Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-02-27
j ENNUI N
LUDINe
DAYS Of n. v.
econtirued from Page One.)

- 4 paYty domination on progress
platforms. When LaFollette
ssiisd Is win, Mr.. Crane threw his
-nnost to Mr.. Wilson and contrib
~ heavily to the 1912 campaign
ssnds. He could have been ambas-
Nor 10 any post in Europe. He
Ssciined to accept any such Job. His
sssdiness to take . diplomatic .po-
s,sion Of lower grade-minister to
rnina-is therefore viewed as hav-
a. some relation to his earlier
sSo,ce for the post under the Taft
administration.
Out Of Party Bounds.
rut the naming OF two progress
awe Republicans-Crane and Colby,
mans something else. So far as
Woorow Wilson Is concerned, he
,sn't going to stick blindly to his
,arty any more. He will reach out
for men Of the progressive type in
either party. That in itself has
ysised the question OF q possible
support by the White house for the
Hoover candidacy. In Georgia the
other day they declined to let Mr..
Hooyer's name go on the ballot be-.
cause they didn't know whether or
nm he was a Democrat and they
nsnsed to send the former food ad-
ministrator a letter of inquiry. But
n President Wilson can take into
the bosom Of his official family a
progressive Republican of 1912, the
democrats who are concerned with
= mans present and not past be-
liefs or affiliations will be able to
argue that the Democratic party
can afford to accept into its ranke a
progressive like Herbert Hoover.
Il establishes an important prece-
dent--or rather a weighty argu-+
ment for the Democrats who have
been enthusiastically booming
Hoover for the Democratic nomina-
ton.
Hoover and Crane Close Together.
It is not known how friendly Mr..
Hoover and Mr.. Colby have been
but It is q fact that the former is
intimately associated with Charles
R. Crane. He is as much of
Democrat as either Colby or
Crane. Therefore, if MIR. Hoover
wants the Democratic nomination,
the Incidents of the present week
will help him more than anything
else since his name began to be
mentioned. Whether he is ready
to tie up with the Wilson admin
istration that has CLOSED over the
acts Of the ultra-conservative Bur-
Lesson, whose progressivism is not
Of the same blend as that Of Colby
or Crane, is another question
People here are beginning more and
more to believe that Herbert
Hoover will not hesitate to endorse
the Republican nominee for the
presidency if the latter happens to
be . real progressive and thus
make 1t impossible for the Demo-
Gratis to name him at their San
Francisco convention. So it all
depends on what happens, at the
Chicago convention, which is to be
held at least a week earlier than
that Of the Democrats. And the
appointment Of Mr.. Colby, prem
inent progressive, to SO important
place as the secretaryship Of
state. is being regarded as the
opening gun in the fight for the
large Independent and progress
sive vote which is not tied tightly to
either party.
Mr.. Wilson may be a sick man
but he is not avoiding trouble with
congress. The Colby appointment
has created as much furore as the
choice of Louis D. Brandeis, an
other progressive Republican, who
became member of the supreme
court. Whatever else may be said
OF the president, he is not allowing
the last part of his term to grow
Gull or be kept off the first pages.