The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922, November 17, 1916, Image 2

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    THE 8EMI-WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
how Money VMas Raised
Presidential Campat
Both Democratic and
Republican parties spent
nearly $2,000,000 each
for expenses :: No longer
able to gouge corpora
tions, both sides appealed
directly to the people for
huge funds and succeeded
ri iinu.iiBiru-uiuiiv nur. ihb. m3iijiii..unii insist- . . n ii n -vjo-.' if .r.i.-i.rjr;v:: ' .fisyr s
Hinrrtforoenlhnu M$H W ssas-ss., feS I Ilk.
M THE MMfflflT
FIRST AID TO BURLESON
John 0. Koons, formerly chief In
spector of the post oillce department,
wns nominated by President Wilson
ns first usslstnnt postmaster general,
to succeed Daniel 0. Roper, who re
signed from tho department In order
to nsslst the Democratic national cam
paign. Mr. Koons, as first lieutenant to
Postmaster General Burleson, will bo
acting postmnster general In the ab
sence of his chief. '
Mr. Koons entered tho postal serv
ice 20 years ngo as n railway mall
clerk at a salary of $1,000 n yeur. Ills
ability and efficiency attracted tho at
tention of his chiefs, and he was
transferred to Washington and mado
a post ofllco Inspector. Under Post
mnster General Hitchcock he was pro
moted to tho position of chief of sal
aries and allowances.
Tho more recent promotions of
Mr. Koons, which culminated in his
selection as first assistant postmaster general, include his nppolntment to the
pnrcel post commission, n committee of postal experts to work out regulations
for the development of the parcel post As a result of his work on this
commission Postmaster General Burleson promoted him to bo chief Inspector
of the post ofilce department.
Mr. Koons, while having lived In Washington for the Inst ten years, has
his legal residence in Carroll county, Maryland, where his family has lived
for generations.
NEW JAPANESE AMBASSADOR
Cornelius Bhss Jr.
Republican Treasurer
lenthati
Chairman Pemocrstic
finance Committee
0V that It's nil settled for another
four years, you mny bo Interested to
know how tho money was raised to
conduct tho world's greatest polltlcnl
show. Well, hero Is the whole- story
with everything exposed secret
passages, family ghosts, mystery, In
trigue, lights; shadows, trapdoors
41.- . L -- 11.. 1 . I
4 miu mu rum in mo aiugu properly
as told by a writer In tho New York Sun:
Presidential cnmpalgns cost n great deal of
money. Tho Job of getting this money they cnll
raising the wind. When tho amount required Is
between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000 ono can see
that the ofllco of treasurer of a national commit
teo Is no sinecure
It wns Btated publicly the other day by Henry
Morgenthnu, who us chnlrman of tho Dotnocrntlc
finance committee, was a sort of financial over
lord of this end of the game for tho Democrats,
that the Irreducible minimum of Democratic
needs this year had been placed at $1,500,000. Four
enrs ngo it was $1,100,000.
Tho Republicans did not mnko public their
Own estimate of expenses. When tho campaign
was In Its .Infancy they figured It out as about
$1,000,000. Later tho amount was rnlsed to $1,
000,000. And nt n still later gathering of Re
publicans to discuss this question certain gentle
men of grent polltlcnl experleuco Informed young
Mr. Bliss thnt tho high cost of campaigns would
probably mnko It necessary this" year to spend
closo to $2,000,OCO beforo Novombor 7.
' Tho reason why It costs more now to run a
campaign Is because everything Is higher. Tho
cost of printing has tripled, for ono thing, cam
pnlgn buttons cost twice ns much, railroad fares
are higher. And so it goos.
' When tho Republicans woro looking around for
Wmcono to rnlso tho wind this year their eyes
fell upon young Mr. Bliss, for n good renson.
His father was tho Republican treasurer In threo
uatlonal campaigns. After somo hesitation Mr.
Bliss took tho Job, In which ho haB over slnco
displayed tho ono qunllty considered n prerequi
site to n successful Republican treasurer mod
esty. Nobody but tho campaign managers themselves
over' henrd much of Mr. Bliss, around nntlonnl
heudquarters. His ofllco wns on n llbor below
tho chalrmnn's. People who got off there by mis
take thought they hnd wandered Into tho ofllccs
of a big up-to-date mercantile corporation. There
wero many clerks, many adding machines and
many typewriters.
It was from theso ofllccs, whero senrco n foot
fall was heard, that Treasurer Bliss raked tho
country for Republican money, not only In tho
form of largo subscriptions when ho could got
them, but also In tho form of $10 subscriptions
to what ho called IiIb sustaining membership fund.
Tho contributor to this got a nlco llttlo certlllcnto
showing that ho had been enrolled as a sustain
ing member of tho O: O. 1 This was Mr. Bliss'
popular-subscription plnn.
Tho schemo Mr. Bliss brought out was a de
velopment of one tiled successfully by Wllllnm
Barnes when ho was head of tho Btato commltteo,
This plan wns to Invito $10 BUbscrlptlons to n
Heclnl fund and In return hand out some llttlo
honorarium. Mr. Barnes succeeded In raising
ITiO.QQO by this plun l t!iu state of Now York
nlono when everybody wns 'hard up. Mr. Bliss
raised about half a million.
Under tho Bliss plan local committees wero
formed In uvcry fown In tho country. Theso
committees did the work of collecting tho $10
subscriptions. To get theso committees Mr.
Bliss liinde tip tho biggest mailing list ever scon.
Ho corresponded with every state chairman nnd
through tliesc officials got the county chairmen
to draw up lists of posslblo contributors. Whon
tho lists wero turned In appeals wero made direct
to those on tho lists. Tho result In thnt shortly
before election Mr. Bliss was getting frequently
ns much ns $4,000 In n single day's mall.
Of course, under this plnn contributions wero
not limited to $10, nor wero contributions of a
smaller amount spurned. All wero welcomed, but
It required $10 at least to become unrolled as n
sustaining member.
Whatever may have been tho success achieved
by Mr, Bliss, thero wero persons around Demo
cratic headquarters in Now York, Just around the
corner from the Republican shop, who wero will
ing to hot that Mr. Marsh would beat Mr. Bliss
to n frazzlo In collecting money from tho real
"pccpul." Out In Iown, Mr. Marsh's homo stnto,
ho liu a record of being ono of tho greatest
money-rnlsers over seen,
Tho Marsh plnn, soon In full swing, wns noth
ing more than tho good old "overy-momber-enn-vnss"
schemo which tho churches out In Iowa re
sort to when they aro falling behind In current
expctiBos or want to make a bonflro of tho mort
gage. Marsh and his young men, somo of them
church workers, believed that If It could bo
worked successfully for a church It could bo
worked In tho country ns n whole for tho Domo
crhtlc party,
An essential featuro of tho overy-member-enn-vass
plan Is 'team work. Anyono who hns over
been walled upon with a request to subscribe to
a church fund to burn tho mortgngo knows thnt
not ono person but two do the visiting. Confront
ed thus by superior numbers tho prospect gener
ally capitulates. To orgnnlzo such teams In every
town nnd hamlet of tho United States wns tho
task which Marsh and his Iown hustlers sot
themselves to do. This Is tho way they did It:
The nnmo of n good Democrat In every town
was first secured. Then n communication wos sent
to him asking him to forward at onco to head
quarters the nnmes of bIx wr eight men In tho
town who would feci it an honor to bo named ns
nn auxiliary flnnuco commltteo of tho Democratic
national committee, designating ono mnti on the
list to bo appointed chnlrman.
By return mail each man so named got his
credential, a llttlo card bearing the pictures of
Wilson nnd Marshall, nnd announcing that tho
Democratic national commltteo hnd been pleased
to nppolnt him n member of Its finance commit
tee. With this enrd went n personnl letter from
Treasurer Marsh calculated to mnko tho now
member of tho Democratic finance committee got
busy. Here, for examplo, Is ono paragraph from
Mr, Marsh's letter, which as n whole sounds llko
tho follow-up campaign of a man selling patent
clothespins :
"I wish I might visit with you fnco to face and
Impress you with tho tremendous lmportanco of
this work. To my mind U Is fnr reaching. Wo
nro absolutely dependent upon It for tho money
to carry on tho campaign; moreover, It Is Im
perative, because by having the citizen who loves
his country flnnnce the cnmpnlgn we nre keeping
tho .government nbsolutely uninfluenced by per
sons Who hnvo ulterior motives. Through you
and tho other party lenders I plan to make n
personal solicitation of everyone who can afford
to give and who feels an enthusiastic Interest
In tho re-election of President Wilson. This Is a
cnmpnlgn for tho peoplo nnd It must bo paid for
by the people.
"Every patriotic nnd loynl person ought to
glvo to the point whore It really means some
thing of u sncrlflco to htm. To ono this might
menn n thousnnd dollnrs or moro; to another, It
might mean $500 or $50 or n dollnr. This Is tho
spirit of giving which I hope you will Inspire. I
want to know the nnmes nnd amount each gives
and will keep n permanent enrd Index record of
this. I will classify cities by population and
mnko n comparative record of the amount given
by each. I feel certain you will seo to It that
your city Is well up In this roll of honor." i
But tho real details of Mr. Marsh's overy-raem
ber-cnnvnss scheme wero explnlned In still an
other communication from national headquarters,
printed on pink paper. It wns entitled "How to
Do It," nnd is In Mr. Mnrsh's best stylo. Hero Is
what It said!
"Success depends upon team work and upon
getting into the game right nwny. To this end
you nnd each of tho other members of your com
mltteo nro urged to adopt tho following plnn and
stick closely to It:
"1. On the day you recelvo this letter make n
list of every person you know, bo ho Democrat,
Rcpubllcnn, Progressive or Independent every
forward-looking man and woman whom you know
or bellevo to bo Interested In tho re-election of
. Woodrow Wilson and set opposlto his name tho
amount you believe he enn nfford to glvo.
"2. Hnvo your commltteo meet nt once, com
pnro notes, nnd together prepnro a complete list
of every posslblo contributor with the nmount
your committee estlmntes ho should give,
"3. Transm.lt immediately to mo personally a
conservative estlmnto of tho nmount your com
mltteo belloves we may count upon receiving
through your efforts. Wo need this estlmnto nt
once; please seo that It is mnllcd within three
days nftcr you recelvo this letter.
"4. Divide your commltteo Into teams of two
nnd three to canvass personally nnd collect this
money. You can work moro effectively In pairs
,thnn singly, for It Is harder for a fellow to say
'No to a committee of hlB neighbors than to ono
person
"5. Apportion your list of prospective contrlb
utors among your subcommittees nnd mnko It tho
business of your commltteo to call upon each
ono of theso prospects In person. Do not lot this
be hlt-or-mlss work, but do It systematically, nnd
do It without delay."
Ab fast as these committees got any money they
sent It directly to Treasurer Marsh. No matter
how small his contribution each contributor re
ceived an engraved receipt and his nnmo went on
Mr. Marsh s card Index, ns n result of which
honor he will probably got another appeal four
years from now
Shorty before election, Mr. Marsh Invited somo
of his doubting friends Into his ofllco to seo whnt
theso committees wero doing. Piled high on his
desk wns the day's mall from theso flnnnco com
mittees. Each letter Inclosed either a check or
had pinned to It real money.
Somo chairmen could hnrdly wrlto legibly, but
attached to each letter thero was tho list In each
case of the peoplo who had contributed the
amounts, running from 25 cents to $500. In ono
day's mall tho chocks and cash contributions, Mr.
Marsh si-Id, Aaytixled to moro than $20,000. In
Almaro Sato, tho recently nppolnt
cd Japanese ambassador to tho United
States, llko many other Jnpanese
statesmen, was educated In this coun
try, at De Pauw university ut Green
castle, Ind. The college wns then
known ns Indiana Asbury university.
Suteml Chimin, who was Japnneso am
bassador In Washington In 1012, was
u fellow student with Mr. Sato and
married Mr. Sato's sister In 1882.
Mr. Sato came to this country offi
cially first in 1004, during the wnr be
tween his country nnd Russln, us sec-
retnry to Prlnco Fushlml, who had
been sent here upon a grateful mission
to tho United States government. He
served ns genernl mnnnger, so to
speak, of this interesting expedition,
nnd acquitted himself with great
credit, his knowledge of tho language
und American customs proving of
grent use to his compatriots. Ambas
sador Sato, like other Oriental diplo
mats who have come here, has a keen sense of humor, nnd his life in tho
United States has assisted him to give it nn expression that an American
can understand and appreciate.
Ambassador Sato already has had a distinguished career in the diplo
matic service, having served In importnnt subordinate positions, and later as
Japanese minister to Holland nnd ambassador to Austria-Hungary. He Is
snld to bo very much of nn epicure, delighting In cozy little dinners to his
friends which are the delight aud wonder of his circle. The ambassador is
accredited- with rare gifts as a harmonlzer, nnd It Is believed that he Is
especially fitted to deul with the delicate Issues which nre certain to arise
sooner or luter over tho determination of Japan o secure equal privileges for
her nationals in the United States, notably California.
ROGERS IS SOME SPENDER
The "biggest spender" in Texns is
Col. Harry L. Rogers, but he Isn't a
spendthrift. His position on Fun
ston's stnff as chief quartermaster of
the southern department makes it his
duty to spend money "right nnd left"
in little wads of $25,000 or $50,000. Llt
tlo wads 1
Just Imagine n sum like one of
those in greenbacks wadded up, then
the squeezo removed. But Colonel
Rogers is used to trifles of that sort,
or at least to handling Uncle Sara's
checks that represent such piles.
For Instance thero are 75,000
pairs of army shoes in San Antonio.
Twenty thousand pairs nro at Fort
Sam Houston. Just sort of a shelf
stock. Each pair cost $2.81.
Mosquito burs are another nrtlcle
Issued to soldiers. Ono hundred thou
snnd of them cost something, too.
Double ones arc obtained for $2.20
nnd stnglo ones for $2.10. Double
refers to weight und not to size. Each mosquito bar Is for one bunk.
Gasoline costs the government from 21 to 20 cents u gallon, according to
whero it is delivered. Thnt delivered at. San Antonio is 22 cents n gallon.
The previous contract prlco wns 0 cents a gallon.
MME. DE BLANPRE
Washington is n happy meeting
plnco for diplomats, for lnvnrlnbly they
find old friends from former Euro
pean posts awaiting them. Also, It
frequently happens thnt secretaries
and attaches return to us, promoted
sometimes even to nn ambassadorship.
Among these former agreeable mem
bers of the corps to return this fall
aro tho new nnvnl attacho of tho
French embassy nnd Mme. do Blunpre.
They received so many warm wel
comes that they could scarcely reserve
for themselves time to seek a suitable
abode for the winter.
Mme. do Blnnpro could not well
je forgotten In Washington. During
her husband's former services there
sho wns an active flguro In society, in
all Its' varying moods. Her beautiful
and well-cultivated voice was given
for Innumerable good nnd worthy
:nuses, .nnd more frequently still Just
for tho real pleasure It gave to others.
It was always u gain occasion when she was the soloist nt St. Matthew's,
whero sho sang as regulnrly ns her other duties permitted. And no charity
aftalc was complete without her, whether lu her musical capacity or for her
almost unlimited other accomplishments. Commander de Blnnpre's former
service hero ended In 1000, and Mme. do Blunpre hnd a worthy successor In
fact, the nverago day's receipts during part of . M, i.-niinnf vimiini vax- wtm wn tim inanimtinn n,,mwiaa
unique and beautiful entertainments, private and for charity.