Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-02-24
Gtsn.at'1" G%en.as Yesterday aseds 141C6
Eos rurul.E to Marshall


n u apparent to all who have an or
dinary knowledge of political history that
At this time, with . national political
campaign involving the election OF Presi-
dent and Vice-President about to open,
there is decided paucity Of what may be
called '.rcL Presidential timber" In the
Republican party, where eager aspirants
have been in the field for quite awhile and
ar4ive primary campaigns in their behalf
are under way, the entire crop may be set
down ss decidedly mediocre. There is not
= man among the number who can In
truth be said to measure anywhere near to
the standard Of sbility and craftsmanship
that has been conspicuous to noticeable
extent in every Presidential campaign of
the past. And, with all due respect, SINH
lar comment applies very materially to
those named rs aspirants to the Demo
cratic nomination.
Without going into detail, il may be
said that in neither political camp is there
in open view, at present, promising
possibility" in respect of all that a nomi-
nation TO the Office of President should call
for. The general prevalence OF this opin-
ion, although it has not been conspicuous
AS TO public utterance, IS strongly IN
timated by the svidity with which the
suggestion Of Mr.. Hoover as the next
President, regardless of his party af-
tiliations-if he has sny-or his political
convictions, has been received. Never
before was q man in his position so ac-
claimed, except in a few rare instances
where favor was thus extended to military
heroes
The Republican nomination, 1t is ex-
pected, will go to one of the aspirants who
are now in the field. They embrace Gen
srai Wood. Governor Lowdcn Of Illinois,
senator Harding of Ohio, Senator Pom
dexter OF Washington, Senator johnson of
California, with Senator Borah OF Idaho
and Senator La Toilette Of Wisconsin as
possibilities. MIR. Root is looked upon
iavorably, and so is MIR Hughes, but
the former is ruled out on account OF age,
and the latter will not listen 10 any sug-
yestions OF another attempt. His distress
ing experience in 1916, when for 4s hours
he enjoyed the pleasure Of believing he
had been elected, only to be disappointed
by the final returns, evidently is sufficient
10 satisfy him during the remainder Of his
life.
For the Democratic nomination, several
have been spoken of'-Mr. McAdoo,
Attorney General Palmer, Governor Cox
of Ohio, ex-Ambassador Gerard Of New
York-and q few others, including, of
course, Mr.. Bryan, whose nomination,
however is really desired by few Democrats
who are sincerely desirous of party sue
cess. But il is not discourteous or dis
cxeditable to say In respect of any of these
that the party mind is still open, and that
Democrats generally are looking TO the
future to bring forth more impelling
and more assuring candidate.
And a possibility of this character is
now looming up over the horizon, with q |
that the suggestion of his |
name. thus far incidental. viii grow upon /
Democrats throughout the. country, and /
turn their minds to a careful considera- /
tion OF his position and his possibilities. !
And that possibility is Vice-President /
Thomas K. Marshall of Indiana. His
name has been favorably mentioned by
some newspapers, although no actual
suggestion of his candidacy for the nomi-
nation has yet appeared in any quarter.
In an interview printed in the New
York Times of Sunday, Vice-President
expressed his views upon the
political situation in an interest
ng manner. He disclaimed being candi-
date for the nomination, and said that
petitions In his favor In Indiana had been
only for the purpose of pre-
venting the delegation from the State
icing secured in the interest of any other
Democrat. He desires the delegation to
20 TO San Francisco nniustructed, and
llso he desires to be one of the delegates
lt-iarge. as be believes he can be of SER
nee III formulating q real Democratic
platform. He would have the convention
ay, In effect, that 1--WE are not going to
opple things over and substitute social
site democracy for our ancient representa-
i've democracy" but that if the people
want socialism, "before they do have it
hey must amend the Constitution and
ubnit it to the people" Also, he opposed
protective tariff. as he has done all his
lfc. They used to say it was for the
4cmmou veal, be declared One per
ent common and 90 per cent preferred" !"
lass legislation, he held, "must in
visably prove the bane of the republic
'nd ne voiced Us opposition 10 govern