Money, Money, Money

As armies fight on their stomachs, so politicians fight on their campaign chests. Last week in Washington the Clerk of the House made public the official reports of campaign receipts & expenditures, up to within a fortnight of the election. With these and other facts published last week voters could get some idea of how much it costs to live four years rent free in the White House.

Candidates. Only major candidate to report any personal campaign expenditures was Franklin D. Roosevelt. On a mimeographed blank he scrawled in his own hand under the heading Receipts, "None." Under the heading Expenditures:

"Oct. 5, Treasurer Democratic County Committee, Dutchess County, N. Y., Contribution $500.

"To Oct. 12-Postage-not exceeding $10."

John Nance Garner reported no financial transactions whatever. Alfred M. Landon and William Pranklin Knox reported no receipts and all expenses taken care of by the Republican National Committee.

Republicans. Receipts of the Republican National Committee were reported at $5,038,419; expenditures at $4,949,428. This, however, did not tell the whole story. Republicans were making desperate appeals for funds because their receipts had fallen off so badly that they feared that they would have a $2,000,000 deficit by the time all the bills for the campaign were in. Democrats said the reason the Republican well had gone dry was that businessmen did not want to waste money on a lost cause. GOPartisans blamed their cash shortage on fear of Congressional investigation, income tax assessments and other reprisals from the New Deal.

Biggest single GOP contributor was William Randolph Hearst-$30,000. Next biggest, $25,000 each, were Republican Treasurer Charles Barnett ("Barney") Goodspeed, Colonel Robert Guggenheim (copper), Frazier Jelke (oleomargarine), John A. Roebling (wire).

Democrats-Receipts of the Democratic National Committee, including cash on hand at the beginning of the campaign, were $2,417,788; expenditures were $2,914,546. But this, like the Republican report, did not tell the full story. The Roosevelt Nominators collected $288,049, the Roosevelt Agricultural Committee collected some $140,835, the Good Neighbor League $48,827.

Biggest contributor to the Democratic Campaign was John L. Lewis' United Mine Workers which gave $100,000 to the National Committee and $50,000 to the Roosevelt Nominators. Biggest individual contributor was Walter A. Jones, member of the Democratic Finance Committee, $40,000: next biggest, $25,000 each, were Philadelphia's Curtis Bok. Chicago's Lucius B. Manning. James Roosevelt contributed $4.293 and Franklin Roosevelt's good friend Joseph P. Kennedy lent the Committee $38,876.

Another money-raising device was adopted last week when Chairman James A. Farley sat down with 1,300 other Democrats in Philadelphia's Penn Athletic Club. They ate fruit cocktail, consomme, filet mignon, two vegetables, combination salad, dessert and coffee and they paid a minimum of $100 apiece for the meal. Gross proceeds: $130,000 plus.

"It's a great idea," said Boss Farley.

Said Socialist Nominee Norman Thomas who happened to be in Philadelphia next day: "It seems incredible that 1,300 people would pay $100 for a $2.50 dinner to listen to Jim Farley and watch him eat. I paid 2-c- for a newspaper this morning and saw a picture of Farley eating -that was enough for me!"

Radio, etc The high cost of campaigning this year is due in part simply to big ger and better expenditures on the same old things for which money has been spent for years. Something new in big campaign costs is radio. Such a minor party as the Communists will have a total broadcasting bill of $35,000 with National Broadcasting alone. The same firm announced that the Republican National Committee had up to last week spent $265,000 for use of its networks, and the Democratic National Committee -which had the advantage ear lier in the campaign of "free air" for sev eral of the President's "non-political" speeches -had spent $165,000. By the time Alf Landon makes his final broadcast from 10 p. m. to 11 p. m. on election eve the Republicans will have incurred an additional NBC bill of $90.000. And when Franklin Roosevelt gets in his last verbal licks an hour later, the Democratic NBC bill will have risen another $65,000.

Columbia Broadcasting System declined to make public the amounts of its bills for political broadcasting but the grand total of the two big systems and their smaller competitors will probably be between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000. It will not be surprising if the Republican expenditures for the entire campaign run over $7,500,000, if Democratic expenditures run about $5,000,000. Many a voter may feel that this is a lot of money to spend on a campaign. It is spent, however, to pick a President who will last four years, a Congress which will last two years. But the total cost of the campaign for both major parties would not run the U. S. Government today for 24 hours.

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