Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-03
DESIRE FOR CLEAN
SWEEP IN CABINET
HELP TO HARDING
People Ask if Cox Will Fire
Incompetent Democrats
From Offices.
ByDAy1D LAWRENCE.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, August 3.-No-
body could spend very much time on
this the battle-ground of the presi-
Dental campaign without gathering
! some impressions OF the way the
battle is going.
| the White House, and it may not be
palatable for Gov. Cox, but the truth
of the matter is that, leaving the
league of nations issue aside, the
people are eager to know now Tar
the democratic nominee is Obliged to
maintain in office incompetent demo-
Gratis. Some voters impatiently brush
aside what Gov. Cox may promise
and regard him as already piedgeo
| to perpetuate wisconsin, but this Is
most evident in localities where the
newspapers have assiduously spread
such an impression.
There is large body of voters,
however. who want housecleanlng
in Washington. and they don't much
care who does it. Some feel that
Senator Harding and new party
will remove the incompetents from
office, but, on the other hand, one
strikes a conservative business man
who wonders whether in the process
of satisfying the hungry once seek 9
ers things might not be turned up
side down and competent men driven
from Office In other words, there is
an element which is not SO enthuSi-
astic about change for mere change
sake.
VIII Dissect Speech.
UnQuestionably there is a great deal
Of interest in Gov: Cox's speech OF
acceptance. 1t will be carefully ex-
amined, but the thing the people In
Ohio would like to hear Gov. Cox say.
either in his forthcoming address or
in subsequent speeches. is something
like this:
.If elected to office shall not re-
tain a single person in the govern
ment service who deserves to be re-
moved. and I am under no ooilgatlons
to retain any Wilson appointees. In
fact. 1 promise an entirely new cao-
met, a cabinet of business men and
not a cabinet of politicians.
The foregoing thought is expressed
in one form or another by voters on
every side 1t isn't simply bitterness
against President Wilson. engendered
during party strife. but it is deep
rooted feeling that the Wilson cabinet
should have been long ago renovated,
and in substituting new members 1or
old there should have been appointed
persons who commanded public con-
fidence.
Senator Harding and the workers
in his behalf are making excellent
headway by pointing to the errors OF
domestic administration. They DO not
need to talk much about foreig1. pol
icies, but simply start comparing the
relative merits of the democrats, who
have held executive positions and the
Kind OF men the republican party can
assemble. There has been 80 much
good deal OF twas m
eytable as result of the chaos OF
.tions. has really, made. inroads as an
issue, the friends of the league ares
being persuaded that Senator Harding
will be all right on that issue. any
way, and that they had better not
take any chances on domestic admin
istration.
Wilson Load Heavy One.
OF course, the democrats haven't
is tagging. and they will have inter-
esting things to say concerning the
record that the republicans have made
in Congress in the last two years. But
he would be a prejudiced observer
who did not admit that the Wilson
issue-is a very heavy one and that
Gov. Cox's opportunity lies in making
it very clear that he means to draw
away from the incompetency Of the
past and give the country new deal.
The more he shows his independence
OF White House rule the more people
in these parts, at least, like it.
They aren't happy over his visit
to MI. Wilson a few weeks ago. They
would have preferred to see him con-
firm the impression. which went out
of San Francisco of triumph over
Wilson democracy. Probably Gov Cox
knew. that, but on the other hand he
Is shrewd enough a politician to keep
in mind that the west elected Wilson
in 1916 and that the league is a vital
question west of the Mississippi river.
Some observers think he might Just
as well forget about the east anyway,
with the exception of Ohio, and en-
deavor to win the election by combi-
nation of the west and solid south.
But in the west, as well as in Ohio,
the resentment against the Wilson
administration on domestic affairs
runs high and at this stage of the
game overshadows everything else.
Gov. Cox is a resourceful candidate,
and he knows from contact with his
home folks in Ohio that aside from
the elements who will never be rec
onciied to any league of nations, he
can satisfy the demand OF the people
for reservations that safeguard Amer
point the agreement with the Wilson
administration might happily cease
without offending any considerable
part of the electorate. That's the way
it looks with the campaign only a
month old. The White House may not
like it, but Gov. Cox probably is
aware Of the unpleasant truth. And
it would not be a bit surprising to see
him act on those currents of opinion
before this campaign is concluded. II
he doesn't, he may have more trou-
BILE carrying Ohio than anybody in his
camp believes.
Copyright. 1soO.)