The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1920-04-02
A Perplexed Woman Voter

woman voter submits to The World question that
ought to be to answer yet find the difficulties
practically insurmountable:
To the Editor of The World:
Some years ago editorial appeared in The
World defining Democrat Since that time war
has seemed to mix many issues which used to be
clear. Can you tes. us now what is Democrat? And
how does he differ from Republican?
ONE OF THE NEW VOTERS
New York. March rs.
Our friend Is not alone in her perplexity Men are
equally puzzled. Even Mr. Hoover who recognized as
of the half dozen ablest in the world in the mat
ter OF government finds himself unable measure either
party by any standard Of principle and is forced to de-
scribe himself "an independent progressive"
Subject to notable exceptions and apses there this
fundamental difference between Democrat and Repub-
ican: Democrat in government is concerned primarily
with property rights Yet at the time of the Civil War
these positions reversed and to-day are dealing
with tendencies rather than with actual cleavage of
principle.
The Democratic Party essentially party of decen-
trazaton; yet neither holds true to it's principles
The fact is that both the Democratic and Republican
parties coherent organizations have ceased to exist
They have broken up into groups which have little or
nothing in common, but each group fighting to retain
the old trade mark of the party because the name spells
prestige and prestige spells votes nasmuch as majority
of voters still follow the party vignette.
Take the Prohibition ISSUE for example, in relation
to the Democratic Party. On question of true party
Eighteenth
Amendment because the Eighteenth Amendment is. at
with the whole Democratic theory of government as it
has down since the day of Jefferson Democrat
can believe in local option. He believe in state
wide prohibition but he cannot believe urrenderng to
the Federal Government the police powers of the States
and in permitting the Federal authority to tell the nd
vidual citizen what he may eat and what he may drink
So much for the principle Yet, on the issue of fact
the Eighteenth Amendment could not have been ratified
except by the votes of Southern States which the De-
mocratc Party is supreme and in which no Republican
candidate for President receives ELECTORAL vote
There is quite remarkable condition of affairs
IN the Republican Party. At the extreme right are the
Incorporating conservatives like Lodge and Knox and
Penrose and Brandegee and Wadsworth and mitarists
like Wood while at the extreme left are radicals and pa
cists like LaFolete and Gronna and Norris and France
to say nothing of Hiram Johnson and Borah Who can
find anything in common between those groups, What
holds them together? Who can say?
Northern Democrat has little in common politically
with Southern Democrat, and Eastern Republican
little in common with Western Republican. What the
country needs most is alignment but that can come
only when definite issue is raised and the managing
politicians of both parties doing everything their
power to avoid clear cut issue.
We fear that correspondent will be obliged to mark
time unit after the national conventions have been held
Then when she finds out what Democrat means and
pagn she at least determine which is the choice of
evils, and that is sometimes the only comfort left the
voter.-New York World.