Evening star., 1920-10-04
P|NCHOT OUTLINES
HIS REASONS FOR
BACKING HARDING
Says He Thinks Well of Him
because HIS Is of Roose-
veIt's Party"

Declaring he is supporting Senator
Harding for the presidency, mot only
because 1 have come to think well of
him, but because he belongs to the
party of Lincoln and Roosevelt. and
because have had my fill of the dem
ocrats at Washington" Clifford Pinchot.
in a statement today, outlined his rea-
sons for giving the republican nomi-
nee his backing.
so many former progreSSiveS have
asked me why 1 am for Harding that
perhaps your readers might be inter-
ested in my reasons" he states. Here
they are:
Il am a follower of Theodore Roose-
Welt. alive or dead. While he was here
] worked with him and supported him.
Now that he has gone to his reward,
] stand for the principles and work for
the things for which he worked and
stood. / am a Roosevelt republican.
Had he lived, my choice for the re-
publican nominee and for the next
President would have been Theodore
Roosevelt. But only the spirit of
Roosevelt is with us still. The repub-
lIcan convention has perforce chosen
another candidate. l cannot have what
l wanted. That, however, is no reason
Tor throwing my vote away.
Opposed in Politics.
posed each other in politics. He was
regular in 1912, while l followed
Roosevelt; and L can never be glad
enough that l did. He has said things
about Roosevelt which l deeply re-
sented; 1 have said things about
Harding which he must have resent
ed just as deeply; and 1 have not
forgotten. He has many friends who
are not mine, and there is not little
in his record that 1 regret. On the
other hand, 1 find deep in his conf
dence men whom l trust; what 1 like
least in his record is farthest back;
and what he has said about forestry,
conservation and agriculture at Mar
ion is sound and right.
Senator Harding was not made to
my order, but he is by no means the
reactionary l thought him. He is a re-
publican regular. who supports what
his party agrees on, and acts with the
majority. There is nothing autocratic
about him. Under him there will be
no one-man rule at Washington, Con-
gress will represent not the President,
but the people, and the government
will be American again.
Harding is no superman. but SIM
pie, earnest, sincere and human, best
thought of where best known. Men
who know him, and on whose judg-
ment 1 rely. say he is slow to decide,
but having decided stands like stone
wall. What 1 saw at Marion confirms
it. liked Harding because he lodged
nothing, looked me straight in the
eye, and unmistakably meant what he
said. And I liked Mrs. Harding even
better.
Il want to see Harding elected not
only because 1 have come to think
well of him, but because he belongs
to the party of Lincoln and Roosevelt.
and because 1 have had my fill of the
democrats at Washington. We must
have in charge men and a party ca
pable of running the government. and
in the White House President, not a
boss.
Cox in Bad Company.
Cox is in bad company. The
liquor men are for him. He stands
with Baker. who refused to prepare
when he knew that war was sure to
come. and. therefore. sent against the
German machine guns thousands of
young American unframed or half
trained. and without artillery sup
port.
Cox stands for Palmer, who prom
tsed to reduce the cost of living and
conspicuously failed, but for political
reasons let the liquor traffic go on:
who denied the rights of free speech
and free assembly; imprisoned hun
dreds of people in defiance of the
law he was sworn to enforce, and
turned over to the Southern Pacific
railroad without struggle $500,00O,-
to which it had no right That
Palmer was seriously considered for
the nomination at San Francisco
shows how low the democrats have
fallen. There may have been more
unfaithful public servants than