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Show pro DAY YTOMORROWl H -h F 111 FRANK PARKER ' POLITICS . . . elections I have been studying and writing writ-ing about politics for a good many, years. I have seen politics and politicians at close range in Washington, Wash-ington, in many state capitals, in small towns and in the biggest cities. The political machinery and methods of all the parties are cut to the same pattern. ! i The backbone of party politics poli-tics Is the local organizations. The strongest national party at any time is the one which has the largest number of its members mem-bers holding local public offices. Political parties are built upon distributing as many jobs as possible where they will do the most good. That is why the party in power always has the best chance of winning win-ning an election, local, state or national. If it has been in power long enough to fill the good jobs with party workers, the party of , the "Ins" has a great advantage! over the party of the "Outs." For that reason, everything else being be-ing equal, it is plain that the Democratic Dem-ocratic party, If it remains united,, has the better chance of winning the- presidential election of 1940. It has more job holders and so a stronger organization. OFFICEHOLDERS . . Hatch Thoughtful students of government govern-ment have recognized the power of political organizations to perpetuate per-petuate themselves by putting their adherents in office and have tried various ways to prevent the abuse of this power. . The Civil Service Reform movement which began sixty years ago, was the first attempt to take jobs out of politics. It cured some of the worst evils of the old "spoils system," sys-tem," introduced by Andrew Jackson, but it never cleaned up the political mess. The latest effort in this direction di-rection is the Hatch Act passed by Congress last Spring which forbids anybody holding an appointive ap-pointive public office from taking tak-ing part in, or contributing to, a political campaign. Human nature being what It is, I have little faith that politics can be purified by merely passing laws. I have had many opportunities to observe how any law which is displeasing to the Administration of a city, a state or the Nation can be got around. TAXATION . . . payment Next to the ability to build up a powerful political machine, composed com-posed of officeholders ready to fight for their jobs to the last ditch, the strongest weapon a party par-ty in power has is the power of taxation. The more taxes that can be collected, lip to the point where the public will not stand for being squeezed any further, the more money there is for the politicans to spend in ways which will put people under obligations to them or their party and so strengthen their machine. The only source from which money comes to pay the salaries of the rank and file of political workers is from taxes. The art of politics consists in finding persuasive arguments which the public will swallow to justify the levying of taxes for what can be represented as a useful public purpose. Another Anoth-er 'part of the tax racket is to devise schemes of taxation which Mill make it appear that the common man does not pay taxes but tliat it all comes out of the pockets of the rich. ! I think I see signs, everywhere I go, that the ordinary citizen 1 is beginning to discover that he is the one who pays all the taxes, in the long run. VOTERS . . . numbers There are about forty-five million mil-lion Americans who will go to the polls next November and vote for President. Somewhat more than fifteen million of them will vote the iRepublican ticket, no matter who is nominated. Just about the same number will vote the Democratic Demo-cratic ticket, regardless of the candidate. That leaves around i fifteen millions who cannot be i counted in advance. They are the so-called "Independent Voters" j who follow no party line rigidly. These voters, who determine whether the next President will be a Democrat or a Republican, will vote to a great extent upon local issues. If their local party organizations have given them , satisfactory local government, on the whole, they will be more likely to vote for the candidates candi-dates favored by their state or municipal organizations. Only when the Nation is con- fronted with a single great issue, that everyone can understand, such as war, does the average voter look beyond his immediate problems to decide how to vote. PERSONALITIES . convincing In order to appeal to the average aver-age voter, political policies, programs pro-grams and principles must be personified. Very few people are influenced by abstract ideas. Once in a long time the whole population popula-tion is so eager for a chance that most of the voters would vote for anybody on the opposition ticket. I do not think we are facing fac-ing that situation this year. I wouldn't venture a guess at tills stage as to whom the Kepubljicans will nominate, whether Mr. Roosevelt will get liimself renominated or what other Democrat may be that party's candidate if he does not run again. I am certain, however, how-ever, that the next President of the United States will be the candidate who can most convincingly con-vincingly persuade ten or twelve million "floating" voters that his party will make conditions better for the individual citizen and that he is personally the kind of a man to be entrusted wth running the Government of the United States. To get that idea across, the successful candidate, whoever he may be, is going to have to rely upon the workers in the organized party machinery, down to the last township committeeman. |