Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-09
Ko-Ko ENERGIES INTO
THE POLITICAL ARENA
He Has His Little List" Of Victims
Ready and Is Expecting an
Order to Use the Ak

No man. for example. willingly be
comes n judge in a baby show. TIL,
hazards are too great to be attractive
The legendary place noted more for .ts
society than for its climate is said tC
hold no fury like a woman scornCd, but
its furics are tame in comparison with
those that stir woman whose off
spring has been turned. down in con
test of beauty and charm with the
offspring Of her ncighbors. The anthro :
biologists can give excellent reasons for
the pride of a mother and talk lcarnedly
about its relations to race survival.
! Nevertheless. every man who has been
judge in a contest Of infantile charms
has found it unpleasant to come in
contact with outraged feminine instinct
in action.
| If things go on as they have begun,
! men are likely to hesitate as long before
accepting nomination to Congress as
they do when asked to sit in Judgment
of the beauty of human immaturity in
| its most dcfenselCSs period. Various
| organizations are already preparing to
make it hot for the congressman who
have not done their utmost to advance
the fortunes of the pet 'babics' which
the organizations are mothcring. The
Anti Saloon League is after every man
who is suspected of q disposition to
relax the provisions of the Nolstead
law. Its members have long been sing
ing with Ko- no in The Mikado":
AS some day it may happen
A victim mus: be found.
I've got a little list
I've got u little list
But its list is not vet so long as that
of the Rank and File Veterans Asso-
citation. which contains the names Of
$50 members of the House and fifty
eight members of the Senate who are
charged with the high crime of REPRE-
senting Wall street interests as against
the ex soldier and the public
And the equal suffragisys have not
been idle. They've got little list. too.
and the men whose namcs) are on it
would better watch out. The Plumb
planners are arranging to hand the
black spot to every congressman on
their little list, and the American Fed
Grafton of Labor not only has a list of
victims" but it has also compiled
list of their offenScS. 1t is in the form
of the record on labor legislation of
every member ever since he entered
Congress. All these lists are to be
circulated where they will do the most
good.
As listing is a game at WHICH two
can play, the anti Suffragists and the
vets and the believers in Wall street
and the opponents of the excessive de-
mands of labor unions have prepared
their own roll of congressman who can
b. trusted.
Indeed. the possibilities of the listing
business are limitloss. We need not be
surprised if the merchant tailors make
up list of the congressman who wear
ready made clothes. or if the clothing
manufacturers get together the names
of all who patronize the custom tailors
and appeal TO the people to elect or
defeat the men according to the origin
of their coats and trousers.
And the women may seek information
as to the kind of costumes the wives
of the congressman wear in Washington.
and if it is proved that wife has been
seen in a low neckcd gown the defeat
Of the husband may be demanded by
the prudes and the believers in prudish-
ness.
The farmers unions are just as likely
to get list of lawmakers who own
spike tailed coats and circulate it where
it will be effective. They know that in
certain sections Of the country the pos
session of such garment means po.
litiral death. Wasn't it Joe Bailey, of
Texas. who was elected first on an anti
spike tailed coat PLATFORM At any
rate. when he first appeared in Wash
ingtou he boastcd that he had never
owned such garment and never would
own one.
And the BARRIERS are still to be- heard
from. They are naturally opposed to
every man who shaves himself or who
gets his hair cut only once n year.
The number of class interests involved
might be multiplied but enough has
been said TO indicate the direction in
which the making of little lists is tend
ing, As this is the land of the free
and the home Of the unsatistied. there
is no reason why every class interest
should not be represented by its list of
men I" be defeated or its list to be
elected.
The voters whose only interest is in
having in Washington IA good Rrpub-
lican or Democratic representative of
the whole distriCt--and there are few
such in every diStrirt-may find the
issues so confusing that they will stay
away from the polls. When they are
told that they must vote against can
didatc because he voted against the
eight hour law for railroad workers and
supported the EsCh -Cummins law which
! provides for granting better pay and
shorter days for. the railroad workers,
and because Re voted for the Volstcad
act and is lukewarm on the suffrage
issue and owns spike tailed coat. what
are they to do when they favor fair
play for every one and believe that
man may dress as he pleaseS?
Card indcxing and listing of con-
gressmcn is all very we'll in its way.
If it excites a greater interest in public
questions and makes the voters little
more particular about the qualifications
of the men they nominate II will be
nnt ha toalos...