The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1920-11-04
Harding Reassured
Anxious Pro-Leaguers

gram tIom memory, but | am sure that
these were the wordsli
There has been no change; there
viii be no change. Nothing. has been
with my August 2S speech. ! hope you
Des Moines. Oct. a."
In suggesting that they should look up
his Des Molnes speech. Senator Harding
had In mind the fact. that there was AN
York headquarters, available for Mr.,
Hoover and Mrs. Schurman and the
others to look at. They did look at IL,
read II infinitely. and EXPIRE ssed due
satisfaction with 1t. Being reassured
by II. they went ahead with their plans.
In addition to this group. one OF the
most prominent OF the proieague repub-
licans In New York read the advance
copy OF the Des Mones speech. and ex-
pressed enthusiasm for It. saying;
THAT'S exactly what we need; that y
real proleague speech"
When most of the newspapers. and
probably the bulk, OF the public, took
| the view that the Des Moines spec h
was q change from the August %
speech, certainly no one was more surf
prlsed than Senator Harding himself
He supposed he had reaffirmed his
August rs speech. What. then. was the
cause of the widespread assumption
that he had changed his positionf
/ Causes Of INSTRUMENTATION.
One cause lay in the fact that GER
tain strong expressions of his attitude
on the negative side OF the question oc-
Moines speech. while his expressions on
the affirmative side occurred in the
latter part OF the speech. But this alone
would not have accounted for this in
depreciation II II had not been for the
fact that for week or ten days pre-
N axpc sra M hoA hna f,.l ~
vague stories OF rift between Harding
on the one hand and Senators Borah and
johnson on the other.
The theory was widely held that
Senator Harding had a motive for
changing his position. and that that
Senators Borah and Johnson. For fully
four weeks the larger part OF the cam
paign discussion was based upon this
assumption. u WINS said that Senate
Borah and johnson had 'blackmailed"
Mr.. Hard ng into adopting their posi-
tion. Another word frequently used in
the Technology OF the campaign to ex-
press what was alleged to have hap
pened was black lacked"
But the facts as a basis for this as
sumption there were literally none. II
began with stories In the newspapers to
the effect that Senator Borah had quar-
relied with Hardin and with the re-
publican national committee. and was
not gong to make any more campaign
speeches, This expanded into stor es
to the effect that Senator johnson. of
California. was going to do the same;
that he and Senator Borah had made
common cause.
In all this the element of truth was
this:
Senator Borah, upon returning from
one OF his experimenting trips. called
up the speakers bureau Of the repub-
lican national committee in New York
by telephone and asked about matter
which was wholly a mere clerical de-
tail of the relations between him ana
the national committee. The reply WAS
made that this detail was not In the
hands Of the New York headquarters,
but was In. the hands OF the Chicago
headquarters. Thereupon Senator Bornh
said something to the effect that II WAS
Of no consequence anyhow. His reply
seemed to express some irritation, and
out OF this episode grew the enormous
legend thnt undoubtedly had a con-
81 ierable effect on the course Of the cam
paign.
II would be of little use to consume
space here with restatement OF SEN
ator Harding's position on the league. /
That position is contained both in the
Aug. % speech and in the Oct. Z speech
at Des Moines. II is true that there is
an inherent difficulty in making Sena-
tor Harding's position clear and keep |
ing 1t clear. This difficulty lies In the
fact that his position necessarily con-
sists of two paris: One affirmative and
one negative. He is against entering
the present league. which includes Ar |
'ticle X; and he is not only In favor of
entering but will take the Initiative |
toward entering an association OF ma.
tions--call 1t by any name you wish
W nnf A ~
is based upon the principle OF an In
ternational court.
HardIng's Difficulty.
Senator tlardings difficulty In this |
campaign has neen the same difficulty |
that Lincoln had In his first campaign. |
Lincoln's position on slavery consisted |
Of two separate parts: The first was |
that he would not interfere with slav-
cry where slavery was alread, In exist
ence; the second part was that he |
would prevent the existence OF slavery |
where II did not already exist. Lin |
coin was always careful to tie these two |
parts OF his position closely together.
He never permitted himself to discuss
one without at the same time making |
the other clear. AS Samuel McCune
Lindsay says: Both Lincoln's posi-
ton and Harding's position are like the |
two parts Of a railroad ticket--void II |
detached"
Incide ntally, II there is any one who |
wants to know whether Senator Hard
ing's position has been taken as q mat. |
ter of political exnediency. or repre-. |
sents his own spontaneous convictions. |
enlightenment on this point can he se-
cured by looking UP speech which |
Mr.. Harding made in the senate on
May Is.
1t was an informal, unprepared !
speech. He had been listening to SEN
ator Underwood making an argument |
in favor OF the league. AS Senator Un-
derwood ended his speech MIR. Hard |
ing turned to another republican sena-
tor who sat by him and said: III you
don't answer that. WILL" The end OF |
the discussion was that Senator Hard |
ing made the answer and that answer
delivered spontaneously on the spur OF
the OCCASION, contains the substance OF !
the position on the league which Sena-
campaign.
tor Harding has kept throughout the !
One part 81 Senator Hardings cam I
paign announcements on the league OF |
nations. first said in his Aug. 20
speech and frequently repeated. was TO |
the erect that Immediately after his cleo.
tion he would initiate a bringing to-
gether OF The best minds OF America |
regardless OF party. to make a construc-
tive plan. II may confidently he ex-
petced that MIR. Harding will make |
start toward this before he leaves for
his vacation. and that this is about the |
only bit Of public business he will at
tempt until he has had rest.