Show Corruption F Funds O S Sao and ao i Their r ei Uses Js s t VV V V VV fV 1 V T i V V 4 By Ambrose Bierce I think I can understand and feel l with n of some ome sympathy s the man who points out the corrupt political his use of C money to defeat party part It is a righteous Indignation know does not commonly True the man oes anything about what wh t he points out unless he has himself taken ken some of the money mone V Men who money corruptly are rogues but as a rule not fools except in the general sense that all rogues are fools fox no folly is greater than that of dishonesty dishonest Indubitably the rascal macal rn cal who tries to carry an election by hr b the use of money is a dunce of magnitude but indubitably his stupid stupidity ity does not find expression In taking into his confidence anybody but the persons who c the money And these do not tell rio HoA io jf q then excepting in rare instances of lanned planned exposure or confession under pressure do the others know about It They do not they mere merely merely merely ly suspect sus Almost all the talk of bribery the purchase of votes and so forth has no foundation in known fact I do not say that the fact does not exist only that its existence Is sel seldom seldom seldom dom known to the accuser who if re required required required to make good his accusation as he might be if he had not the pru prudence prudence prudence dence to be rather vague be missed for a season from his customary environment V The corrupt use of money to carry an election Is a thing easy to affirm it is one of the cheapest and an handiest handest arguments against the opposing party rt Anybody can use it no thought no knowledge no mental ability Is re required required required It is as serviceable to the pout political political ical peasant as 84 to the scholar and statesman Like bad language and these ugly nicknames which have haye no special l personal appropriateness V It is free to all and like them has the merit of a general applicability which fits it for as effective use against the man managers managers managers agers of one political party as those of another er It is a dead cat that any hand can fling into any uny crowd j jI I say ray can understand and sympathize with the indignation tion of a man making m that accusation If he is sincere What I do not understand is his amazing ng V choice of a political party upon which hichu u L II t 1 la u L II t 1 to empty the vials of his hi s wrath th e always mad at the wrong one If he will have the goodness to loan me his attention I will ihl try to make this as clear to him as the use of some words of more than one syllable will permit Let me be frank The advantage of these remarks if they have any will necessarily accrue to the Republican party arty That party has the most money therefore probably the largest cam campaign campaign fund That this fund is as great or nearly as great or a tenth part as great as the Democratic writers and speakers sneakers s eakers say it is a there Is no reason whatever to suppose These gentlemen have ac access access access cess to all the resources of arithmetic to assist them in stating its amount and to none of the books which w ich V might mi ht enable them to state stat It cOrrectly if they wanted to and anI they are in no ap of dIsproof Under these circumstances it would be strange in indeed indeed V deed if they did not permit imagination tion to fly with a free and joyous wing Nor are they in possession of any proof whatever that the money Is used or is isto isto isto to be used more corruptly than the campaign fund of ot their own V party That is an assumption based upon what they conceive to be the low morality of ot those whom they believe to contribute V of the money and those whom they know to handle it For the purpose of this article let us admit the truth of the V V that the money mOIe is mainly contributed by b the wicked trusts and expended in such rascally ways as a the corruption of the press Dress ress and the purchase of votes But to what class of editors and voters will it naturally natu aU go To Republicans Surely Surety Senator Hanna and his accomplices accomplices bad men as I concede them to tobe tobe tobe be are not so foolish as as to purchase what will come to them without price The stupidity of knaves is hardly hardi so hopeless and impenitent as that When Senator Hanna seeks purchasable vot voters voters voters ers he will not go among voters whom he does not need to purchase will he If he bribes enough men to carry the presidential election they will be most mostly mostly mostly ly Democrats will they not Now No I fancy all will no moral difference between giving a bribe and accepting one Even the law with its tendency being usually the work of lawyers to fine and fanciful dis discriminations discriminations criminations makes no distinction be between between between tween them is a felony and isa felony the briber and the briber are Impartially in danger of hell heU fire One is as great a scoundrel as the other Now not many men are engaged in handling a campaign fund corruptly and not many man of its contributors have guilty knowledge of its use If It re required required Republican rogues to buy bu the votes vote vot of Democratic rogues one might say the honors were easy V But that is not so we all know that when votes of sovereign electors are purchased the sellers are many and the buyers few What follows This follows The severest indictment that one can draw against ones own party is to accuse the other party of or having haying won an election by the corrupt use of money but for the prevalence pr of rascals in the party part corrupted Unless S the Democratic party has many times as many man rascals as ac he the Republican R party no Democrat express s a af fear f ar of Mr Hanna and his money monet ba bas baits basfor s for every Democrat professes to t alk that it has an Immense natural ma majority majority majority Yet all the Democratic Dem cratic writers and speakers do fear feat or loudly profess to fear the Republican lien Ion fund and are apparently virtuously in indignant indignant indignant against those who handle it while they have not a of disgust dis for the Democratic rascality r whick makes it profitable to Mo so That is what I do not tot comprehend why in dealing damnation round upon the sons of political corruption the indignant patriot should so 50 mitt place the leaven of his wrath I do not belong to any political party If I did Id and thought I had reason rea on to fear its d ile feat by dishonesty of the money power I hOJe hofle that heaven would give gie me m strength to execute tt quickest flop on record V |