Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-30
THE CAMPAIGN A CONTEST
OF THOUGHT VS.. PHRASES
Thus Far Mr.. Cox Has Managed to Shine
only as a Noiseraker Of Unusual
Industry and vociferatlon

LIVERY political candidate of the first
- class has sacred and inviolabc right to
be dull But that great privilege is being
pretty generally abused in the present cam
paign.
There are various sorts of dullncsS. The
sort that characterizcs Mr.. Cox on the stump
is. perhaps. the most irritating because it is
obtrusvc and prctentious.
Mr.. Harding and Mr. Cox have the ad-
vantage of the greatest forum in the world.
Whatever they may say. whatever suggts-
tions they have to offer for the guidance or
inspiration of the country will be heard.
like the muskets at Concord bridge around
the world.
These are pcrpcxnG times for everybody.
From men who wish to preside for four
years over the dcStinics of the most powerful
nation in the world and direct the course of
national policy in years that have brought
to US the full responsibilities of world lead
Crship. one has Il right to expect sound ad
vice and clear and uneQuivocal statement.
One has a right. too. to look for sincerity
and wisdom and courage in such men, Yet
Mr.. Cox reached what seemed to be the high
point of his campaign by Haunting in the
face of the country the tattcrs of one of the
oldest and drcaricst party arguments ever
devised. That was when he shouted about
Doodle in the Republican camp.
Now. Doodle is word of thrilling impli
cations. II is hated word suggestive of "A
hated practice But nobody knows better
than the Democratic candidate that Doodle
as such is out Of date and that II is no
longer considered to be a safe or efficient
factor in public affairs.
There are exceptions to this rule. Tam
many is one Of them. Some Of the munich
pal elections in Ohio and elsewhere have
occasionally provided others. But you can
not buy or safely try to buy the presidency
or any other Office Of Importance.
Money is still used. and used too freely.
in American politics. but it is used for the
most part in ways that may be called legiti
mate. 1t is doubtful whether fifteen or
fifty millions. even if such sums were avail
able TO campaign managers could turn an
election in the United States. no matter how
the spending was done. This is because
Il barrel is Il liability rather than an asset to
any important candidate.
Money has lost more elections than Il has
Noh' iit ItOl'It' H'SIStut
easy going in relation to the affairs of gov
crnmcnt. are consistently and determnedy
opposed to corruption by money II is the
thing that they will not tolerate. Political
managers know this. Campaign funds are
used, therefore. in ways that might be Qucs-
toned on the ground Of logic or good taste,
but the sums spent for the purchase of votes
have grown steadily smaller for generations.
There was n time when farmers in the
Middle West wouldn't 20 to the polls unless
they were paid for their time. Whole
armies of voters used to be bought in the
South. But these are different times Money
eliminated Lowdcn and Wood from the pri-
mary campaigns with a swiftncsS that was
actually startling.
Mr. IIarding's method Of campaigning
may not be- ideal or wholly inspiring. but
it is far better method than that Of Mr..
Cox. The Republican candidate has the
quality Of modcSty. He reveals day by day
a wise disposition TO keep his feet and grap-
pie honestly with the issues that are turned
up almost every day from beneath the sur
face of European politics to demand vigiant
attention in the United States. He has not
the audacity to offer one and only one
remedy for a disease that exposes changing
symptoms almost every twenty four hours.
Mr.. Harding measures his words He is
not wild promiSer and he makes no prcten-
sions TO the gifts of prophecy. 1t is Cox
who is striving to be known as man of
pep. a dashng and Cock>ure knight. by bor-
rowing bits of stage business from Bryan
hitS of il from ROOSpyplt and hits nf il frnD,
Wilson
Between man who prefers to be thought
full, alert and obScrvant in n day of world
change and crisis and on" who hustIeS about
the country with ready made and unChang.
ing plattudcS and an air of supping the
whole electorate familiarly on the back at
least once a week, there can be no choice
but one The dullnPss Of Mr.. Cox is not
only extreme. 1t is forced upon you.
II there is a fault in the Harding method
Of approach TO questions that aCutely trouble
the country II Is. perhaps the fault of a too
great restraint. Any candidate can make
promises which he does not intend to fulfill
Any man who has not tn" advantage OF
knowledge and experience can tell the roun
try that he knows all about Europe. all
about the part we should play in future
world affairs all about the ends that we as