Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1920-09-13


/ Chicago. Sept. 8-The leaders
of the two major political parties
have practically completed their
task of shifting the wheat from
the chaff in the matter of issues
they believe will finally prevail in
the contest for the presidency
Gov. Cox has reduced and sim
i plified the issues on which he has
elected to fight to three-,lis
charges that the republicans have
conspired to raise fund of SIS
OG0,OOO to ''buy the presidency. "
the League of Nations. and a ger.
eral reconstruction plan designed
to meet the consequences II The
world war.
1t is not clear to Senator Han d.
ing's most ardent supporters Just
what he regards as ne para
mount issue of the campaign TN
less it be general condemnation
of both the war and peace records
of the Wilson administration.
There is little question in the
minds of leading REPUBLICANS that
Senator Harding would like to
drop the League of Narions and
center the batteries OF his party
ON purely domestic topics. such as
taxes. the high cost Of living, and
the depreciation in the value of
Liberty Bonds.
Despite the assurances of some
of the Senator's hackers, they pri-
vately admit that his analysis and
Interpretation Of the League of
Nations is muddy" to say the
least. They attribute this fact to
the lack of decision on the part of
the republican candidate as to just
what one of the three or four for
mulas advocated by the factions
of his party really favors.
May Seek To Explain
1t is said by some of the repub-
lican leaders here to watch the
Senate inquiry into the Cox
charges that Mr.. Harding will
make another attempt to "clari-
fly" the republican position on in
ternational problems generally
and the League of Nations espec-
tally.
The hazy views of the republi-
can candidate on the Wilson pol
icy, which Gov. Cox has accepted
as rejecting the truly American
and genuinely democratic atti--
tude toward foreign affairs, pref
ty clearly illustrates the differ
ence between the republican and
democratic styles of campaign
ing.
Gov. Cox is running his own
campaign and telling his advisers
what he is going to do, although
he has instanced his ability to
keep his own counsel even from
them. as shown by the secrecy
which which he conducted his in
vestigation into the republican
campaign fund.
| Senator Harding seems to have
a dozen bosses and he is manifest
| ly trying to please all of them,
with the usual unsatisfactory re-
suits. The dominant group OF
bosses who assented to his. nom
ination-Daugherty, (who "put
him over,") National Chairman
Hays, Bots Penrose, Alvin F.
Hert, John w. Weeks, and half
dozen others-formulate every
move to be made by the republi-
can candidate. and usually he is
the last to know it.
/ Takes No Initiative
| Mr.. Harding has not made a
single move without consulting
the leaders of the groups who are
managing him and his campaign.
Gov. Cox has not hesitated to en-
bark on any venture that in his
Judgment is the proper thing to
d. He is not confronted by one
tenth of the embarrassment that
surround Mr.. Harding every day.
| There are no breaks or factional
| disputes in the democratic party
to stop him from doing anything
he believes to be proper and adj
vantageous in carrying his fight
to the people.
The republicans are compelled
to mind their P's and Q's at every
step, No better proof of this fact
as been provided than the con-
sternation recently caused by
young Theodore Roosevelt in
Chicago. The son of his father
accepted an invitation to speak to
a political club on Wednesday. He
was on his way to the meeting
Iplace when one of the NATIONAL
Headers who accompanied him re-