University of Virginia Library

Elections '72

Open And Honest Government

No one in this campaign has
questioned the honesty and
integrity of George McGovern
and his staff. Yet the Nixon
Administration's honesty and
integrity is being increasingly
questioned as daily reports of
Republican corruption come to
light.

It all began with ITT.ITT,
you will recall, made a
substantial contribution to the
Republican Party San Diego
Convention just before the
Nixon Justice Department
dropped pending anti-trust
legislation against the giant
corporation. When the ITT
scandal developed, the
Republican Party was so
embarrassed, they moved their
entire convention from San
Diego to Miami Beach.

Violates Spirit

Then came the $10 million
secret fund of Nixon
contributors. Maurice Stans,
Nixon's fund raiser and former
Secretary of Commerce,
criss-crossed the country
getting fat cats to contribute to
the Nixon campaign before the
new federal law requiring
disclosure of contributors went
into effect. This deliberate
attempt at secrecy violates the
spirit, though not the letter of
the law.

When the Nixon
Administration raised dairy
price supports (13 days after it
said it would not), over
$300,000 was contributed to
the Republicans by Dairy
interests.

The Russian Grain Deal is
the most flagrant example of
conflict of interest in the
Nixon administration. Political
functionaries in the
department of agriculture
called the largest grain dealers
to give these companies
advance notice of the
impending grain sales.

As a result, the wheat
companies were able to buy
wheat at low prices and register
the same wheat for export at
high subsidy rates. And here's
the key: as soon as the grain
deal was publicly announced,
grain prices skyrocketed and
the government subsidy
plummeted.

The big grain companies,
with the help of the
Republican Administration,
made a killing on the market at
the expense of small farmers at

Illegal Measures

Corruption isn't the only
thing, though. What is most
frightening is that members of
the Nixon staff are willing to
take extreme, illegal measures
in order to assure Richard
Nixon's re-election.

Reports by the Washington
Post and Time magazine have
said it all. As of this writing,
they have linked the
Republicans' illegal sabotage
activities of various Democratic
national candidates as closely
as Mr. Nixon's appointments
secretary and his personal
lawyer. It is difficult to get
much closer to the President
without touching the President
himself.

Corruption in the Nixon
Administration is a direct
result of its secret practices and
close ties with big business.

George McGovern, on the
other hand, is running a
campaign based on the public
interest and open government.

The difference between Mr.
Nixon and George McGovern is
symbolized by the fact that
Nixon supporters who
contributed $10 million to his
campaign wish to remain
anonymous whereas every
single McGovern campaign
contributor is in the public
record.

A candidate who runs an
open and honest campaign will
run an open and honest
government.