Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-07-24
Harding Acceptance
b. Speech
From the New York World.

Republican nomination for President
leaves his party with candidate AZ
vague and non-comrnittal in regard 10
the League of Nations as its platform.
The other outstanding features Of this
strange deliverancc are its failure ade-
quately to grasp the economic problems
now confronting distracted world and
its denial of a generous word m approval
of the men at Washington who success
fully directed the moral, physical and
financial forces of the Republic in the
greatest of wars No Pan-German mill
tarist smarting under defeat could be
more contemptuously critical Of American
accomplishments ut home and abroad
than the author of this address
IL is not Mr.. Harding's evasions, his
narrow partisanship, his grievous misuse
of the English language or his apparent
incapacity To express himself frankly on
many subjects that will cause the greatest
disappointment in his, utteranccs. What
is most depressing is the Bourbonism with
which they are streaked through and
through. From his vapid panegyric of
government by party, as though since
Washington's day we had ever bad any
thing else, and his grotcsque discovery
that the Viee-Presidept is 'the second
official of the country, to his solemn
avowal that mo man rs b,g enough TO
rrn this Republic; there never has been
one," little will be encountered but platl-
tusles and clumsy verbal balancing m
tended to satisfy the standpatter of the
inner circle and perhaps TO beguile the
progressive who remains IN doubt at a
distance.
Welcoming a referendum on his party's
defence of the preserved inheritance of
f.o~J~,. - M Haaltpu fbrnuyg
no light whatever upon his attitude toward
the treaty of peace He may want TO kill
IL with Hiram johnson and Borah; he
may be inclined to hamstring it with
Lodge, or with Knox he may favor an
impossible separate peace with Germany,
but he does not say so, except as his
promise of "a formal and effective peace
may be construed as subscribing to the
PENNSYLVANIA Senator s program. Lake hls
rickcty platform, he refers to new and
better relationship for the peoples of the
earth and holds that America, free from
menacing involvement, must express It's
hone for the fraternzed conscience of
nations" If this muddlcd but grandiose
thought contemplates another society of
nations the candidate evidently expects
to fraternize with the conscience OF Iur-
kew. Russia and Mexico. for all the other
nations are or presently will be members
Of the only league IN existence and the
only league that is ever likely 20 be IN
existence lie might have made telling
point against the Democrats by standing
with Mr.. Taft in favor Of the treaty with
the bipartisan reservations which the
President rejected. but fear Of both fac
tions Of his divided party overcame HIM
and so he stood for nothing tangible.
~ gzf
Mr.. Harding on the railroads, labor
and the high cost Of living without n con-
crete remedy for conditions grave enough
To tax the capacity of the ablest finan-
ciers and economists. Fo the railroads
he would have generous Federal eo-
operation IN construction linked with as
surances Of maintenance that will put an
end 10 criminal waste OF public funds,
which is q generalization and contra
diction superficial enough to please all
who are inexact IN their thinking. For
the farmer he would take the risks out
Of agriculture by governmental CO
operation, with no restrictions except that
there must not be cxtortionate prices.
For labor he wishes "the higher wage TO
abide on one explicit condition-that the
wage-earner will give full return for the
wage received" I" which, coupled with an
instructive treatise on diligence and thrift,
Is his cure for the high cost Of living.
Accompanying all these improving
maxims Of the copy books We have many
repetitioBs Of the note AS y. party govern
meDt struck at the beginning OF his adj
dress. In every case 1t rs the party--the
Republican party, OF eourse-tfat Is to
be trusted to solve the problem which the
candidate does httie more than describe.
h.
keeping Of the Senatorial Iunta, "bleary-
eyed with loss Of sleep and perspiring pro-
fusely with the excessive heat, who In q
hotel room at midnight arranged for his
nomination. Mr.. Harding emphasizes
again and again his antipathy TO one-nIan
rule, which is hls definition of a responsible
executive, and his solemn approval Of
syndicated Presidency.
From this low level it was only natural
that MIR. Harding should sneer at ideals.
Much has been said of late about world
ideals. he says, but ] prefer 10 think of
the ideal for America" What that con-
ception may be is illustrated by the asser-
ton that Americans are "a very common
sensical people, with vision high but their
feet on the earth, with belief in them
selves and faith in God" And in another
place that we are neither coyetous be-
cause of ambition nor hesltant through
fear, but ready to serve ourselves, hu-
manity and God" Always ourselves first,
always God and humanity last, which Is
the very gospel of Prussian Junkertum
and the equally brutal creed of the Old
Guard Senators TO whom the candidate
makes so many obeisances.
In such turgid rigmarole it liz pleasure
to find three questions discussed clearly
and boldly. Mr.. Harding is unqualihedly
in favor of the Woman Suffrage Amend
ment and of free speech and press. On
the subject of Prohibition he promises
law enforcement, but he takes occasion
TO remind extremists that modification or
repeal is the right Of a free people when
ever the deliberate and intelligent public
sentiment commands" The other articles
of his political creed, such as taxation, the
tariff, foreign trade, shipping, finance,
debt and retrenehmcnt, which are per
picking the master minds of the earth. are
merely alluded to without plan or policy.
After reading and reading this address the
conclusion must be that if the Chief
Magistracy is to be administered by a
committee of the United States Senate
the man selected for fgurehead has been
wei chosen-proyided he can be elected.