Botts, R. M.

English

University of New Mexico

New Mexico Quarterly
Volume 11 | Issue 2 Article 13
1941
A Hatch Act for New Mexico?
R. M. Botts
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Botts, R. M.. "A Hatch Act for New Mexico?." New Mexico Quarterly 11, 2 (1941). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmq/vol11/
iss2/13
A HATCH ACT FOR NEW MEXICO?
R. M. Botts
'MY FRlEND Don Wilson said he wo';IJ be as impartial as possible.
My own thought is that when those in' charge of the p~ogram
. asked three active Republicans to discuss New Mexico's need for a
Hatch act they must not h~ve been seeking impartiality.' I readily
admit that my viewpoint is not impartial and I mention that fact, so
that you may not be misledin valuing my remarks.
If I understand Mr. WiJ~n's position, it is that a state Hatch act
would not accomplish enough to make it worth while; that the abuses
aimed at by a state Hatch act would be remedied more effectively' by
limiting elective state officeholders to a single term of four years. With-
out going into the merits of the single four-y,ear term, I do not believe
that it will serve to prevent the abuses at ~hich the Hatch Act is
directed. Don feels that this would remove the incentive for Per.petua-
tion in power. However, re~lection to the particular office one holds is
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not the only compensation a political organizat~on has to offer in return
t for "playing ball with the boys." An officeholder may aspire to some
t higher elective office, or to some appointive office-after all, the highest
paid office in New Mexico is n~t elective-and even if he does not plan
t6 cqntinue drawing paychecks from the state, there have been occa-
sional rumors to theeffects that there are rewards in the business world
for the faithful. ~uman nature beiItg what it is, I do not belie~eyou
can prevent an o~ceholder from playing politics in office as long as he
stands to gain by so doing.
Would a state Hatch Act do enough good to make it pay? In spite
":of the previous speaker's flattering assertion that everyone is familiar
with the meaning attached' to this act, I found myself dt:iven for the I
first time to reading it in its entirety. For the purpose of this discussion, i
I have arbitrarily divided the act into two parts: that dealing with I
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Botts: A Hatch Act for New Mexico?
Published by UNM Digital Repository, 1941
,fAT C HAC T F'O)t NEW M ~ X leo P 177 .
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lOlitical activity by lcertain public employees, ,.and that timiting con-
~ibutions and·expe~ditures. I propose :t.o take up first that portion 0
>rohibiting pOlitical activity. In view ofa number of important dif-.
~erences between th~ organization of the f~deral 'and state governments,
t is difficult for me ~o fit theM:atch Act ,nto New Mexico's problems.·
[n otheil' ,words, agtteat deal of cutting and adding would have to be
lone to, make such an act workable here. iIts feasibility in New Mexico
. "
lepend$, to a great extent, on how that cutting and adding is done. For
~xample, the Presid~nt's Cabin~t, ,and a !numberof"other officers are'
~xempted from the Political activity partlof the act. Would$ome cor-
'espondingexceptions be made in a state: act· and what would they be?
: believe it is' fair to !say that a number o~ high. party officials now hold
lppointiveoffices a~d draw sal3;ries fro~ the $tate for activities tljlat
flure primarily to ~e benefit of the party rather thCf-n the public.: COn:..
:~ivably,a state Hat~h act would effect sqme financial saving byelimi-
latirig such persons !from the ~tate pay Eoll. On the other hand, it is
l'~ite possible Ptat sU;ch _an act would be drawn' to except offices reserved
:or ,party workers.Spould ~at ,be' true, '(>fco~rse, one could not cite
~onomy as a reason !for a state act.· I· , .
O~ the whole, th¢ act seems to me to Ih~ve thore effect on :factional '
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truggles within the I party in power than' on those ,between t~e two
najor parties. !he relative strength of {he job~?lders is considerably
r-eater when they a:'re ~nly up against ~ther ~embers of their own
>arty than. when thet also f~ce the other tnajor party. ~t the time the
lct was passed, there ~as considerable opi,ion that it would have ~ very
lotJceahle effect 'on t~e approaching De~ocraticNationa! Conveption~
•beli~e it wouldh~'ve:ha,~'it not bee,n f ~ the,decisio~ of Mr. 1:'a,.ose-
'eIt to accept the nopllnatlon for the pr sldency. Some people Ight
~~en. think .th~t· ~tl\fas r~spon~ible for t at de~isio~~Qut th¥ s 1?-0t
I'1thm .the hmlts of, qur d,SCUSSIon today. CertaInly It had a protlound,
hough not conclusive, effect' on .the Demop-atic primary race for Senate
n New Mexic~,'alth~~gh I frankly confe~ I do not know whether !dr.
:latch and Mr. . em, I, ey knew at: the tim~bthe. a,ct wa~passed th*t Mr.
) • I • ·'M Ch HI'empsey. was gO,lng to e . e prImary a Inst . r.. avez. owever,
: am told that Mr. C~a,vez had considera'le strength 'among thel 'YPA
~mployees here, and 1Jh,e fact .that t~e Hatqh,Act was,on the booksj wh~n:
Ifr. De,mpse~ e,n~ere~..the P,rI~ary ~mpr()v~,d the latter's C,hances 'rnsld-~rabIy. BearIng In nund the tremendous Iadvantage helQ. by th~ loffice-,
lOIding faction of th¢ pallty in power when some other faction tries to
~et control, it appea~s to'~ that you w~uld be more likely tolreach
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New Mexico Quarterly, Vol. 11 [1941], Iss. 2, Art. 13
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmq/vol11/iss2/13
NEW MEXICO QUARTERLY REVIE
the choice of the rank and file members of the party if t~is advantag~
were redu<;ed by a state Hatch act. I readily grant that the passage of
such a law would not eliminate that advantage, but, unless the law werd
,'. ~ Ifilled with jokers, the advantage would be reduced. ,Although Mrl'
Wilson's point on th~ difficulty of enforcement is well taken, the mer~
fact that prosecution is a possibility will serve as a deterrent to open and
widespread violations. It is my impression that the Hatch Act served
that purpose durin,.g the recent primary and election.' " j
Though I hate to disagree with Don Wilson, I believe that a statF
act, properly drawn to correspond with the political activity portion ~f
the Hatch Act, would be of some benefit to New. Mexico. I have in
mind, of course, a state law restricting political activities of non-electeh
state qfficeholders and employees. ' .' I
With reference to the limitation of contributions and expenditure~,
other questions arise. In the' first place, such a limitation gives the par~y
that is in power a tremendous advantage over the party that is out a~d
trying to get in. For example, getting the electorate acquainted with!a
candidate and building up good will for him, in a word, selling him to
the public, is'just as important in the field of politics as are advertisirlg
and good will in the field of business. A public official who is in offi~e
and is seeking re-electi?n, or who is aspiring to some other electiye
office, or a man who is being groomed for office by those who are in
pow.er; will find many opportunities to have his name brought befo~
the public. He can· dedicate buildings, open a new section of highwcpr,
go to' picnics and barbecues and issue statements to the press, all accom-
panied with considerable publiCity. The outsider trying to_break in
must piy; to have his name called to the public attention. In the fi~d
of good--will, a personal experience will illustrate my point.' Last spripg
we had to begin setting another place at the table in our house, anq a
few days after the .blessend event I received through the mail a £ran~d
envelope £rom the office of our senator whose term was then to expi~e.
Its contents were a booklet put out by the Department of Labor rn
child care-av~lableto the general public at a cost of ten or fifteen cents
-and a personal letter of congr~t~lations. Two days lat~r I recei1ed
anoth'er £ranked. envelope contaInIng the same booklet and sent, Wllth
the compliments of our then congressman. I began to get intere~d,
and not entireli to my surprise, three days after that, there came 'fne
£rom the author of the Hatch Act. By then I realized that my son Dad
been born in an election year. Now, if Don Wilson decides he wJnts
to run for officeand feels that he must build up good will in that wai' it
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Botts: A Hatch Act for New Mexico?
Published by UNM Digital Repository, 1941
"
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lAT'C HACT FOR illLE W M llX I C'O ? ' ' . 179
I'll cost him,. fifteen o~ twb~tY ~nts fo; e"fh person 'reache!l, T~ may
rat be so much, but I1J.ultIply It by seveti'! thousand and you wIll see
r,t it'WQuld gost him Ia,great deal of money to put himself OIl an. equal
la,is; with his potentia~ apversary'. 'Other !examples could be furnished'
f ~imewere available, ~ut I trust that wha,t I have saia-will demonstrate
t~yI feel that a limi9tion on eXJi>enditur~sis unfair to th~ partr out ,of
Ifflce. ? ,!. I . ..
I. i i am not' unaward of the genc::ral i~presSion, cr~ated oy a well
l~ga~ized and smQothl~ ru,n p1,lbl~dty ca~Baign, that'the wealth of theatioil is controlled by ine1I!bers: of only Ione of the major parties. If
hls were true, of cour~e, a limit on campaign spending would tend to
,~ualize the .position ~fthe two parties. HOWever, in spIte of some of
he lurid li~eratu~e oq the subj~t~ I have a sne~~ing hunch that the
hcoIDe~ of th~ DfIDo<fratiC P~ilad~lphia. ~iddles and the p~es~~aJ>l}i
lepubhcan' DuPqnts, !Atlanta s ChIp Rdbertsand PennsylvanIa s Joe
j~ew, Bernard Ba~uchiand Tom Girdler! Howard Hopson and Tomendergast' will Pfoba~ly balance off fairly well. The same thing; I
elieve, can be sa~d of the incomes of the local' members of the twoJ~rties. A go6<i, deal ¥ght be said alon.ll, this Hne if time permitted.
~ut I ,believe I have ~ade my point clear, that the lack of a limit on
pending or contributions will n<?t work any uIljdue hardship on either.
If tIie'major parties. I ' . '., .
If such a limitationlcould be enforced" it might tend to promote the
~.l(aned sanctity of th~ ballot. 'However, we have adequate laws' now
lirected against. bribert of votersandelection'qJlicials, and I c~nnot see
~here a spendiItgflimit would, materi~lly improve the morflls of 'our
lections· .. " '.' ,'. ,). . .1 . , .. ",. .
i, In con~lusion,!}el me repeat, t:l}at I believe a law res~ricting tl.te
»bl~tical a~tivities:of nQIl-ele<;:ted state officials' and employees would be
If service 1 to New' Mex,.ico, but, becauJ.>se of its ~nf~irness to the. party
IUt, of pow~r, I db not b¢lie~e a .law limiti:Q.~, expen~es is wise.
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New Mexico Quarterly, Vol. 11 [1941], Iss. 2, Art. 13
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmq/vol11/iss2/13


A Hatch Act for New Mexico?

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A Hatch Act for New Mexico?

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