Campaign Spending and the Law

Archive Report

Big Money in The 1946 Campaign

Labor's Stake in Elections to Congress

Campaign spending in connection with the 1946 elections to Congress promises to exceed all previous mid-term records, notwithstanding the limitations of the Hatch Act and other recent corrupt practices legislation. Public attention has been directed to this prospect by the threat of President A. F. Whitney of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, May 25, to lay out $2,500,000 of the union's funds to defeat members of Congress who voted for the emergency strike control bill asked by President Truman.1 Whitney was first quoted as having pledged the entire resources of his union ($47,000,000) to this end, but he later said the trainmen would use only $2,500,000 for political purposes in 1946.

The Smith-Connally Act of ...

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