The Manitowoc Pilot

Preparing for 1924 Campaign.

Political activities of the two great parties never cease. Already the Democratic and Republican national committees are laying the groundwork for the campaign of 1924.

The passage of time between presidential campaigns as one looks back seems like the twinkling of an eye. The Washington headquarters of the two great parties are open today, and the laborers are at their desks.

The senatorial committee of investigation into the expenditure of campaign funds stirred up considerable commotion and the stirring process brought to the top of the pot a good many facts that were attested as such by the leaders of both party organizations who were summoned to testify under oath. The lessons of the last four years have taught the two organizations a good many things, and the word is that both will profit thereby.

Hard and fast organization coupled with hard and fast work helped to win the last presidential election for the Republican party. There is not a Democratic leader in Washington who does not admit this. It may be that victory would have come to the Republicans because of the supposed desire for change in the American administration on the part of the people but facts cannot be blinked. It unquestionably is true, that cohesiveness of plans and what may be called firmness of organization helped to increase the size of the Republican victory if it was not responsible entirely for the victory itself. The Democratic leaders have resolved, so far as organization and work are concerned, that they will not be outdone during the next four years by the Republicans.

White and Hays on the Job.

The Democrats have re-established their Washington headquarters in the Woodward building, with Chairman George White, who has just returned from a hunting trip, in charge. The Republicans, who moved their headquarters some time ago from the building in which they were neighbors to the Democrats to a Pennsylvania avenue structure, already have put the last campaign, except for its lessons, behind them and are engaged on the problems of the future. Whether or not George White and Will H. Hays chairmen respectively of the Democratic and the Republican committees, will remain as chairmen is for the future to disclose, but at the present time they are working and are directing their subordinates in the work as if there were no chance that either is to retire.

It takes money to run campaigns and keep organizations alive in the interim between the actual contests. The Republicans had a budget of something over $3,000,000 for the expenses of the last campaign. They not only kept subscriptions within the budget but they are some hundreds of dollars in debt today. The Democratic organization did not get down to work in the last campaign until many months after the Republicans had perfected their organization, and this fact has been so borne into the consciousness of the Democratic leaders that the declaration today is that nothing of the kind shall happen again.

Democratic Plan Didn't Work.

It developed during the investigation by the senatorial committee that prior to the actual opening of the presidential campaign of 1920 the Democrats had evolved a new scheme for raising money, or perhaps rather had revived an old scheme. It did not work and the lesson that was learned was rather a costly one.

The attempt by the Democrats was to raise money by personal appeals to individuals by means of letters. Everybody knows what generally happens to a letter which comes to a man asking for money. There is no one present to back up personally the appeal which the letter makes, and therefore the recipient generally puts it to one side to act upon at a later date, or peradventure drops it into the waste basket. What might be called with peculiar emphasis the "personal touch" seems to be necessary when money is needed for any specific object.

The work in the headquarters of the national committees during the years between actual campaignings is interesting. It is then that the ammunition is stored up for the post convention battle.

Every speech that is made by any Republican or Democrat of note is clipped from the newspapers or from the Congressional Record and stored away. Party leaders, in congress and out, frequently say things three years before the campaign opens that they would not say while the campaign is on. During the campaigns some of these gentlemen frequently deplore the fact that they have opened their mouths on certain subjects.