the election; it would require the regulation of the duties to be performed, the custody of the bal- lots, the mode of ascertaining the result, and every other matter relating to the subject. Is it possible that Congress could not, in that case, provide for keeping the peace at such elections, and for arresting and punishing those guilty of breaking it ? If it could not, its power would be but a shadow and a name. But, if Con- gress can do this, where is the difference in principle in its making provision for securing the preservation of the peace, so as to give to every citizen his free right to vote without molestation or in- jury, when it assumes only to supervise the regulations made by 302 Readings on Parties and Elections the State, and not to supersede them entirely? In our judg- ment, there is no difference ; and, if the power exists in the one case it exists in the other. 1 II. PUBLICITY OF CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS The last twenty years have seen the development of a cam- paign to force the letting in of light upon the methods and re- sources of our party organizations. The legislation secured for this purpose constantly increases in definiteness. Even parti- sanship if forced to fight in the open must confine itself, for its support to sources of income which the public conscience will approve. New York led in the movement for publicity proper with a law passed in 1890 (ch. 94), requiring candidates to file state- ments for their expenditures. This act was very ineffective, no publicity being required for the expenses of election committees. Most of the laws subsequently passed have brought campaign committees as well as candidates specifically under regulation. By the end of 1908, more than twenty states altogether had taken some action looking toward the publicity of expenditures. The earlier laws of this character were very loosely drawn. In many cases they simply required "statements," and the results obtained were distinguished chiefly by gross inadequacy and heterogeneity. Later statutes and amendments, however, have fixed the form of reports, precisely, itemizing them in consider- able detail. Wisconsin, for example, furnishes blanks especially prepared for this purpose. Vouchers for all sums exceeding five or ten dollars are required in a number of states. Publicity of receipts is not so commonly prescribed as publicity of expendi- tures. Reports of contributions were first required by Colorado and Michigan in 1891, followed by Massachusetts in 1892, Cali- 1 See also ex parte Yarbrough, no U.S. 651, 1884. 2 Brooks, R. C, Corruption in American Politics and Life. Dodd, Mead and Co., New York, 1910; pp. 229-237. Party Problems and Remedies 303 forma in 1894, Arizona in 1895, an d Ohio in 1896. Repeals of the laws first passed in Ohio and Michigan indicate that they were somewhat ahead of public sentiment at the time, although they would hardly be so regarded now. In this connection the New York law of 1906 (ch. 502), was an event of first class im- portance. It compels political committees to file detailed state- ments of receipts as well as expenditures, and provides for judi- cial investigation to enforce correct statements. The great weight of the name of the Empire State is thus placed squarely behind the demand for real publicity of receipts. Under this act, voluntarily accepted by the national chairmen in 1908, pub- licity was given to the finances of a presidential campaign for the first time in the history of the country. In the national field the nearest approach to legislation pre- scribing publicity for campaign contributions was made by a bill (H.R., 20112) introduced into the House of Representatives in igoS. 1 Briefly this bill covered both expenditures and con- tributions of the national and the congressional campaign com- mittees of all parties, and of "all committees, associations, or organizations which shall in two or more states influence the re- sult or attempt to influence the result of an- election at which Representatives in Congress are to be elected." Treasurers of such committees were required to file itemized detailed statements with the Clerk of the House of Representatives "not more than fifteen days and not less than ten days before an election", and also final reports within thirty days after such elections. These state- ments were to include the names and addresses of contributors of $100 or more, the total of contributions under $100, disburse- ments exceeding $10 in detail, and the total of disbursements of less amount. The bill also contained provisions, which will be referred to later, designed to cover the use of money by persons or associations other than those mentioned above. Unfortu- 1 A step in advance has now been made in the act for publicity of campaign contributions passed by Congress in 1911. (Public, No. 32. Approved August 19, 1911.) 304 Readings on Parties and Elections nately a provision was tacked on to the foregoing raising the ques- tion of the restriction of colored voting in the South and hinting at a reappointment of congressional representation under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. As a consequence an embittered opposition was made by the Democrats who charged that the latter provision was deliberately introduced in bad faith with the intention of making the passage of the bill impossible. In the house it was carried by a solid Republican vote of 161 in its favour to 126 Democratic votes in opposition, but was allowed to expire in the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections for fear that it would become the object of a Demo- cratic filibuster. Whatever may be the merits of the proposal to readjust con- gressional representation it is clearly a question which is logi- cally separable from that of campaign contributions. If this separation is effected there would seem to be reason to hope that a publicity bill similar in its main outlines to that of 1908 can pass Congress. While a platform plank of this sort was voted down in the Republican National Convention of that year, Mr. Taft in his speech of acceptance said : If I am elected President I shall urge upon Congress, with every hope of success, that a law be passed requiring a filing in a Federal office of a statement of the contributions received by committees and candidates in elections for members of Congress, and in such other elections as are constitutionally within the control of Congress. The manoeuvring for position between the parties in 1908 which resulted in the voluntary acceptance by each of high standards of publicity is too fresh in the public mind to require rehearsal here. For the first time in the history of presidential elections some definite information was made available regarding cam- paign finances. The Republican National Committee reported contributions of $1,035,368.27. This sum, however, does not include $620,150 collected in the several states by the finance committees of the Republican National Committee and turned Party Problems and Remedies 305 over by them to their respective state committees. The Demo- cratic National Committee reported contributions amounting to $620,644.77. The list of contributors to the Republican Na- tional Fund contained 12,330 names. The Democratic National Committee filed a "list of over 250,000 names representing over 100,000 contributors who contributed through newspapers, clubs, solicitors, and other organizations, whose names are on file in the office of the chairman of the Democratic National Committee at Buffalo." On many points, unfortunately, the two reports, while defi- nite to a degree hitherto unknown, are not strictly comparable. Some species of " uniform accounting" applicable to this subject is manifestly necessary before any detailed investigation can be undertaken. One big fact stands out with sufficient clearness, however, namely that the national campaign of 1908 was waged at a money cost far below that of the three preceding cam- paigns. Basing his estimate upon what is said to have been spent in 1896, 1900, and 1904, Mr. F. A. Ogg placed the total cost of a presidential election to both parties, including the state and local contests occurring at the same time, at $15,000,000. One- third to one-half of this enormous sum, in his opinion, must be at- tributed to the presidential campaign proper. Compared with this estimate of from five to seven and a half millions the rela- tively modest total of something more than two and a quarter millions shown by the figures of 1908 must be counted a strong argument in favour of publicity. The most important single issue raised by the policies of the two parties during the last presidential campaign was that of publicity before or after election. Early in the campaign the Democratic National Committee decided to publish on or before October i5th all individual contributions in excess of $100; contributions received subsequent to that date to be published on the day of their receipt. Following the principle of the New York law both parties made post-election statements. It is x 306 Readings on Parties and Elections manifest that complete statements of expenditures, or for that matter of contributions as well, can be made only after election. Every thorough provision for publicity must, therefore, require post-election reports. Shall preliminary statements also be required? As against the latter it is urged that contributors whose motives are of the highest character will be deterred by the fear of savage partisan criticism. If publicity is delayed until after the election campaign bitterness will have subsided and a juster view of the whole situation will be possible. In favour of publicity before the election it is said that two main ends are aimed at by all legislation of this sort ; first to pre- vent the collection and expenditure of enormous sums for the bribery of voters and other corrupt purposes, and, second, by revealing the source of campaign funds to make it difficult or impossible for the victorious party to carry out corrupt bargains into which it may have entered in order to obtain large contribu- tions. Publicity after the election will, indeed, serve the second of these ends, but publicity before would be much more effective in preventing corrupt collection and expenditure of funds. Moreover it might prevent the victory of the party pursuing such a policy and thus, by keeping it out of power, render it in- capable of paying by governmental favour for its contributions. 12. THE CAMPAIGN WAR CHEST 1 The extent to which the evil of unrestrained contributions may grow is illustrated by the experience of New York City. Both parties must be helped whenever the "interest" is one which can be damaged by hostile legislation or administra- tive action. Candidates are chosen with an eye to what they can contribute or they are forced to give far beyond what their private means would justify. The temptation to go where the largest amounts may be obtained makes the party depend for its financial support on a class, not on the people. Conversely the idea that the party coffers are full cuts down the willingness 1 Carr, J. F., " Campaign Funds and Campaign Scandals." Outlook, Nov. 4, 1905. Party Problems and Remedies 307 of the citizens to do party work except for reasons other than principles. License to grab from the t dough-bag' has become an in- alienable birthright for the smaller grafters. Every man who renders a service is a voter. He must always be paid more than his labor is worth, and his labor is often worth a great deal. A bill-poster who toils all night and all the day Sunday pasting his flash-bills on barrels and dead-walls is entitled to a high extra wage. But no ordinary excess rate is sufficient. An enthusi- astic spirit of gratitude must be awakened in the man, if the fires of party patriotism are to blaze brightly. Extravagant expec- tations are universal, extravagent demands of hourly occurrence. Worse still, almost every kind of helper and worker, down to the smallest messenger-boy, acts as if the money in the party chest did not represent honest labor or honest saving of any kind, and as if it properly belonged to any one clever enough to lay hands on it. It is 'honest graft/ and human rapacity grows vulture-like. For our greatest city election, extravagance be- comes such profligacy of expenditure that for each of the last three mayoralty campaigns in New York it is estimated that all parties spent more than $800,000 ; and yet Mr. Plunkitt, in the fullness of knowledge, declares, 'There's never been half enough money to go around.' . . How are these lavishly spent funds actually raised in this year of grace 1905? And with what abuses? Every one knows that by far the heaviest contributors are pecuniarily interested individuals and corporations. Their assistance has gradually grown, and only gradually are its consequences seen. In the sixties political contests were chiefly supported by a multitude of small contributors. It was a simple and democratic way a help and not a hindrance to popular representative govern- ment. To-day the small contributor has almost entirely es- caped his duty, and our Assemblymen, Congressmen, and State and National Senators are so often the blind agents of 'bosses' 308 Readings on Parties and Elections and corporations that many a time the alarmist seems to utter only sober sense when he cries excitedly that our representative institutions are in danger. A new organization of political parties, with up-to-date busi- ness-like methods of plunder, became inevitable whenever in the States and cities they sold themselves for the money they needed to live the new, extravagant political life. Just as inevi- table was the creation of the 'boss,' a man of undisputed and irresponsible power, unscrupulous and able in intriguing for pat- ronage and collecting money. No two of our 'bosses' are alike either in manners, methods, or even in organizing power, but they all have the masterful gift of the highwayman. ... As the necessity for secrecy makes the 'boss' inevitable, so it is the big unavowed contribution, buying or trying to buy an unfair privilege, that makes the all-round 'square deal' impossible. Neither political sentiment, nor principles, nor even party bigotry really determines the majority of these large political gifts. Such contributions are usually considered as purely 'a business proposition.' The saloon-keeper thinks of his as a kind of extra-legal license to sell liquor at forbidden hours. The contractor who habitually infringes the building law pays his as a bribe of silence. The placeman, as a feudal tenant, reluctantly hands his out like ancient scutage, or shield money. For others the pay is blackmail, or a hold-up, or a ransom extorted by ban- dits, or a form of life or accident insurance. The immediate purpose of such gifts may be winning favor or avoiding trouble, but the ultimate object is making or saving money. An official of a small railroad interest that enters New York City once told me that his company made a practice of sending $5,000 to Tam- many at the beginning of each campaign. 'We often have to ask favors,' he said, 'and it puts us on a friendly footing with influential people in the Hall. It is true that we have to pay separately for our privileges when we get them, but it saves us money in the end. Last year, when we needed to* run some tracks across an out-of-the-way avenue ' and he Party Problems and Remedies 309 named the place 'they made us give up $30,000, but it would have cost us double that if we hadn't had a backer in the Wigwam.' Gifts are often made to both parties by the same donor, and contributing corporations calculate with some nicety the power of politicians to help or injure them. In a recent campaign there was a close contest in one of the New Jersey counties, and, certain that he could control the local election if he had aid, the Chairman of the Democratic County Committee appealed for large financial help to ex-Senator Smith, the 'boss' of the Jersey Democracy. The ex-Senator could not grant the full demand, and felt obliged to give some explanation of present Democratic poverty in New Jersey. He said that there was a time when the State was in the doubtful column and Democrats and Re- publicans had an almost equal chance of success, that the Pennsylvania Railroad Company treated the Democrats almost as handsomely as its Republican favorites, but that ever since Bryan's overwhelming defeat in 1896, as the Democrats had not the slightest chance of carrying the State, the Pennsylvania had not only cut off all its bounties to the Democratic fund, but, with all the privileges it needed and fearing no Democratic competi- tion in legislative demands, it had greatly reduced the amount which it formerly gave the Republicans. Could 'a business proposition ' be more clearly stated ? The two parties have several hundred important treasuries, National, State, and muni- cipal. Into them these gifts are cast more or less stealthily, and no one can estimate their huge gross annual amount. Some are criminal; some are probably recoverable by stockholders through civil process ; they are nearly all dishonorable to both giver and receiver. Then there are the donations from candidates, which are al- ways ' appreciated ' a gentle word that often cloaks an im- perious demand. No law prevents the voluntary gift, and when a man runs for office his supporters usually think that he ought to pay a good share of the election expenses. The candidate is jio Readings on Parties and Elections as frequently of an opposite opinion. I have heard the case warmly put in a district club. An upright and uncanting polit- ical amateur said: 'We are working for what we believe in. Mack should give all he can afford to give. He is in earnest enough to head this fight and devote all his time to it. Besides, it's partly for the gratification of his ambition . ' That is the argu- ment in a nutshell, and from that point to suggesting the duty of contribution is but a step, and a slightly longer second step to the exaction of money as a condition of nomination. . . The objections to these bargained or unbargained assessments of candidates are so serious that they should be altogether pro- hibited by law. They create an undue advantage in favor of men of wealth as against men of character and ability, and they mean that many young men mortgage their whole public future for the help which they receive at the outset of their political career, when they incur obligations which they can pay only by prostituting their official positions. But a far graver abuse, that has become a National scandal, is the assessment of office-holders. . . The opportunities for wringing this despicably mean toll from the most poorly paid of the Government's servants are almost boundless, for there are about 280,000 men and women in the classified Civil Service, receiving salaries reaching a total each year of $175,000,000 an annual wage of only $625 for each employee. Everywhere campaign committees send their requests for subscriptions to subordinate Federal office-holders. Their terms are almost invariably polite, and they assume that the contribu- tion is to be wholly voluntary. But these casual printed or typewritten appeals are understood by the Government em- ployees to be perfectly definite orders to contribute or suffer the consequences. Many would resist the injustice of such a demand, but they believe that to do so would be to quarrel with their bread and butter. On the whole, perhaps the notion is absurd, but every department can furnish a few examples which lend color to the belief that complaint to the authorities is dan- Party Problems and Remedies 311 gerous. Besides, there is a spirit abroad in the service that holds such an act treason. But the call is not always gently veiled; it often becomes a peremptory demand. Some of the cases in the last campaign were flagrant. In Kentucky postal clerks and other employees of the Rural Free Delivery were by letter ordered to stand and deliver in the following fashion: 'The position you hold in the party shows your active interest in its principles and policies and your desire for its success. We there- fore confidently expect aid from you and hope to receive a liberal contribution for the legitimate purpose only of paying the ex- penses of our organization. We trust your contribution will not be less than $70.' The Chairman of the Iowa Republican State Committee sent a letter to each lowan in the classified service in Washington, requesting what he called 'the surrender of an equitable part of the salary you are receiving from the Gov- ernment,' and he defined the 'equitable part' to be three per cent, of the clerk's salary. The law of the land does not forbid office-holders to contribute to campaign funds, if they wish to do so. It merely prohibits one office-holder from approaching another with such' a demand, and no one is permitted to solicit political contributions in a Fed- eral building. It is an easy matter to evade a lax law, and so little legal evidence sufficiently definite to warrant a prosecution is ever laid before the Civil Service Commission that prosecu- tions are rarely begun. . . These methods of filling party coffers are in general use to- day in the present State and municipal campaigns. By the tens of thousands such letters and circulars are now being sent out from political headquarters. They take many forms. One will begin with a covert threat: 'I am directed on behalf of the Finance Committee .' Another, typewritten and in the usual style giving among names of the Finance Committee four city officials, is, in defiance of law, sent to hundreds of place-holders. The Chairman claims that he did not know that the addresses were city employees. A third typewritten letter is signed with a rub- 312 Readings on Parties and Elections her stamp, and, in absence of proof that its use was authorized, prosecution is impossible. . . Our present way of financing campaigns has become a part of the political system of the land. A private individual is now rarely asked for a contribution, and the money gifts of disin- terested citizens have dwindled until they are an entirely negli- gible source of revenue. Now and again a reform movement is so supported, but even in such cases by far the largest part of the fund raised is supplied by a small number of wealthy men, who thus exert an influence out of all proportion to their num- bers on the policies of parties. They are often full of self-sacri- fice and noble ideals, but because they are out of sympathy with the great mass of the people for whom they labor, they are con- tinually building on sand. The days of the rank and file sub- scriptions of $2 and $5 seem gone forever. Men punctually pay as a matter of course for the support of their churches, clubs, benefit societies, and newspapers ; and they should do the same for their political parties. But a generation has grown up with an idea that a party should be self-supporting. Yet political parties are not wealth-producers, and they are fast reaching a point, even Nationally, where they can maintain themselves only by selling, or pretending to sell, a part of the public rights of which they are the custodians through the officers whom they elect. The politicians to a man are skeptical of the possibility of supporting a political campaign by popular contributions, and their cynicism completes the despairing side of the picture. Privately their scoffing is voluble there is no way but the present way, and that is the best of all possible ways. Publicly they are silent or noncommittal. . . But a politician sees the worst side of human nature, and, like a policeman, is a bad judge of the morals of the common run of men. There are two hopes for the future, and both are bright. There is a remarkable revival of civic righteousness sweeping over the land that is awakening men to a loftier conception of their duties as citizens. With this an aroused public sentiment Party Problems and Remedies 313 already demands the enactment of a law against corporate con- tributions. When political managers feel the pinch of this le- gally enforced poverty, they will be driven to appeal to the pocket of the individual voter. Plunkitt in his wrath against the Civil Service blurted out a deeper truth than he knew of when he said that a political organization is like a church. 'It does missionary work like a church, it's got big expenses, and it's got to be supported by the faithful.' The churches that are maintained by small voluntary contributions from thousands of worshipers are living, growing realities. Those whose support comes from endowments and the donations of a few wealthy communicants have already lost their usefulness. The 'boss' is the man who can procure the 'dough,' and the autocracy that he has founded among us has its origin in the failure of citizens not only to exercise their political rights, but to furnish the money for the absolutely necessary expenses of their political parties. Representation without taxation is becoming fully as great a wrong as taxation without representation. A renewal of the old custom of small contributions for a cam- paign would give a different quality to the fund, and induce re- spect for it. An honest subscription for a legitimate purpose, it could no longer be looked upon as ' honest graft,' and economy of expenditure and public accounting would follow. Fifteen million dollars is probably the wildest estimate that has been placed on the immediate cost of the last Presidential campaign. Yet this amounts to but $1.11 for each elector. A fifty-cent piece from every voter would more than cover every lawful ex- pense of a campaign, and go far toward freeing both parties from the evil influence of 'bosses' and corporations. 314 Readings on Parties and Elections 13. CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES AND PUBLICITY 1 One of the most interesting attempts to put down the evil of excessive party expenditures is the expedient adopted by Oregon to fix the cost of running for office. The corrupt practices act was adopted under the initiative in 1908 by popular vote of 54,042 to 31,301. It provides that no candidate for office shall expend in his campaign for nomination more than 15 per cent of one year's compensation of the office for which he is a candidate, provided that no candidate shall be restricted to less than $100. Publicity Pamphlet (The act provides, however, for the publication of a pamphlet by the secretary of state for the information of voters, in which pamphlet a candidate in the primary campaign may have pub- lished a statement setting forth his qualifications, the principles and policies he advocates and favors, or any other matter he may wish to submit in support of his candidacy. Each candi- date must pay for at least one page, the amount to be paid vary- ing from $100 for the highest office to $10 for the minor offices. Every candidate may secure the use of additional pages at $100 per page, not exceeding three additional pages.) Any person may use space in this pamphlet in opposition to any candidate, the matter submitted by him being first served upon the candi- date and the space being paid for the same as in the case of candi- dates. The matter submitted in opposition to candidates must be signed by the author, who is subject to the general laws re- garding slander and libel. Information regarding state and congressional candidates is printed in a pamphlet issued by the secretary of state, one copy being mailed to each registered voter in the State. Pamphlets regarding county candidates are issued by the county clerk and mailed to each voter in the county. 1 Bourne, Jr. , J. , Speech in the United States Senate. Thurs . , May 5, p. 13 et seq. (pam.). Party Problems and Remedies 315 These pamphlets must be mailed at least eight days before the primary election. The amount of money paid for space in the public pamphlet of information is not considered in determining the amount each candidate has expended in his campaign ; that is, he is entitled to expend in his primary campaign 15 per cent of one year's compensation in addition to what he pays for space in the public pamphlet. Prior to the general election the executive committee or man- aging officers of any political party or organization may file with the secretary of state portrait cuts of its candidates and typewritten statements and arguments for the success of its principles and the election of its candidates and opposing or attacking the principles and candidates of all other parties. This same privilege applies to independent candidates. These statements and arguments are printed in a pamphlet and mailed to the registered voters of the State not later than the tenth day before the general election. Each party is limited to 24 pages, and each independent can- didate to 2 pages, each page in this pamphlet being charged for at the rate of $50 per page. In the campaign preceding the gen- eral election each candidate is limited in campaign expenditures to 10 per cent of one year's compensation. For the purposes of this act the contribution, expenditure, or liability of a descendant, ascendant, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, wife, partner, employer, employee, or fel- low-official or fellow-employee of a corporation is deemed to be that of the candidate himself. Any person not a candidate spending more than $50 in a campaign must file an itemized ac- count of his expenditures in the office of the secretary of state or the county clerk and give a copy of the account to the candidate for whom or against whom the money was spent. Legitimate Use of Money within Limit While the corrupt practices act limits the candidate to the expenditure of 15 per cent of one year's salary in his primary 316 Readings on Parties and Elections campaign and 10 per cent of a year's salary in the general cam- paign, in addition to what he pays for space in the publicity pamphlet, yet the law does not prohibit any legitimate use of money within this limitation. The act makes it possible for a man of moderate means to be a candidate upon an equality with a man of wealth. Let us take a concrete example, as a means of illustrating the operation of Oregon's corrupt practices act. The salary of the governor is $5,000 a year. A candidate for the nomination for governor may take a maximum of 4 pages in the publicity pam- phlet, and thus, at a cost of $400, be able to reach every registered voter of his party in the entire State. In addition to that $400 he may spend $750, or 15 per cent of one year's salary, in any other manner he may choose, not in violation of the corrupt practices act. A candidate may purchase space in the advertis- ing columns of a newspaper, but in order that this paid adver- tising shall not be mistaken for news the law requires that all paid articles be marked as such. The law expressly provides that none of its provisions shall be construed as relating to the rendering of services by speakers, writers, publishers, or others for which no compensation is asked or given, nor to prohibit expenditure by committees of political parties or organizations for public speakers, music, halls, lights, literature, advertising, office rent, printing, postage, clerk hire, challengers or watchers at the polls, traveling expenses, tele- graphing or telephoning, or the making of poll lists. The successful nominee in the primary may spend in his gen- eral campaign 10 per cent of one year's salary, this expenditure, in the case of a candidate for governor, being $500. In addition to this 10 per cent of a year's salary he may contribute toward the payment for his party's statement in the publicity pamphlet to be mailed by the secretary of state to every registered voter. In the publicity pamphlet for the general campaign each party may use not to exceed 24 pages, at $50 per page, making the total cost to the party committee $1,200, or about $100 for each candidate. Party Problems and Remedies 317 The candidate is therefore limited to an expenditure of $600 in his general campaign, only $100 of which is necessary in order to enable him to reach every registered voter. He could reach every registered voter in his party in the primary campaign for $400. Under no other system could a candidate reach all the voters in two campaigns at a total cost of $500. Improper Acts Prohibited The Oregon corrupt practices act encourages and aids pub- licity, but prohibits the excessive or improper use of money or other agencies for the subversion of clean elections. Among the acts which are prohibited I may mention these : Promises of appointments in return for political support. Solicitation or acceptance of campaign contributions from or payment of contributions by persons holding appointive positions. Publication or distribution of anonymous letters or circulars regarding candidates or measures before the people. Sale of editorial support or the publication of paid political advertising without marking it "Paid advertising." Use of carriages in conveying voters to the polls. Active electioneering or soliciting votes on election day. Campaign contributions by quasi public or certain other im- portant classes of corporations generally affected by legislation. Intimidation or coercion of voters in any manner. Soliciting candidates to subscribe to religious, charitable, public, and semi-public enterprises; but this does not prohibit regular payments to any organization of which the candidate has been a member, or to which he has been a contributor for more than six months before his candidacy. Contribution of funds in the name of any other than the per- son furnishing the money. Treating by candidates as a means of winning favor. Payment or promise to reward another for the purpose of in- ducing him to become or refrain from becoming or cease being a candidate, or solicitation of such consideration. 318 Readings on Parties and Elections Betting on an election by a candidate, or betting on an elec- tion by any other person with intent to influence the result. Attempting to vote in the name of another person, living, dead, or fictitious. Publicity of Campaign Expenditures There is no interference with such legitimate acts as tend to secure full publicity and free expression of opinion. Personal and political liberty is in no way infringed upon, the only pur- pose being to prohibit the excessive use of money, promises of appointment, or deception and fraud. The corrupt practices act requires that every candidate shall file an itemized statement of his campaign expenditures within fifteen days after the primary election, including in such state- ment not only all amounts expended, but all debts incurred or unfulfilled promises made. Every political committee must have a treasurer, and cause him to keep a detailed account of its receipts, payments, and liabilities. Any committee or agent or representative of a candi- date must file an itemized statement of receipts and expendi- tures within ten days after the election. The books of account of any treasurer of any political party, committee, or organiza- tion during an election campaign shall be open at all reasonable office hours to the inspection of the treasurer and chairman of any opposing political party or organization for the same elec- toral district. Failure to file statements as required by law is punishable by fine. The candidate violating any section of the corrupt practices act forfeits his right to the office. Any other person violating any section of this act is punished by imprisonment of not more than one year in the county jail or a fine of not more than $5,000 or both. The candidate is also subject to the same penalties. Party Problems and Remedies 319 14. THE CORRUPT PRACTICE LAWS OF MARYLAND 1 Though state legislation on corrupt practices leaves much to be desired, several states have fairly complete laws denning acts which must not be committed in connection with elections. Typical of the better class of these statutes are those passed by Maryland. Maryland. Cd. '04, Art. XXVII, sec. 29. Giving or promis- ing any reward to influence voters, or keeping open any place where intoxicating liquors or victuals are gratuitously dispensed upon an election day is punished by imprisonment and fine. Art. XXXIII, sees. 87-102. Registering in the name of an- other or where one is not a qualified elector or aiding another to so illegally register, or, preventing by force, intimidation or bribery the registering or voting of one who has a legal right to register or vote is punished by imprisonment in the county jail or the penitentiary for from six months to five years. One con- victed of bribery or attempting to vote when disfranchised is punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for from one to five years. False declarations of one's ability to mark one's ballot or marking one's ballot so that it may be discovered how he has voted, is penalized. Every employe who is qualified to vote is entitled to absent himself from his employment not longer than four hours to vote and is liable to no penalty therefor. Disposing of liquors on election day or making any bet upon the elections is punished by a fine. Laws '08, p. 125, sees. 163-172. Every political committee must operate through a political treasurer who must submit a sworn itemized statement of all money passing through his hands and state to whom it was paid and for what purpose. Failure to do so subjects him to a fine of from $300 to $1,000 or to a two years imprisonment or both. None but a candidate may within six months of an election contribute money or property to 1 Lowrie, S. G., Corrupt Practices at Elections. Madison, Wis., Feb. 1911, pp. 38-40. (Summary.) 320 Readings on Parties and Elections the success or defeat of a candidate, party or proposition except through a political committee. No candidate may within six months of a campaign make any such payments except an amount determined by the number of voters voting at the last election for the office he seeks and for such personal ex- penses as postage, printing, telegraphing, travel, etc. The political treasurer may expend money only for certain desig- nated purposes such as conducting public meetings, printing and circulating campaign literature, expenses of committee head- quarters, traveling expenses, carriages for voters on election day, etc. Payments must be reasonable for the services performed and be authorized by the political secretary or chairman. All campaign material issued in periodicals shall be designated "ad- vertising." Within twenty days after an election or primary, detailed, sworn statements must be filed, stating what the as- sets and liabilities of the political committee have been during the campaign. Failure to record such a statement is punish- able by a fine of from $300 to $1,000. Such statements are to be on file and open to public inspection for three years. It is a corrupt practice to give, offer, or receive money or other induce- ments to influence voters; to make campaign contributions, except to a political agent or treasurer, or to make any payments in a name other than one's own ; for employers to attempt to in- fluence the political actions of their employes by notices posted in the establishment or printed on pay envelopes threatening a lessening of wages or work in the event of any election contin- gency; or to give entertainment to a voter to influence him. Violation of these provisions is penalized by a fine of from $300 to $1,000, imprisonment and ineligibility for public office for four years. The officers or agents of a corporation who make corporation contributions to any political campaign fund are personally liable to a fine not to exceed $5,000 and imprisonment not exceeding three years. Laws '10, p. 126. What are offenses against the general elec- tion laws are also offenses if committed in the primary and are Party Problems and Remedies 321 punishable in the same way. Penalties are specified for the sale of liquors and for betting on the primary. Candidates for the U. S. Senate must file within thirty days of the primary, sworn, itemized statements of their expenses. No certificates of election are to be issued until campaign ex- pense accounts have been filed and verified. Failure to file statements is punished by a fine of from $300 to $2,000 and im- prisonment not longer than two years or both. The large number of names on our ballots and the fact that in our cities the average man does not know the candidates, has made it necessary, if the voter is to vote intelligently, to have some extralegal organizations which will place before the voter the facts upon which a judgment as between various candi- dates can be made. The Chicago Municipal Voters' League has been unusually successful in this work. (a) Its Organization The Municipal Voters' League What it Really is. The Municipal Voters' League is an independent political organization the sole purpose of which is the election of honest and competent municipal officials in Chicago. It has confined its attention to members of the - City Council. It is absolutely non-partisan and intensely practical. It was organized in 1896 by a Committee of One Hundred, composed of a Republican and a Democrat from each of the thirty-four wards then in the city, and thirty-two members chosen from the city at large with- out regard to residence or political affiliations. This Committee of One Hundred was the result of a meeting of about two hundred and fifty representatives of various clubs and organizations called together to devise some means of improving conditions in the City Council, which had reached the final stage of open and shameless corruption and had become a most dangerous menace 1 Pamphlet published by the Chicago Municipal Voters' League, 1910. Y -...- 322 Readings on Parties and Elections to the city. The Municipal Voters' League thus formed con- sists of an Executive Committee of nine men, supported by a large general membership of many thousands of voters in all parts of the city, who signed cards in 1896, expressing approval of its purposes and methods, or who have since identified them- selves with its work, or supported its recommendations at the polls. The members of the Executive Committee serve for three years, the term of one-third of the committee expiring each year. Vacancies are filled by the unanimous vote of those holding over. No meetings of the general membership are held ; but the Exec- utive Committee appoints a Finance Committee and an Advisory Committee outside of its own membership. The Executive Committee alone has the authority to use the name of the League, or to commit it for or against any candidate or measure. No candidate for office can become or remain a member of the Executive Committee. There has never been a division on political lines. Indeed, in the entire history of the League there has been but one im- portant action taken that was not directed by the unanimous vote of the Executive Committee. By thoroughly investigating the qualifications and character of aldermanic candidates and fearlessly publishing the results of such investigations, the Municipal Voters' League has deservedly won the confidence and support of the honest and intelligent voters of Chicago. It assumes that character and capacity are the fundamental qualifications for useful public service; that men having these qualities will faithfully represent the people, treat justly all private interests and dispose of every public question on its merits. It represents, and it claims to represent, only those who approve of its purposes and its methods. It makes no pretenses of infallibility, and guarantees the future conduct of none of the candidates whose election it may advise. It simply recommends to the voters of Chicago that course which its investigations lead it to believe will be for their best Party Problems and Remedies 323 interests; and it states concisely, but clearly, the facts upon which its conclusions rest. It has no political or personal in- terest to serve ; no scheme to which it is committed. It knows neither creed, nor class, nor party. It has but one aim the election of honest and capable officials, to whom the interests of the entire city are of paramount importance. It does not seek to foist on any ward a candidate of its selection. It does seek to co-operate in every ward with good citizens of every party in the formation and execution of plans for securing the nomina- tion of men for whose election it can actively exert its efforts and its influence. It is the policy of the League not to suggest candidates in the first instance, but to investigate and report on those named by others. When necessary to secure at least one fit candidate in a given ward, it actively co-operates with the public-spirited cit- izens of that ward in securing the nomination of such a candidate at the party primaries, or by petition. When the nominations have all been made, the League takes an active part in the wards where there is danger of the election of unfit men. In such cases it not only takes efficient measures to inform and arouse the voters but it participates as an active political factor in the al- dermanic campaign, using every legitimate means to carry the election. It has no use for impractical idealism, and it chases no rainbows. It believes in seizing and using whatever proper means may be at hand to reach the best practically attainable results. Each year the League adopts a little platform which is con- fined to a declaration of those general and fundamental principles which seem essential to the preservation of the rights of the peo- ple and the proper administration of our municipal affairs. Sometimes there is a special issue which may afford a test of the sincerity and intelligence of those general pledges of honesty and fidelity so readily given and so easily evaded. The League does not neglect such opportunities. Its platform is tendered to each candidate for his approval, disapproval, or modification. If it 324 Readings on Parties and Elections does not accurately express the views of any candidate he is not only at liberty, but the League desires him to make such modifi- cations for himself as will render the platform to which he does subscribe the accurate expression of his own opinions. The League desires no man to sign its platform because it is its plat- form. It does insist, however, that every aldermanic candidate shall in some way state fully, definitely, and publicly his own views upon the important issues and principles involved. . . (b) Its Platform 1 1. The aldermanic office involves service for the whole people. An alderman should discharge his duties with an eye not solely to the local interests of his ward, but to the city's interests at large. 2. The office of alderman is non-partisan in its nature, and should be discharged without reference to party affiliations. 3. All council committees should be organized strictly on the basis of integrity and fitness and without regard to party. 4. No alderman should accept or hold any duty or employ- ment, or be, directly or indirectly, connected with, or engaged in, any business or enterprise in conflict with the city's interest, or tending to interfere with the disinterested discharge of his duties, or to prevent his unrestricted activity for the public good. 5. No alderman should seek or demand a permit, special privilege or immunity for any individual or corporation in con- flict with the public interest, or denied to the citizens generally. 6. The health and welfare of the people depend in large measure on hygienic and sanitary conditions, and every alder- man should strive to have these constantly improved and main- tained in the best possible state. The public health should in no instance be sacrificed to special interests. 7. The city in all its departments should have a thorough and businesslike system of accounting and auditing. Through periodic examinations, the employment of experts and the tech- 1 Platform of the Chicago Municipal Voters' League, 1911, Chicago Record-Herald, Mar. 29, 1911 (excerpt). Party Problems and Remedies 325 nical study of the functions, administration and requirements of the various branches of municipal government, improved busi- ness methods should be introduced into all of them, so that not only may economies be effected, but the most approved and skilled service rendered to the people. 8. An alderman should uphold the strict enforcement of the civil service law and the application of the merit system to municipal employment. 9. Grants for street railways, subways, tunnels, wharves, docks and other public utilities, including telephone, telegraph, gas and electric lighting, heating, refrigerating, power and other like services, should be for as short a term as is consistent with the best service to the public; provided, no grant for a term exceeding twenty years should become effective unless and until approved on a referendum. All grants to a given corporation or individual should expire at the same time, and no supplemental or collateral grant should run beyond the time when the main grant expires. 10. No grant should be made for any public utility without expressly reserving to the city the opportunity for municipal purchase, at or before the expiration of such grant, upon fair terms and reasonable notice. . . I, the undersigned, a candidate for alderman from the ward, freely place the foregoing platform before my constitu- ents and the whole people of the City of Chicago and pledge my- self to adhere to these principles and to work and to vote in com- mittee and on the floor of the council to carry out the same. (c) Its Estimate of Candidates l To THE VOTERS OF CHICAGO: For the sixteenth year the Municipal Voters' League submits to the people of Chicago its official report and recommendations for the alder- manic elections. 1 Extract from report in Chicago Record-Herald, Mar. 24, 1911. 326 Readings on Parties and Elections Not the mayor, but the aldermen will settle the price of gas and of telephones and such big questions as the subway and the harbor. No matter who is elected mayor it is of vital impor- tance to have an able and honest council. Do not neglect the aldermanic contest in your ward. Vote for the best man re- gardless of his party or mayoralty affiliations. . . Seventeenth Ward (Short Term) Vote for Walkowiak Stanley S. Walkowiak Democrat; lives 1310 Cornel street; lawyer, 132 South Clark street; born in the ward 1877; gradu- ate St. Stanislaus parochial school ; two years Notre Dame Uni- versity, and graduate St. Ignatius College 1900, and of Chicago College of Law 1903 ; ran for alderman last year, at which time league criticised his political affiliations ; man of ability, energy and ambition ; well spoken of by men competent to judge, who consider that he may develop independence and exhibit ability which would be a credit to the ward; signed league platform. Stephen P. Revere Republican ; lives 1057 Grand avenue ; until recently superintendent Illinois Free Employment office; born San Andreas, Cal., 1856; common school education; in ward forty-five years; former contractor; in council 1885-7 and again in 1895-7 where he made record as constant supporter of franchise grabs ; in 1897 when Revere was a candidate against James Walsh gross election frauds were committed in Revere's interest. Walsh contested the election, carried his case to the Supreme Court, and won against the active fight made by Revere and the gang members in the council. Revere was unseated and the judges of election who committed the fraud sent to the peni- tentiary. This former gangster should be kept out of the council, which he disgraced so far as was in his power while he was an alderman. . . Nineteenth Ward Vote for Cimbalo Michele Cimbalo Socialist ; lives 920 South Morgan street ; inspector for Immigrants' Protective League, 157 Plymouth court; born Italy 1884; in Chicago and ward fourteen years; Party Problems and Remedies 327 general course University of Illinois eighteen months ; shepherd in Italy, newsboy, water boy for railroad gangs, later book- binder by trade, then stationary fireman ; intelligent and ener- getic. Onofrio Pacelli Republican; lives 518 Ewing street; fore- man on street car work ; nine years in bailiff's office ; not well qualified. John Powers Democrat; lives 1284 Macalister place; president Pullman Chemical Company, 1701 North Ashland avenue ; finishing eleventh term ; successor of Cullerton as gang leader for corporate influences ; has systematically betrayed the people of the ward and injured the people of the city ; telephone "jammer"; the man in charge of the passage of the notorious Ogden gas ordinance. . . 1 6. NATIONAL PARTIES IN LOCAL ELECTIONS 1 The peculiar national character of our party organization has made all elections except that of the president subservient to the national party interests. Local issues as a rule do not dominate local elections even when held at times when no national officers are to be elected.) How shall the political machinists conduct themselves and their machinery in a state election where national political issues are not directly involved ? Theoretically, they may refrain from taking any part in the state election supposed, but practically there are great obstacles in the way of this quiescence. In the first place, the election may be, and very commonly is, both na- tional and local. President, congressman, governor, legislature, mayor, and city council are often voted for on the same ballot. Let us suppose that A and B prefer X for president, and that C and D prefer Y. A and D prefer U for governor, B and C prefer Z. It is difficult, at the least, for A, after spending his morning with B in planning how to defeat Y, D's candidate for the presi- 1 Lowell, F. C., "The American Boss," Atlantic, 1900; pp. 292-293. 328 Readings on Parties and Elections dency, to spend the afternoon with D in planning the defeat of Z, B's candidate for governor. The difficulty is greatly in- creased, indeed it becomes insuperable, if A and D agree in con- sidering the presidential election so much more important than the gubernatorial that each of them would, in case of necessity, sacrifice his gubernatorial to realize his presidential preferences. Even if the national, state, and municipal elections occur at different times, the trouble just suggested exists, though in a less degree. Political machinery is not created at a week's no- tice, or in a month's. In truth, the difficulty is fundamental in human nature. Men do not vote for Republican candidates altogether because of a reasoned preference for these candidates as individuals, or for the principles which Republican candidates are supposed to represent. Most voters are largely influenced by habit, tradition, and sentiment. That a man is a consistent Democrat often means little more than that he is attached to the Democratic name, and always votes for Democratic candi- dates because they are labeled with it. Such a Democrat naturally prefers a Democratic governor to a Republican gover- nor, a Democratic alderman to a Republican alderman, although the principles of the Democratic national party have little or nothing to do with the action of governors and aldermen. This disposition of the voters makes it almost impossible to separate local from state politics, or to keep the machinery primarily de- vised for national purposes from use in local elections. Munici- pal elections outside the large cities, indeed, when they occur apart from state and national elections, are not infrequently con- ducted with little regard for national politics ; so sometimes is the election in a single legislative district. But these important and interesting exceptions cannot hide the rule or the conditions of human nature upon which the rule is based. To expect those who manage the local machinery of a national party to keep that machinery idle in a state election, or in the municipal elec- tion of a large city, is to expect the impossible under existing conditions. The introduction of national politics into local Party Problems and Remedies 329 elections is caused not so much by the intrigues of political machinists as by the workings of ordinary human nature. If, then, the parties and their machinery are to be the same in national and state elections, and commonly the same in na- tional and municipal elections, how will the operative machinist, who is thoroughly and unselfishly devoted to the national triumph of his party's principles and candidates, regard the local election in which he and his machine are to take part ? After examining the standpoint of an ideal machinist, we can lower our view to that of the machinist of less exalted character. Plainly, a state or municipal election is not unlikely to disturb the working of political machinery which has been created to affect national elections. If there is a real issue in local politics, even if the personality of a candidate for local office is marked, some voters who are Republicans on national issues will vote the Democratic local ticket. Though this loss will be made good more or less by the votes of some who are Democrats on national issues, yet the change will disarrange the Republican machine and may endanger the success of its party's national principles. A machinist seeks to bring out the full Republican or Democratic vote, and to increase that vote within certain limits, by improved machinery. He dreads great changes, even though they are in his own favor, for he knows that they bring their reaction. If the state branch of the national party adopts an important state issue, he knows that some of his men will stray, and, worse than all, that carefully formed habits of partisan discipline will be weakened; hence, so far as state politics are concerned, he tends to caution. The voters of his party may believe in pro- hibition, high license, low license, or unrestricted sale of liquor, so long as the working of his machinery is not disturbed. The Republican machine in Massachusetts, for instance, once pro- cured the submission to the people of a prohibitory amendment to the state constitution, but declined to take sides upon the amendment's adoption. The machine wished to get the ques- tion out of its way without losing support by taking sides. The 3JO Readings on Parties and Elections faithful national machinist will also dread the disturbance caused by an exciting municipal election, and here the man whose chief interest is in state politics will agree with him. If the machinist is honest and well-intentioned, he will desire honest and efficient administration by his party in city and state, as well as in the nation, knowing that this will commend his machinery and the principles it exists to promote ; but he will hesitate to disarrange the machinery by violent interference with a particular piece of maladministration, especially if it concerns the state or munici- pality rather than the nation. 17. MUNICIPAL POLITICS AND BOSSISM J City populations furnish the greatest opportunity for bad political conditions since the people do not know each other and because they are within easy reach of those who wish to manipulate their suffrages. Some of the ways in which the "boss " succeeds in getting a firm grip upon the local government are indicated here. The political forces that resist every advance toward the attainment of government accountable to the people governed and make for the establishment of a government in the interest of a privileged few are nowhere so active or so powerful as in the city. The city itself creates the economic conditions that give these forces full play. The urgent needs of the city's com- munity-life for water, transportation, light, telephonic communi- cation, and similar communal services can only be met through governmental action. The men engaged in supplying these services are necessarily in the most intimate and constant con- tact with the city government, while the business interests and occupations of the vast majority of men bring them but rarely if at all into conscious relation with the government of the city in which they live. 1 Deming, H. E., Government of American Cities. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1910; pp. 192-197. Party Problems and Remedies 331 On the one hand, the satisfaction of urgent community- needs has created a class of special businesses which are made profitable by influencing governmental action ; on the other, is the great mass of the citizens to whom any special effort to reach or influence a city official involves business loss. The enjoyers of special privilege have been constantly watchful of the conduct of city government and constantly active in securing the elec- tion and appointment of public officials favorable to their busi- ness plans. The general body of the citizens, secure under the constitution in their personal and property rights and ab- sorbed in business callings and occupations that neither need special assistance nor invite any interference from the city gov- ernment, have paid, at most, only so much attention to it as voting for their regular party candidates on election day might require and, perhaps, at times contributing to their party's treasury. The exploiters of the need for transit, light, and other public services have found in each city a natural ally in every man who desired some selfish personal advantage from its government. The domination of the state legislature over municipal affairs brings to the state capital the franchise seekers from every city, there to work in congenial and unwholesome fellowship with every other special interest in quest of legislative largess. Neither is the hunter of governmental bounty unknown to Washington. His insidious influence has been felt in every de- partment of our government. The same cause, hunger for the enormously valuable special privileges at the disposal of govern- ment under modern economic conditions, has been active in nation, state, and city. The privilege-seeker has pervaded our political life. For his own profit he has wilfully befouled the sources of political power. Politics, which should offer a career inspiring to the noblest thoughts and calling for the most patriotic efforts of which man is capable, he has, so far as he could, transformed into a series of sordid transactions between those who buy and those who sell 332 Readings on Parties and Elections governmental action. His success has depended upon hiding the methods by which he has gained his ends. AH the forms through which the voters are accustomed to exercise their rights have been strictly observed. Untroubled by conscientious scruples, consistently non-partisan, he has welcomed the sup- port of every party and been prompt to reward the aid of any political manager. Step by step he gained control of the party machinery. His fellow citizens have been in profound ignorance that he named all the candidates among whom they made their futile choice on election day. For a long time our real government had not been the one described in constitution or statute ; our electoral methods had long ceased to furnish a genuine opportunity for the expression of the popular will ; the actual government had passed into the control of an elaborate feudal system with its lords and overlords, each with his retinue of followers and dependents, all supported at the expense of the public ; yet the people were quite unaware that the ancient methods upon which they relied in order to have an effective participation in the conduct of the government and to secure public officials responsible to them and actively con- cerned to protect the common interest and promote the common good were rapidly becoming mere shams. In every department of human affairs requiring the exhibition of skill, the expert, sooner or later, inevitably becomes promi- nent. There was an insistent demand for the expert of every grade from the highest to the lowest in an undertaking involving so much knowledge of human nature, such mastery of detail, so much persistence of effort, and such adroitness as the conduct of government by purchase under the guise of a government by the people. In response to this demand came the "Boss," the expert who attended to the infinite details and complications of party management and organization and supplied the public officials and thereby the kind of government the privilege- seeker desired. The boss was a distinct advantage to the class that throve Party Problems and Remedies 333 by government favors. His real occupation was unknown to the people, and if at first they did not welcome his appearance they thought him nevertheless the natural and perfectly legiti- mate outcome of their accustomed political methods, a leader whom they could displace when he lost their approval. They did not realize his ominous significance. Gradually it began to dawn upon them that they could neither select nor elect him ; that he was not a person, but a system. The individual might disappear or be displaced, but the boss always remained. Not until his sinister figure was appearing in city after city and state after state and even in the United States senate, not until there was overwhelming evidence of a hierarchy of bosses, big and little, did there begin to be a general awakening of the people to the existence of a system wholly mercenary, reared upon the greed for special privilege and the sale of such privilege by the skilled manipulations of the political party- organizations. The issue has now been fairly made up between Special Priv- ilege and Democracy, between government by purchase and government by the people. The contest will be a long one. It has already taken many forms and will assume countless more. Its crucial battles will be in the city, for there the struggle be- tween privilege and the common good is most constant and most intense. It is in the city that the victory of the one side or the other will be most far reaching in its consequences, for nothing is more certain than that the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of the United States will be city-dwellers. This is already true of the Eastern states. The triumph of privilege in the city will mean, therefore, that the vast majority of the Ameri- can people have been made the subjects of government by pur- chase. And it will mean much more. The increasing domina- tion in state after state of the city "machines" over the state organization of political parties foreshadows the outcome in state and in nation. If the fight of the people to put down government by purchase 334 Readings on Parties and Elections masquerading in the forms of democracy can be won in the city and a government accountable to the people set up in its stead, democracy will triumph in state and nation. If the people lose their fight in the city, they will lose it in state and nation. The city is the battle-ground of democracy. X. DIRECT LEGISLATION AND THE RECALL I. THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 1 Direct legislation has received its widest use in America in Oregon. The provisions of the state constitution quoted here show the framework adopted there for this new method of popular control. SECTION i. The legislative authority of the state shall be vested in a legislative assembly, consisting of a senate and house of representatives, but the people reserve to themselves power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to enact or to reject the same at the polls, independent of the legislative assembly, and also reserve power at their own option to approve or reject at the polls any act of the legislative assembly. The first power reserved by the people is the initiative, and not more than eight per cent, of the legal voters shall be required to pro- pose any measure by such petition, and every such petition shall include the full test of the measure so proposed. Initiative peti- tions shall be filed with the secretary of state not less than four months before the election at which they are to be voted upon. The second power is the referendum, and it may be ordered (except as to laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety), either by the petition signed by five per cent, of the legal voters, or by the legislative assembly, as other bills are enacted. Referendum petitions shall be filed with the secretary of state not more than ninety days after the final adjournment of the session of the legislative assembly which passed the bill on which the referendum is demanded. The veto power of the governor shall not extend to measures referred to 1 Constitution of Oregon, Articles IV and XVII. 335 336 Readings on Parties and Elections the people. All elections on measures referred to the people shall be had at the biennial regular general election, except when the legislative assembly shall order a special election. Any measure referred to the people shall take effect and become the law when it is approved by a majority of the votes cast thereon, and not otherwise. The style of all bills shall be : "Be it enacted by the people of the State of Oregon." This section shall not be construed to deprive any member of the legislative as- sembly of the right to introduce any measure. The whole num- ber of votes cast for justice of the supreme court at the regular election last preceding the filing of any petition for the initiative or for the referendum shall be the basis on which the number of legal voters necessary to sign such petition shall be counted. Petitions and orders for the initiative and referendum shall be filed with the secretary of state, and in submitting the same to the people he, and all other officers, shall be guided by the general laws and the act submitting this amendment, until legislation shall be especially provided therefor. Sec. 10. The referendum may be demanded by the people against one or more items, sections or parts of any act of the legis- lative assembly, in the same manner in which such power may be exercised against a complete act. The filing of a referendum petition against one or more items, sections or parts of an act shall not delay the remainder of that act from becoming opera- tive. The initiative and referendum powers reserved to the people by this constitution are hereby further reserved to all lo- cal, special and municipal legislation of every character, in and for their respective municipalities and districts. The manner of exercising said powers shall be prescribed by general laws, except that cities and towns may provide for the manner of exer- cising the initiative and referendum powers as to their municipal legislation. Not more than ten per cent, of the legal voters may be required to order the referendum nor more than fifteen per cent, to propose any measure by the initiative in any city or town. . Direct Legislation and the Recall 337 SECTION I. Any amendment or amendments to this con- stitution may be proposed in either branch of the legislative assembly, and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendment or amendments shall, with the yeas and nays there- on, be entered in their journals and referred by the secretary of state to the people for their approval or rejection, at the next regular general election, except when the legislative assembly shall order a special election for that purpose. If a majority of the electors voting on any such amendment shall vote in favor thereof, it shall thereby become a part of this constitution. The votes for and against such amendment or amendments, severally, whether proposed by the legislative assembly or by initiative petition, shall be canvassed by the secretary of state in the pres- ence of the governor, and if it shall appear to the governor that the majority of the votes cast at said election on said amendment or amendments, severally, are cast in favor thereof, it shall be his duty forthwith after such canvass, by his proclamation, to declare the said amendment or amendments, severally, having received said majority of votes, to have been adopted by the peo- ple of Oregon as a part of the constitution thereof, and the same shall be in effect as a part of the constitution from the date of such proclamation. When two or more amendments shall be submitted in the manner aforesaid to the voters of this state, at the same election, they shall be so submitted that each amend- ment shall be voted on separately. No convention shall be called to amend or propose amendments to this constitution, or to propose a new constitution, unless the law providing for such convention shall first be approved by the people on a refer- endum vote at a regular general election. This article shall not be construed to impair the right of the people to amend this con- stitution by vote upon an initiative petition therefor. 33 8 Readings on Parties and Elections 2. THE WEAKNESS OF DIRECT LEGISLATION l Direct legislation, it is feared by many, is bound to be crude because of the lack of opportunity for a sifting of opinion and a recasting of the form the law is to take. Doubts are raised also as to whether it will remove the apathy of "stay at home" citi- zens. Instead of making easier the work of the already heavily burdened voter it increases his duties. In order that the referendum may operate as an efficient check upon bad laws it must be intelligently directed. Those laws which need to be held up must be discovered before the end of the ninety days within which it is usually provided that the petition must be filed, and the requisite petition must be se- cured and filed within this period. If the referendum is to oper- ate effectively in this regard, there must be a careful examination of the laws by persons who are interested in legislative matters and who are willing to scrutinize the acts of the legislature and to devote themselves to the task of securing the necessary peti- tions. In all probability only a portion of the bad laws will be discovered to be bad within the time limit. Unless the present means for the publication of our state laws are greatly improved, the public generally will be ignorant of the provisions of a large majority of the laws for a considerable period after their passage. It may be expected, therefore, that only those laws in which there is a very general interest, or which so affect the interests of particular individuals that they will make it their business to see that the petition is secured, will be subjected to the popu- lar vote. One very real danger must be noted. This is that the refer- endum may be used not only against laws which have been se- cured by an active and well-organized minority, and which sub- serve special or class interests, but also to suspend, until the next general election, laws which are really desired by the people. 1 Sanborn, J. B., " Popular Legislation in the United States." Politi- cal Science Quarterly, Vol. 23, p. 587 et seq., Dec., 1908. D( Direct Legislation and the Recall 339 n order that the referendum may have any effectiveness the percentage of voters necessary to secure the popular vote cannot be very large. It must be a number which can be secured with- out any real difficulty within the limited time. This requirement makes it possible for special interests which are adversely affected by legislation to prevent its taking effect for a considerable period. That this objection is not fanciful may be seen in the experience of South Dakota last year. In that state petitions have been filed for popular vote upon three laws passed by the legislature of 1907. These laws are: An act extending to one year the period of residence necessary for securing a divorce, an act prohibiting the shooting of quail until 1912, and an act prohibiting theatrical exhibitions, circuses, etc., upon Sunday. After the referendum petition has been filed, there is still the question of the efficiency of the popular vote. If the bad laws do not, on the whole, slip through unobserved and unchecked by petition, and if the plan be not used to suspend good laws, it is still necessary that it shall secure an expression of the best public sentiment. Such data as we have show that the referendum vote will be comparatively small. The ordinary experience with these popu- lar votes, either upon laws or upon constitutional provisions, in- dicates that the vote cast on such questions is usually much smaller than that cast at the same time for candidates for public offices. In an article by Philip L. Allen, in the Boston Evening Transcript of May 23, 1906, figures were given showing the popu- lar vote upon various laws or constitutional amendments. In the instances there cited, seventeen in number, the percentage of this vote to the simultaneous vote for public officers varied from seventy-eight to nineteen. In eight instances the vote was less than fifty per cent ; in only six instances did it exceed sixty per cent. . . Observation shows that in the long run only about one-half of the voters who go to the polls will take the trouble to vote upon laws submitted to them. 340 Readings on Parties and Elections These comparisons are made with the number who vote for public officers. If a comparison be made with the total number of the legal voters of the state, the results are much more strik- ing. In an election which for some reason calls out a large vote, as in a presidential year, the total vote cast may run up to about eighty per cent of the voters. In Wisconsin, for instance, in 1904, the vote for governor was seventy-eight and seven- tenths per cent of the voters. In a year in which the general interest is not so great, as for instance in a so-called "off" year, the vote is regularly much smaller. In Wisconsin, in 1906, the vote for governor was fifty-six per cent of the voters. If only sixty to eighty per cent of the voters come to the polls, and if only about one-half of these vote upon referendum matters, even a unani- mous vote in favor of a measure means its adoption by a minor- ity of the legal voters of the state. Statistical studies as to the relative intelligence of the voters and non-voters upon referendum measures are unfortunately lacking. . . There seems to be little reason to expect that the better ele- ment will vote any more strongly at a referendum than at a regu- lar election. The "stay-at-home" vote would be the same uv both cases. There is no indication that a referendum election tends to bring to the polls those who do not care to vote for the candidates for public offices. The citizen who does not care to go to the polls and vote for governor would probably not be at- tracted thither by a chance to vote against a proposed law. If our present political agitation does not stimulate him to activity, there is little hope that additional demands upon his time would move him. It may also be questioned whether those who now neglect their political duties would be a desirable addition to a body of citizens voting upon a proposed law. Taking those who do their duty in this respect, who regularly vote at the polls, may we assume that the portion of these elec- tors which votes for or against pending laws represents the more intelligent or better element ? It is commonly considered that Direct Legislation and the Recall 341 much of the trouble encountered in the working of our present political system is due to the fact that those who ought to know better ignore their political duties. The more intelligent citi- zen, when he votes at all, is unfortunately too apt to confine his voting to the election of officers and not infrequently he indicates his choice for only a portion of the offices to be filled. He does not come out to the primaries or to the caucuses. Can we then expect that the better element will constitute, or preponderate in, the body which votes upon pending bills ? What of the other sort of voter, the man who votes at least as often as the law allows, who does as he is told and who furnishes the strength of the machine ? Voting on a few laws would offer no terror to him. He could quickly learn where to make the additional marks upon the ballot', and he would remember what was expected of him. There would therefore seem to be little hope that the vote on a law would express any higher public opinion than the vote for the members of the legislature. . . If we admit, as I think we must, that the proper goal of legis- lation is a better and more intelligent consideration of pending measures, we must acknowledge that the referendum brings us no nearer that goal. In fact, it probably takes us in the other direction. The consideration which the vast majority of voters can give to a measure submitted to them is necessarily hasty and superficial. A careful examination of even a few laws, in the manner which I have indicated as necessary for a proper appre- ciation of the effect of one's vote, is impossible to practically every person outside of the legislature. The ordinary voter has little or no time to give to the examination of bills which may be presented to him. If he has the time, he seldom has the facilities for obtaining the information that is needed if he is to vote in a proper manner. Comparatively few voters possess the information which is necessary for an intelligent judgment regarding the numerous candidates and issues of our various elections. Until the voters meet these existing obligations im- posed by our political system, obligations which cannot be done 34 2 Readings on Parties and Elections away with by any system of initiative or referendum, we should hesitate to place new burdens upon them. The referendum tends to place the emphasis at the wrong end of the legislative work. If we elect good men to the legislatures the needs of checks of this kind will largely pass away. The agi- tation for the referendum has been to a considerable extent due to the failure of the voter properly to perform his duties as an elector. However numerous and complex the causes of this failure may be, one cause which has been very potent is the public I indifference to caucuses and elections. If this public indifference continues, we cannot expect that the referendum will be success- ful. With this indifference removed, the need for the referendum will no longer be so apparent. An interest in referendum measures can never be a substi- tute for an interest in elections. The referendum is exceptional. It can never be expected to operate upon more than a few of the many laws enacted. The bulk of our legislation must continue to proceed from our legislatures, unchecked by the referendum. The referendum is then a method of legislation which can affect only a small fraction of the laws, and it depends for its efficiency upon conditions which, if realized, would make its employment largely if not entirely unnecessary. Against the initiative, as far as its referendum feature is con- cerned, the same objections may be made as against the refer- endum when used alone. The popular vote upon a bill proposed by the initiative would be no better and no worse than on a bill passed by the legislature. The initiative would, however, add to the number of bills to be voted on and would thus decrease the attention which the voters could give to each one. What sort of bills may we expect to see proposed under the initiative ? It is not especially important to determine whether they will be conservative or radical. If the system is worthy of adoption, undesirable bills will be eliminated by the referendum. The question is as to the form of the bills. Is it to be expected that they will be so worded as to accomplish the desired ends ? Direct Legislation and the Recall 343 Practically every bill which comes before an American legis- lature is originally introduced in such form that its passage would be extremely unfortunate. It is probably not too much to say that nearly all bills are, in their original form, crude and un- workable. These bills and the same would be true of those proposed by initiative petition are the product of one man or of a small group of men. Even when based on a careful and con- scientious study of the subject, they have the shortcomings in- evitable from the limitations surrounding their origin. Before they can even approximate perfection, they need the public dis- cussion, the criticism of opposing interests, the suggestions of foes as well as of friends. The process of amendment and re- amendment, which is possible only in a legislature, is necessary to the normal growth of a bill into a law. Every subject of importance is apt to be covered by several bills. None of these is perfect; each probably has something of merit. In the legislature, these bills can be considered to- gether ; the good portions of each can be accepted and the bad rejected. No such procedure can be followed in the case of ini- tiative measures. If several similar bills are proposed by peti- tion, they cannot be amended and combined. One must be se- lected and the others rejected, unless, as is entirely possible, more than one act dealing with the same subject is adopted by the popular vote. The failure of the referendum to afford opportunity for ade- quate discussion has already been noted. This defect will be felt much more keenly in the case of bills proposed by initiative petition than in the case of bills which pass the legislature in the regular way before they are submitted to the referendum. In the latter case, discussion in the legislature enables that body to bring the bill into something like proper shape. In the former case all the advantages of such discussion, all the suggestions to be derived from the arguments of interests adversely affected by the bill, all the amendments that might be made by parties in- terested in its passage, are lost. Intelligent legislation is not 344 Readings on Parties and Elections promoted by a system which treats a bill, in the shape in which it is presented to a legislature, as a finality. An illustration of the difference between initiative and regular legislation is found in the "anti-pass" law of the state of Oregon. In 1906 a bill covering this subject was submitted by initiative petition and was adopted by a vote of 57,281 for, and 16,709 against. This bill was so poorly worded that, upon a literal reading, it forbade a railroad from issuing passes to its own em- ployees but allowed it to issue them to the employees of other roads. Fortunately the act was not effective, because of the absence of an enacting clause. The legislature of 1907 passed a general railroad law in which the subject of passes was covered in a proper and intelligible manner. The failure of the initiative to afford opportunity for amend- ment is met to some extent in the system adopted in Maine and pending in North Dakota. In these states, the legislature may reject the initiative bill and propose a substitute. In such a case both bills are submitted to popular vote, and the voters are called upon to choose between them. This device enables the legislature to correct faults in the proposed legislation. The substitute will undoubtedly be far superior to the initiative bill. The existence of the two bills will, however, complicate greatly the work of the people. The voting upon a single bill is difficult enough; the choosing between competing bills will be much more difficult. The most that can be claimed for the initiative is that it forces the legislature to act. The laws resulting from this co- ercion will in most cases be crude and unscientific. From the point of view of the improvement of our legislation in the matter of form, they will mark a long step backward. . . One other and very fundamental objection may be made both to the referendum and to the initiative. They tend to weaken the sense of legislative responsibility. With the referendum the legislator does not vote for or against a bill, he votes to give the people an opportunity to vote on it. He does not need to ex- Direct Legislation and the Recall 345 press his own opinion. He may say that his views are imma- terial, that even if he is opposed to a bill it would be unjust to re- fuse to allow the people a chance to express themselves. This feeling will affect his attitude towards all bills, irrespective of the question whether they are actually to be subjected to a refer- endum vote. Every bill may be thus subjected, and if no peti- tion is filed concerning a particular measure, the people may be considered to have ratified it. They have had the opportunity to act, and if they remain quiescent the responsibility for the bill rests with them, not with the legislature. The initiative would also shift responsibility. If new laws are needed, they may be submitted by the initiative petition. If the legislators do not propose the measures needed, they are not to be blamed. The failure of the people to use their initiative indicates that they do not desire action upon the matter. The diffusion of responsibility which would result from shift- ing the burden of legislative reform from the few to the many is in direct opposition to the teachings of political experience. The way to get good government is not to scatter the responsi- bility among a number, so that each can dodge the blame if the work goes ill or claim the credit if it goes well. The approved way is to make each responsible for his appointed task and to hold him rigidly to that responsibility. 3. OBJECTIONS TO DIRECT LEGISLATION EXAMINED 1 Advocates of direct legislation believe that the realization of his increased responsibility and influence in deciding the laws by which he will be governed will lead the average man to a greater interest in public affairs. Nor indeed are the evils which it is prophesied will come with direct legislation attributable to it, for they exist under our present party system and would, it is insisted, not be increased by the adoption of direct legislation. 1 Lobingier, C. S., Arena, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 234-240, 1905. 346 Readings on Parties and Elections The attitude of expert and professional opinion has not, as a whole, been favorable to the extension of the Swiss referendum. . . An examination of the literature of the subject will dis- close that the chief objections urged by these opponents of the referendum may be reduced to four, viz. : (i) Indifference of electors; (2) complexity of legislation and incapacity of elec- tors; (3) obliteration of distinction between constitutional and other law, and (4) impairment of legislative influence. Of these the first is the one most frequently and insistently urged. . . So M. Deploige, a Belgian critic, who is none too friendly, declares of the referendum : "It is a little ridiculous to talk of legislation by the people when more than one-half the citizens refuse to exercise their legislative rights." But it seems not to have occurred to the opponents of direct- legislation that this line of argument would tell quite as strongly against a cherished American practice the submission of con- stitutions to a popular vote. Judge Simeon E. Baldwin, speak- ing of a state where submission has been followed from the first, says : "Experience shows that much less interest is taken by the people in propositions for constitutional amendments than in elections to office. The personal element is always wanting, and, generally, that of party advantage." . . Now the benefits of popular ratification form a subject on which there is a practical unanimity of opinion among the publicists of the present day. Professor Hart himself observes : " In the United States we have already the good effects of the referendum, so far as it deals with changes of the constitutions, the permanent and superior part of our law." Among these "good effects" are, it is generally conceded, the permanence of constitutions and the educational influence upon the electors all this in spite of the fact that a large percentage apparently fails to exercise the privilege. It is difficult to under- stand why similar advantages might not accrue by applying the system to ordinary legislation. Moreover, in some parts of the country, at least, the voters Direct Legislation and the Recall 347 display a growing appreciation of their function as constitution- makers. Thus in California, during a period of a dozen years, in which some twenty-eight amendments were submitted, an average of about two-thirds of those voting at the election availed themselves of their right to pass upon these proposed changes in the fundamental law. On the question of extending the fran- chise to women, which was submitted at a presidential election, 83.4 per cent of those voting for presidential candidates regis- tered their choice, while the lowest constitutional vote during the period was 39.4 per cent, which was cast on an amendment to which there was little opposition. In Texas and other states of the South and West, the figures reveal on the part of the elec- torate an increasing interest in constitution-making. . . A light vote on constitutional amendments may also frequently be explained by the comparative unimportance of some, or, on the other hand, by the strong probability of their adoption on account of their general acceptance, or for some other reason. But conceding that the electors do fail to take as much interest in abstract questions in the form of proposed constitutions and laws as in the election of candidates, does it follow that the sys- tem of direct popular action is a failure or that the state's in- terests would be promoted by discarding it ? "The lack of an absolutely full vote on any question/' says Mr. Moffett, . . . "is not a disadvantage but the reverse. It means that only those who feel some interest in the subject, and are therefore prepared to act with a certain intelligence, take the trouble to vote, and that the members of the unintelligent residuum voluntarily disfranchise themselves." It may be, and apparently is, true that more electors will go to the polls to vote for certain individuals for office than will exercise the higher privilege of determining the character of the state's laws. In other words, a personal and concrete subject arouses greater interest than an impersonal and abstract one. But it surely will not be claimed that those who vote simply for candi- dates and fail to vote on proposed laws are actuated by patriotic 348 Readings on Parties and Elections or even intelligent motives. We have seen that the framers of the first popularly-adopted American state constitution sought to make ours "a government of laws, not of men " ; the voter who goes to the polls because, and merely because, he wishes one or more individuals elected to office and who ignores the oppor- tunity to express his choice concerning the laws, must be deemed to be more interested in the fortunes of individuals than in the welfare of the state and to have failed to attain a high standard of good citizenship. M. Simon Deploige, in his objections to the referendum, de- clares : "The elector who writes Aye or No on his ballot-paper per- forms an act, the apparent simplicity of which has attracted the democrats, but this act is, as a matter of fact, a very complex one. It requires that each voter should be able not only to un- derstand why legislation is necessary, but also should be able to judge whether the law in question is adequate to meet the case. Nothing effectual has as yet been devised which would assist the elector in forming a personal opinion on such a subject." But it may well be asked if this is not after all an indictment of popular government in general rather than merely of popular legislation, and whether as a matter of fact the people are not now, in the last analysis, required to determine these questions but to do so under a system which disguises and conceals the fact that they are involved ? When the American electorate is called upon to choose a president or a congress, or when the Brit- ish voter is asked to register his choice for members of parlia- ment, the result usually determines the fate of important meas- ures vitally affecting the national policy. But these are not the questions most discussed in the campaign before the people. Instead of simplifying the voter's task the present system too often complicates it by involving the merits of a question with others, like the personality of candidates, or the necessity of party success. . . Mr. A. Lawrence Lowell, in an elaborate article, says : Direct Legislation and the Recall 349 "Our whole political system rests on the distinction between constitutional and other laws. The former are the solemn prin- ciples laid down by the people in its ultimate sovereignty; the latter are regulations made by its representatives within the limits of their authority, and the courts can hold unauthorized and void any act which exceeds those limits. The courts can do this because they are maintaining against the legislature the fundamental principles which the people themselves have deter- mined to support, and they can do it only so long as the people feel that the constitution is something more sacred and endur- ing than ordinary laws, something that derives its force from a higher authority. Now, if all laws received their sanction from a direct popular vote, this distinction would disappear. There would cease to be any reason for considering one law more sacred than another, and hence our courts would soon lose their power to pass upon the constitutionality of statutes." But the referendum is not a system under which "all laws re- ceive their sanction from a direct popular vote." Its adoption means not the abolition of the legislature but primarily the maintenance of a wholesome check thereon, and at most the pro- viding of an alternative system. In Switzerland the bulk of legislation is still enacted by the representative body. Moreover, there are those who would not consider it a serious calamity if our courts should lose some of " their power to pass upon the constitutionality of statutes." In this day when im- portant and beneficial statutes are often annulled on purely tech- nical grounds, when inferior courts and even ministerial offi- cers assume to pass upon the constitutionality of laws, the adoption of a system which would necessarily check this tend- ency could hardly be regarded as an unmixed evil. Finally it should not be overlooked that this objection is not peculiar to the referendum, but that it could be made and has been made in reference to popular constitution-making. Wood- row Wilson declares that in our recent fundamental codes "the distinctions between constitutional and ordinary law hitherto 350 Readings on Parties and Elections recognized and valued, tend to be fatally obscured," and it is common to deplore the tendency of the framers of these instru- ments to encroach on the field of general legislation. But whether or not this tendency is as dangerous as is claimed, it seems unlikely to be prevented by keeping out the referendum. Professor Dicey, speaking with reference to the British legis- lature, says : " The referendum diminishes the importance of parliamentary debate and thereby detracts from the influence of parliament. That this must be so admits of no denial ; a veto, whether it be exercised by a king or by an electorate, lessens the power of the legislature." Mr. Bryce expresses the same thought when he says that direct popular legislation "tends to lower the authority and sense of responsibility in the legislature." But the loss of legislative influence is already an accomplished fact. "The American people," declares Professor Commons, "are fairly content with their executive and judicial departments of government, but they feel that their law-making bodies have painfully failed. This conviction pertains to all grades of legis- latures, municipal, state and federal. The newspapers speak what the people feel ; and judging therefrom it is popular to de- nounce aldermen, legislators and congressmen. When congress is in session, the business interests are reported to be in agony until it adjourns. The cry that rises towards the end of a legislature's session is humiliating. . . This demoralization of legislative bodies, these tendencies to restrict legislation, must be viewed as a profoundly alarming feature of American poli- tics." . . Indeed, instead of impairing the prestige of legislatures the referendum seems to offer the one means of saving what little of it still remains. Probably the one fact which has contributed more than any other to lower the tone and standing of legisla- tive bodies is the presence and influence of the lobby. If im- Direct Legislation and the Recall 351 portant measures were subject to a reference to the people be- fore attaining the finality of legislation the power and influence of the lobby would be greatly reduced, if not destroyed. Such, at least, has been the experience of South Dakota as declared by its chief executive. These, then, are the results of a somewhat extensive search for the opinions of those who are supposed to speak with au- thority in opposition to the referendum. The arguments ad- vanced and the reasons given seem far from convicting. This is not saying that there are no sound objections to the referendum. But if that system is to be condemned by the masters of political science it would seem that they must do so upon other grounds than those commonly urged. 4. THE RECALL IN OREGON 1 The recall is the latest expedient to secure popular control over the government. Like direct legislation, it is as yet in its experimental stage in America. As in direct legislation the provisions adopted by Oregon for the recall are typical of the more advanced political thought. The final step in the establishment of popular government in Oregon was the adoption of the recall amendment to the Con- stitution, which was adopted in 1908 by a vote of 58,381 to 31- 002. Under this amendment any public officer may be recalled by the filing of a petition signed by twenty-five per cent of the number of electors who voted in his district in the preceding election. The petition must set forth the reasons for the recall, and if the officer does not resign within five days after the peti- tion is filed a special election must be ordered to be held within twenty days to determine whether the people will recall such officer. On the ballot at such election the reasons for demanding the recall of said officer may be set forth in not more than 200 1 Bourne, Jr., J., " Popular Government in Oregon." Outlook, Oct. 8/1910 ; Vol. 96, No. 6, p. 329. Readings on Parties and Elections words. His justification of his course in office may be set forth in a like number of words. He retains his office until the results of the special election have been officially declared. No petition can be circulated against any officer until he has held office six months, except that in the case of a member of the State Legis- lature it may be filed at any time after five days from the begin- ning of the first session after his election. At the special election the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is declared elected. The special election is held at public expense, but a second recall petition cannot be filed against an officer unless the petitioners first pay the entire expense of the first recall election. 5. THE RECALL IN ARIZONA 1 Arizona in the constitution of 1910 has applied the recall to a wider range of officers than any other state. The recall applied to the judiciary has been especially the subject of criti- cism because it is feared such a provision will make the courts bend their decisions to conform to passing popular opinion. i. Recall of Public Officers Sec. i. Every public officer in the State of Arizona, holding an elective office, either by election or appointment, is subject to recall from such office by the qualified electors of the elec- toral district from which candidates are elected to such office. Such electoral district may include the whole State. Such num- ber of said electors as shall equal twenty-five per centum of the number of votes cast at the last preceding general election for all of the candidates for the office held by such officer, may by peti- tion, which shall be known as a Recall Petition, demand his recall. 1 Constitution of Arizona, Art. VIII, 1910. By the enabling act passed in 1911 Arizona was required to modify this article so that the recall should not apply to judges. Direct Legislation and the Recall 353 Sec. 2. Every Recall Petition must contain a general state- ment, in not more than two hundred words, of the grounds of such demand, and must be filed in the office in which petitions for nominations to the office held by the incumbent are required to be filed. The signatures to such Recall Petition need not all be on one sheet of paper, but each signer must add to his signa- ture the date of his signing said petition, and his place of resi- dence, giving his street and number, if any, should he reside in a town or city. One of the signers of each sheet of such petition, or the person circulating such sheet, must make and subscribe an oath on said sheet, that the signatures thereon are genuine. Sec. 3. If said officer shall offer his resignation it shall be ac- cepted, and the vacancy shall be filled as maybe provided by law. If he shall not resign within five days after a Recall Petition is filed, a special election shall be ordered to be held, not less than twenty, nor more than thirty days after such order, to determine whether such officer shall be recalled. On the ballots at said election shall be printed the reasons as set forth in the petition for demanding his recall, and, in not more than two hundred words, the officer's justification of his course in office. He shall continue to perform the duties of his office until the result of said election shall have been officially declared. Sec. 4. Unless he otherwise request, in writing, his name shall be placed as a candidate on the official ballot without nomina- tion. Other candidates for the office may be nominated to be voted for at said election. The candidate who shall receive the highest number of votes, shall be declared elected for the re- mainder of the term. Unless the incumbent receive the highest number of votes, he shall be deemed to be removed from office, upon qualification of his successor. In the event that his suc- cessor shall not qualify within five days after the result of said election shall have been declared, the said office shall be vacant, and may be filled as provided by law. Sec. 5. No Recall Petition shall be circulated against any officer until he shall have held his of&ce for a period of six months, 2A 354 Readings on Parties and Elections except that it may be filed against a member of the Legislature at any time after five days from the beginning of the first session after his election. After one Recall Petition and election, no further Recall Petition shall be filed against the same officer dur- ing the term for which he was elected, unless petitioners signing such petition shall first pay into the public treasury which has paid such election expenses, all expenses of the preceding election. Sec. 6. The general election laws shall apply to recall elections in so far as applicable. Laws necessary to facilitate the opera- tion of the provisions of this article shall be enacted, including provision for payment by the public treasury of the reasonable special election campaign expenses of such officer. *HE following pages contain advertisements of a few Macmillan books on kindred subjects BY M. OSTROGORSKI Democracy and the Party System in the United States A Study in Extra-constitutional Government Cloth, 478 pp., index, ismo, $1.75 net; by mail, $1.88 " Students of government, the world over, will turn to this book for exact information and critical discussion of its most vital problem." The Dial, Chicago. " It would be an astonishing book had it been written by an Englishman or an American who had spent a lifetime in the study and practice of politics. Coming as it does from the pen of a foreign student, it is simply an amazing embodiment of minute observation and extraordinary knowledge." Man- chester Guardian. " It should stand beside Mr. Bryce's great work, as a book which will avail as much for instruction and correction in righteousness. The gratitude of democracy to its accomplished author should be great; republics in the end are not ungrateful." The Literary World, Boston. " The work of M. Ostrogorski, great in every respect, continues and com- pletes the work of Tocqueville, Sumner, Maine, Lecky, and Bryce." UAnnec Sociologique, Paris. " This is a work, a great work, which claims the attention of the politician and of the citizen, speaks of his rights, as well as of the philosopher and the historian. It makes an epoch in the history of political thought as did, in their time, the Esprit des lois ' by Montesquieu, and ' Democracy in America,' by Tocqueville." Le Temps, Paris. "This is a great work such as has not yet even been published." Revue du droit public, Paris. " It is one of the most notable books which has been written about the workings of democratic institutions. It goes beyond the forms, and ... it gets at the reality of things. " New York Tribune. " The author's style is such that it is no hardship to follow him from be- ginning to end of his discussion." New York Times. " The remarkable work by Mr. Ostrogorski ... is undoubtedly one of the most notable books in political science that has appeared in many years. . . . The author merits great praise for his industry in gathering facts and his skill in making so long and elaborate a work so readable." Springjield Republican. PUBLISHED BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New Tork The American Federal State A Text-Book in Civics for High Schools and Colleges BY ROSCOE LEWIS ASHLEY New edition, illustrated, doth, izmo, $2.00 net The important changes in this new edition are chiefly in Part III on Policies and Problems, while Part I on Historical Development and Part II on Government are substantially the same as in the old edition. In Part II, however, the chapters on Executive Departments and Some Phases of State Activity have been rewritten, so as to include developments of the last iecade. In Part III a new chapter has been added on Natural Resources, while the chapter on Commerce, Industry, and Labor is practically new, because of increased regulation of industry and railroads, and new phases of labor protection. A large number of new references has been added through- out the book. If every American youth were led through a conscientious study of American civics as set forth in this book, there would be no more ignorant voting, no more unintelligent support of party politicians, no more " railroad legislation" because of ignorant party followers; every citizen of the coming generation would know, definitely and clearly, the how and the why of every phase of governmental machinery. Although this book contains more material and outlines a more com- plete study of civics than most text -books on the subject, the author has arranged a plan by which more cursory study may be made, using only parts of the book. High school and even grammar school teachers will find this plan of unusual merit. PUBLISHED BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York BY CHARLES A. BEARD Professor of History in Columbia University, author of " Introduction to the English Historians." Readings in American Government and Politics A collection of interesting material illustrative of the different periods in the history of the United States, prepared for those students who desire to study source writings. Cloth, crown 8w. Now Ready, $1.90 net " An invaluable guide for the student of politics, setting forth in an illuminating way the many phases of our political life." Critic. American Government and Politics Cloth, 776 Pages, I2tno, index, $2.10 net A work designed primarily for college students, but of considerable in- terest to the general reader. A special feature is the full attention paid to topics that have been forced into public attention by the political conditions of the present time. BY WILLIAM ARCHIBALD DUNNING, PH.D. Professor of History in Columbia University A History of Political Theories 2 Volumes I ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL II FROM LUTHER TO MONTESQUIEU Cloth, 8vo, each $2.50 net The successive transformations through which the political consciousness of men has passed from early antiquity to modern times are stated in a clear, intelligible manner, and to aid in a fuller study of the subject references are appended to each chapter covering the topics treated therein. At the end of each volume has been placed an alphabetical list containing full information as to all the works referred to, together with many additional titles. PUBLISHED BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York A GREAT WORK INCREASED IN VALUE The American Commonwealth BY JAMES BRYCE New edition, thoroughly revised, with four new chapters Two 8vo volumes $4.00 net " More emphatically than ever is it the most noteworthy treatise on our political and social system." The Dial. "The most sane and illuminating book that has been written on this country." Chicago Tribune. " What makes it extremely interesting is that it gives the matured views of Mr. Bryce after a closer study of American institutions for nearly the life of a generation." San Francisco Chronicle. "The work is practically new and more indispensable than ever." Boston Herald. "In its revised form, Mr. Bryce's noble and discerning book deserves to hold its preeminent place for at least twenty years more." Record- Herald, Chicago, 111. The American Commonwealth Abridged Edition, for the use of Colleges and High Schools. Being an Introduction to the Study of the Government and Institutions of the United States. By JAMES BRYCE. One volume. Crown 8vo, xiii + 547 pages, $1.75 net "It is a genuine pleasure to commend to our readers the abridged edition of 'The American Commonwealth' just issued by the Macmillan Company. Mr. Bryce's book, which has heretofore been issued only in two volumes, has no peer as a commentary upon American political institutions." Public Opinion. PUBLISHED BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York The Government of England BY A. LAWRENCE LOWELL, LL.D. President of Harvard University Two volumes, doth, gill tops, 8vo. Fourth edition, revised, 1909. $4.00 net EXTRACTS FROM A FEW OF THE NUMEROUS PRESS COMMENTS "... A masterpiece of literary and political writing. ... A notable contribution to higher American scholarship." Philadelphia Evening Telegraph. "... The greatest work in this field that has ever been produced by an American scholar." Pittsburgh Post. "A work that may almost be termed epochal. . . . An achievement of greater importance to the student of economics and to the publicist has not been completed within the decade." The Interior, Chicago. "A message of good will from one nation to another ... an admirable work ... an embassy of peace." Chicago Evening Post. " An intensely interesting work for Americans, not only because it sets forth a fine instance of political evolution in an illuminating way, but also because it shows us the great roots out of which our own institutions sprang. Readers of Mr. Bryce's ' American Commonwealth ' will be especially attracted by this work. The two books together constitute a political education." Presby- terian Banner. " Scholarly in character, profound in treatment, clear in its presentation. . . . Because of its high standard of merit, there is little wonder that it has been welcomed by so many American readers." Boston Globe. " It stands in distinguished isolation by reason of its comprehensive plan, the masterly way in which the plan has developed, and the sympathetic insight with which Mr. Lowell has described and analyzed the spirit in which Eng- lish people work their institutions." American Historical Review. " The reader will acknowledge a debt of gratitude to the author of this really remarkable work, not only for its wealth of learning and boldness of reason- ing, but for its topical arrangement and the scholarly simplicity of its style." Literary Digest. PUBLISHED BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York BY WILLIAM MACDONALD Professor of History in Brown University Select Charters and Other Documents Illustrative of American History, 1606-1775 Cloth ismo $2.00 net " This volume . . . supplements the author's previous work, entitled ' Se- lect Documents Illustrative of the History of the United States, 1776-1861.' The same sound judgment has been shown in the selection and the editing of the state papers, and the work is essential to every good reference library." The Outlook. " Professor MacDonald shows good judgment in his selections, and his book should materially assist the teaching of American history. ... It will be a great convenience everywhere." The Nation. Select Documents Illustrative of the History of the United States, 1776-1861 Cloth. izmo $2.25 net " It is a valuable book to students of American history, and, indeed, to all persons who care to discuss our present problems in their historical bearings. We can think of no public document, from the promulgation of the Declaration of Independence to the adoption of the Constitution of the Confederate States, to which frequent reference is made, which is not at least summarized in this volume. The summaries, furthermore, whether of judicial decisions, reports, treatises, messages, or resolutions, are admirably made. It is an invaluable book for every reference library." The Outlook. Select Statutes and Other Documents Illustrative of the History of the United States, 1861-1898 Cloth i2mo $2.00 net "The political and civil phases of the war; slavery and civil rights; recon- struction and the readmission of the states; legal tender, silver coinage, bank- ing, and finance; the amendments and acts relating thereto; naturalization, polygamy, and Chinese exclusion; the election of senators; the electoral count; the presidential succession; and recent phases of expansion these subjects indicate the scope and importance of the topics selected. Certain notable presidential messages, like the Venezuelan message of President Cleveland in 1893, are included. The valuable notes and references preceding each docu- ment are included in this volume as in the others. Professor MacDonald's final volume sustains the merit of a series whose usefulness and value have al- ready received wide recognition." JAMES A. WOODBURN, in The American Historical Review. PUBLISHED BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York 1978 \97085 LIBRARY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. EC'D H D DEC 13 '63 .. * 6"2A-20m-9,'63 General Library University of California Berkeley