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274 NATIONAL POLITICS 1910-1922
had campaign-fund quotas been so well distributed over trie country. Approximately $900,000 already had been contributed, with only $216,000 coming from New York. In former campaigns, New York State's share had been as high as 75 per cent.
Governor Cox continued his intemperate allegations, although he had revised his original charge of a $30,000,000 Republican slush fund to $15,000,000. In a speech at Pittsburgh he charged that the Republican National Committee had called upon fifty-one cities to contribute $8,145,000.
Flat denials, both specific and general, were made by Republican leaders in many parts of the country. It was shown that the amounts actually subscribed were far less than those given by Governor Cox from his "secret list."
When the Kenyon committee met on August 30 for its first hearing, Governor Cox was not present to substantiate his charges. After I had testified for several hours as to the falsity of the charges, I found an unexpected ally in Homer S. Cummings, keynoter of the Democratic convention and former national chairman, who followed me on the stand. He said that the expenses of both parties could be legitimately increased over the cost of 191 6 and estimated the sum required to run a campaign in a year of high prices at about $2,800,000, not far below the $3,076,000 which I had set. He almost repeated the thought I had expressed earlier when he said:
"The real trouble with campaigns is not what the National Committee does, but what the independent, co-operating organizations which are not under proper control do. There the evil lies. The National Committee can't prevent it, but the government should. The law requires the National Committee to make a sworn statement before and after election, but does not require this of other organizations. I think Mr. Hays and I would not disagree on this subject at all."
To my original budget estimate I had added about $1,000,000 as the probable sum needed to be raised by the states for their own elections. This sum was to be handled by the National Committee under the centralized system then in operation, but the amounts raised by the state organizations were to be returned to them. These were no part of the National Committee's fund.
Before leaving the stand I took the offensive and delivered a few counterblows of my own, proving by documentary evidence that the liquor interests of New Jersey were being used by the Democrats to put over Cox as the savior of the wets and that New Jersey liquor men assumed that men of their trade in other states were acting with them.
The salient points in the statement I read to the committee were these: