Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1920-11-11
news review OF
CURRENT EVENTS
Victory Of Republican Ticket in
National Election Reaches
Amazing Proportions.
SOLID SOUTH IS CRACKED
Prssident- Elect Harding Goes on Va
cation Trip Amateur Cabinet
Makers Busy-Strlke of Brit
ish Coal Miners is
Called Of.
BY EDWARD W. PlcKARo.


Never before lin American history
has major political party suffered
a defeat comparable to that sustained
by the Democrats on November :. The
result was far more than Republican
vietOry-it was brought about by The.
detection OF many Democratic voles.
|. Harding and Coolidge carried every
state Of the North and West, aud even
cracked the solid South, for Tennessee,
New Mexico and oklahoma nll went
Republican. Scnalor Harding conse
quently will have 404 votes in the
electoral college, to 127 for Governor
Cox.
In 1912, when the Republican party
'wns split, Wilson received 435 eec-
tOral votes, but he fell far short of IA
majority Of the popular vote This
year Harding has popular majority
Of large proportions, and his plurality
approaches the seven million mark.
In many states the pluralities by which
the Republican ticket won were stu
pendous, and in the southern states
where it was beaten the Republican
vote showed large increases ovcr pre-
vious elections.
Everyone processes satisfaction over
the fact that the Republicans also
have won complete control Of congress.
AS one Democratic paper puts it: For
whatever good the next administra-
tion does 1t will have full credit: it
cannot escape blame for whatever is
bad" The jubilation of the Repub-
licans may be tempered by the refec-
ten. that their majority of more than
13O in the house leaves the way open
for factional disputes OF tie next
senate the Republicans will have SIS
members and the Democrats 3S.
Just why the American people did
all this is open to several opinions.
Those who believed with President
Wilson that the election was solemn
referendum" on the League OF Nations
issue assert that 1t was opposition 10
the league covenant that caused the
landslide, but really those who hold
this view are few. Others aver ii was
dus to the proverbial fondness Of the
American electorate for change .
There can be no dlsputiEg that the
people were determined to have a
change from the Wilson policies and
methods. This determination, in the
mind Of the writer, was the main
spring of their action. AS for the
League of Nations, probably most of
for the prevention of future wars, but
| evidently they are willing to trust Mr.
Harding and his associates with the
task Of formulating it, and do not feel
that the job need be done in rush.
All the nation watched with inter-
ct to see what the women would do
on election day. The Democrats count
Cd on them to rally to the defense of
the league covenant and to save the
Cox ticket from defeat. But an
analysis Of the vote shows that they
did no such thing Instead they only
helped TO swell the Republican plu-
ralities in the North and West, and
in the South comparatively few Of
lthem went to the polls.
Among the notable developments of
h the election was the extraordinary
| run made by Governor Smith Of New
| York, Democratic candidate for re-
1 election. Although the empire state
| rave Harding 4 plurality Of about j.
10000, Smith was beaten by Miller
81 only about 10000. This was a re.
markable achievement and In the
minds of many politicians it marks
E3uath - the logical national lender
u - Depaerstic party.
y eiAa6Sfll " iNl4sn4 .w0fti1y' Sf sms1ttop