PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL CORRUPT

PRACTICES ACT

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1951

UNITED STATES SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS OF THE
COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION,

Washington, D. C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:15 a. m. in room 104-B, Senate Office Building, Senator Guy M. Gillette (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Senators Gillette, Monroney, Hennings, Hendrickson, and Smith (Maine).

Also present: Grace E. Johnson, chief clerk, and John P. Moore, chief counsel.

Senator GILLETTE. The subcommittee will come to order.

The subcommittee meets today on call of the chairman in its first meeting for the securing of information which the subcommittee is very desirous of obtaining relative to corrective legislation that may be enacted to make our elections more reflective of the will of the people; so there can be a free and unbiased expression of opinion and an honest count; and also for certain corrective legislative measures that might be suggested in particular reference to the field of expenditures for campaigns that, as everybody knows, have been greatly expanded in amount; and certain campaign practices that seem to the committee to be reprehensible.

Because our own investigations as well as those of previous committees of this type have shown this great need in this field, this committee is very anxious to do something concrete, to do something more than to just simply suggest in their report that some corrective measures ought to be enacted. Perhaps we might be able to formulate or to have formulated for us certain corrective legislation.

The subcommittee determined after discussing this problem and this responsibility that to do this and do it effectively and constructively we ought to have and should have the assistance by way of suggestion and comment of the various elements who from experience or study or their own investigations are in position to help us. It is our expectation to call those with political experience, those economists, specialists, or other experts of various kinds who are in position to give us this help we need so badly.

For today's meeting I, at the request of the committee, have called Mr. William Boyle, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, together with his treasurer or fiscal agent. Also I have called Mr. Gabrielson, the chairman of the Republican National Committee,

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and his staff members. Mr. Gabrielson has requested that he be permitted to appear at a later date because of the fact he had a speaking engagement and it would greatly inconvenience him to come here today, and of course we are glad to grant his request. But we have with us today Mr. Boyle.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM M. BOYLE, JR., CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE (ACCOMPANIED BY MARY C. ZIRKLE, COMPTROLLER, AND CHARLES VAN DEVANDER, DIRECTOR OF PUBLICITY)

Senator GILLETTE. You are William Boyle?

Mr. BOYLE. That is right, Senator.

Senator GILLETTE. You are chairman of the Democratic National Committee?

Mr. BOYLE. That is right.

Senator GILLETTE. And you of course were informed as to our purpose in calling you, and our objective here.

Mr. BOYLE. Yes, Senator.

Senator GILLETTE. Do you have a formal statement that you desire to present?

Mr. BOYLE. I do have a formal statement that I would like to read, and then I would like to ask the privilege of participating in any discussion with the committee on any particular points that might be of interest to the committee, and to answer the members' questions.

Senator GILLETTE. I think that is perfectly acceptable to the committee. I want to emphasize that this is not an inquisitorial proceeding. We need help and we need it badly and we sincerely want it, and I am sure that you, Mr. Boyle, and the others can give us suggestions that will be helpful. Will you proceed?

Mr. BOYLE. Thank you, Senator. I might say that with me is Mrs. Zirkle, the comptroller of the Democratic National Committee. She has been with the committee for many years and on some points I am sure she would be able to answer with more expertness than myself; so I wanted you to know her.

Senator GILLETTE. All right, you may proceed with your statement, Mr. Boyle, and then the memers of the committee may want to ask you questions, or the committee counsel may have some.

Mr. BOYLE. Thank you, sir. I want to thank this committee for giving me the opportunity to discuss the steps which can be taken to strengthen our Federal election laws and to prevent the type of corruption of the elective process which members of both parties agree has occurred in recent elections.

The Democratic National Committee offers you full cooperation. We will be glad to assist in any specific studies which you may decide to undertake.

The Democratic National Committee is opposed to the back-street type of campaign recently exposed and properly condemned by this committee. We have repeatedly urged all of our candidates to wage clean, constructive campaigns, to hit hard, but to keep to the issues.

We shall comply fully with the law in making our public financial reports complete and clear, and we will be glad to meet even stricter requirements in this field.

Before I enter into specific matters, I would like to say that I have given careful study to the report of this committee on the Maryland election and to the 1950 report of the House Committee on Campaign Expenditures. I congratulate both of those groups on the statesmanlike approach they have made to the problems of improving our election laws. I hope that valuable reforms may come from the interest which the Congress has shown in the problem.

I would like to suggest to this committee that its ultimate purpose of insuring fair, honest, and truly representative elections will never be achieved, in my opinion, until all of the eligible voters go to the polls and vote.

I therefore believe that this committee should broaden the scope of its inquiry to consider methods of encouraging a greater vote in national elections.

It is my belief that widespread interest in campaigns and a much higher percentage of voting would be a strong bulwark against any form of corruption of the elective process. Chicanery and trickery and excessive expenditures are most effective when voters are apathetic. I would like to see the Congress study and consider ways to make registration and voting easier and simpler, and I believe this study should include the various proposals to provide inducements to vote or penalties for not voting. I also believe that every general election day should be made a national holiday. I believe that the failure of a large part of the eligible voters to go to the polls is a serious problem and is definitely connected with the temporary success of the type of political campaign which this committee has condemned, and which all of us know weakens our Government and our way of life.

Two tendencies which have become increasingly evident in recent campaigns seem to me to raise a serious threat to our basic American principles unless strong, positive counteraction is taken.

One is the increasingly heavy expenditure of funds in outright violation of ceilings set by law. Incidentally, I believe every one agrees that the present law is unrealistic on this point and that the spending limits should be revised to conform to the present costs of conducting campaigns.

Opposing factions in a single party in one State last year spent more than $800,000 each in the primary-a total of nearly $2 million for the primary campaign in one State. Compare this with the $3 million which is the legal limit that a national political committee can spend in the entire country in a Presidential campaign. Public figures indicate that nearly $2 million was spent in another State by one party in the general election there in 1950, and it has been estimated that complete figures would reveal that as much as $4 million actually was spent by that party. Your committee is now investigating the circumstances of that election.

Such expenditures indicate to me that we must have a realistic ceiling on expenditures, but certainly a ceiling. We cannot take the risk that our elections will go to the man who has the greatest appeal to the wealthiest contributors. We must outlaw that sort of spending which sees as much or more spent in one State by one party as is spent by a national committee in an entire Presidential campaign.

I am also deeply concerned over the increased use of techniques of defamation and character assassination, some of it anonymous or conducted by false fronts, all of it based on half-truths or untruths, such

as the back-street campaign which your committee has rightly condemned.

We should encourage vigorous, hard-hitting campaigns on the legitimate issues, but we should outlaw the technique of complete baseless and defamatory attacks on individuals which go beyond the bounds of fair campaigning.

American campaigns have never been noted for politeness and the use of kid gloves. But this new technique which is used to attack the loyalty and patriotism of decent citizens and faithful public servants is not in the American tradition. It is an imported technique which has already begun to poison our political life. It must be stamped out. Every Member of Congress should be deeply concerned about this, because recent events have proved that no one, no matter how good his reputation, is immune from this form of attack.

Now I should like to make some brief and specific suggestions. Many of them have been made before. I make no claim to authorship, but am merely trying to list some measures which seem to me to be the most useful that can be considered at this time.

One. Election laws, with whatever additions are made to strengthen them, should be extended to cover primary or convention campaigns. Two. Realistic adjustments should be made of the ceilings on contributions and expenditures in campaigns to take into account rising costs of campaign materials and the cost of radio and the new medium of television. I believe some ceiling should be retained, however, so that elections cannot degenerate into a contest as to who has the most money and the least scruples. I also believe a ceiling should be set on the total which one individual can contribute, directly or indirectly, to all political committees or groups in one calendar year. It is a very important point there, I believe.

Three. Congress might well give consideration to new methods of financing political campaigns. The purpose of the proposal, which I believe Senator Hatch originated, that Congress make an appropriation for the conduct of the Presidential and Vice Presidential campaigns is commendable but there are many practical difficulties and I believe that a careful study of the whole subject would be most useful. I had said in the prepared statement that Senator Hatch originated this proposal, but it now turns out that it was Theodore Roosevelt in 1907.

Four. Require educational television stations which use the channels expected to be allotted to them to give all candidates for Federal office adequate free time to discuss campaign issues fully.

Five. Congress should establish a central depository where all reports of contributions and expenditures in campaigns for Federal office would be filed for public inspection. This should provide for the following: (1) All direct and indirect expenditures on behalf of a candidate should be reported; (2) a uniform accounting system should be used to insure that full and uniform information is made available; (3) this information should be filed and published early enough for public examination before the campaign is over; (4) the depository should be charged with tabulating, analyzing, and distributing this information to the public; (5) individuals who contribute more than a specified amount for political purposes in any calendar year should be required to report their contributions to insure compliance with the individual ceiling suggested above.

Six. Establish standards by which a candidate is made responsible for the type of campaign waged on his behalf by his agents and the officials of his party. This responsibility should cover both the financial activities and the type of campaign material and other voteseeking activities. It should be provided that violations of these standards be grounds for refusal by the respective Houses to seat a candidate. Among other things, these standards, once established, could effectively penalize a candidate who uses literature that can be shown to be purely defamatory.

Seven. Require that all campaign literature, recordings, films, and so forth, show completely their sponsorship, who paid for them, and who printed or produced them.

Eight. Careful study should be given to covering in the Corrupt Practices Act the indirect political activities of groups which do not consider themselves political committees. I refer as one example to literature or advertisements concerning public issues circulated by associations and commercial companies. Such material, while ostensibly nonpolitical, frequently is designed to influence voters. This could be at least partly accomplished by redefining the term "political committee" to encompass all organizations which seek to influence directly or indirectly the nomination or election of candidates for Federal office.

Nine. The Congress should authorize the printing of the platforms of the major parties in quantities sufficient for the post office to distribute one copy to every family to which it delivers mail. The platforms are the basic documents of the campaign, yet many voters go to the polls without giving them careful study. The step I have proposed would encourage study of the issues and also would, I believe, serve to remind people of their duty to vote.

The greatest body of practical experts on fair play and fair standards for Federal elections is the Congress of the United States. The Members of the Senate and the House are best qualified, from their own experience, to set practical, effective, and fair rules for the conduct of honest elections. In the endeavor to do this, you will have the complete and enthusiastic cooperation of the Democratic National Committee. The Democratic Party believes in our way of life and our form of government and we want to continue to keep it the best in the world through free and honest elections participated in by all of our people.

Senator GILLETTE. Thank you, Mr. Boyle. This is exactly what the subcommittee has sought, suggestions of this kind. Whether this subcommittee considers them feasible after examination or practical or agrees with them is a matter that we have to determine. But it is suggestions of this kind that show thought and consideration of the problem that we are seeking. Senator Monroney?

Senator MONRONEY. I appreciate your statement very much, Mr. Boyle, and it will help us.

From the practical standpoint, we will have to analyze and decide some of these problems that come up in modernizing the Corrupt Practices Act which I believe was adopted in 1925.

Mr. BOYLE. I believe it was.

Senator MONRONEY. At that time television and radio and a great many other things now considered necessary in campaigns had not come into being or were not then in general campaign use.