The sun., 1916-12-03


One of the queerest traits of human
nature Is the tendency to see conscious
motives for the action of men where
none exist. A striking illustration of
this tendency is to be found In the
current comments upon the results Of
the recent Presidential election. We
are confidently assured by many pO-
liticnl wiseacres that the reelection Of
President WILSON was due to a care
fnlly planned alliance between the
Southern States and the West, whose
voters banded themselves together
against the elements Of commercial
Ism and the so-called special interests
which have their headquarters In Wall
Street, and consciously resolved. by
electing MI. WILSON, to put down "the
forces Of m%aterlnlism" which predomi.
nate Ia the East. The leaders In this
movement Of the combined South and
West are represented us rejoicing ut
the lessencd Importance of New York
ms u factor In the electoral vote and
an influential Minnesota newspaper
is quoted as saying: "Thank Con for
WILSON! Thank Con for the West !!
And thank Con that we can elect a
President who owes nothing to New
York"
This widely circulated notion that
q conscious combination has been
formed between the voters Of the
South and West from which Is to
proceed a veritable revolution In our
national politics is-well-bosh!
1t Is not necessary to seek any such
explanation Of Mr.. WILSON'S success.
There Is and was nothing mysterious
about 1t. The South voted for the
Democratic candidate for President,
as It always does. In addition. Presi.
dent WILSON carried n sufficient num-
her Of the doubtful States to make
the election turn on the vote Of Cali
fOrnia I; and there he finally Won be-
cause It turned out that many thou
sands OF Republicans and Progress
sives who voted for HIRAM JOHNSON
for Senator would not vote for
CHARLES +. HUGHEs for President.
Mr.. WILSON'S plurality In California
II less than 400. II IL few thousand
CalifOrnians had voted the other way
Mr.. HUGHES would have been elected
President, and all the alleged combl-
nations In the world between the South
and the West would not have made
any difference In the result.
In view Of these facts 1t Is some
what amusing to observe the salts
faction with which some OF Mr.. WILL
SONS supporters In the middle West
pat themselves upon the stomach and
congratulate themselves upon the new
leadership which they believe has
been transferred to that part of the
country, with Its simpler mode of
living and Its greater capacity for in
divldual thinking"
Simpler mode of living is good!
Where, pray? In Chicago. or Cleve-
land, or Columbus, or Indianapolis?
IL you want to see the simpler mode
Of living In which the residents of
these Western cities delight. go to the
Waldorf-Astoria, or the Ritz Carlton,
or Sherry's, or DelmOnicO's. in New
York, when the Horse Show Is on or
Harvard and Yale are to play foot
ball at New Haven.
The prejudice that the West Is said
10 entertain toward Wall Street. so
fur as 1t exists Mt all. Is the outcome
Of envy. In Integrity, commercial
honor and fair dealing the represen-
tatlye men of Wall Street compare
favorably with any business cOmmu-
nifty In the world. The denunciation
of Wall Street, however, persists
without abatement on the part of the
same political critics who have dis
covered the new union between the
South and West ms manifested in the
recent election. Without Wall Street
10 abuse they would he MS unhappy
as a jacknss without n thistle.