“We will win by a margin of thirty-one votes in the Electoral College,” Chairman Marcus tells every one who inquires as to the probable result.  “This figure is based upon the canvass I have had made in the doubtful states; it will not vary from the count by one vote.”

It is impossible to get the chairman to give an amplified statement as to which he considers the doubtful states and as to how the canvass has been conducted.

One of the morning papers in Chicago, which takes an impartial stand, and accordingly seeks to publish all of the news, creates a sensation by the publication of a tabulated statement of the contributions paid into the treasury of the Plutocratic party.  This table shows a total of forty-seven millions of dollars.

With such a sum to expend, and with the knowledge that the chairman of the finance committee will see that every dollar is properly distributed, it is not unreasonable to suppose that a house to house canvass of the doubtful states has actually been made.  The corruption fund provides more than three dollars for each voter in the land.

Did Marcus think that one hundred million dollars will be necessary, he would demand that sum, and it would not be withheld by the prosperous band that derives its wealth from the law-makers whom Marcus elects.

What a contrast is presented by the headquarters of the Independence party.  It is in a dilapidated hall in the western part of the city.  The only feature of the furnishings in keeping with the times, is the Bureau of Publicity.  This provides the campaign committee with telegraphic and telephonic communication with the country at large.

The instruments are arranged on two plain deal tables.  In its appearance the room is more like the editorial room of a hustling Western newspaper than the headquarters of a political organization that is aspiring to elect a President of the United States.  The floor is bare; obsolete gas fixtures afford the artificial light that is made necessary day and night.  The chairs and benches that are scattered about the room, are of the type commonly seen in cheap music halls.  There are no ante-rooms, no council chambers and no secret cabinets.

A campaign fund of but two hundred and sixty thousand dollars has been raised through the agency of the labor organizations.  This comparatively paltry sum is being doled out in niggardly fashion by a finance committee who feel reluctant to part with a single dollar unless assured that it will have a hundred fold its natural effect on the result.

There are some causes that do not need money to make them successful, and the people’s fight against Plutocracy is one of this kind.  It needs only the awakening of the people’s interest to make victory certain.

The surest way of gaining the public ear is by sending out speakers.  There is no dearth in the supply of brilliant orators who offer their services.  They foresee that the crucial test is to be given the Institution of Popular Government and they wisely align themselves on the side of the people.