Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-10-30
MUCH HEAT, LITTLE LIGHT,
IN THE CLOSING CAMPAIGN
Fight on a Lazy, Hypnotlzed and
Inexpert Democracy

lnexpert Democracy
ONLY last week every one was complain
~ ing because the campaign was cold. 1t
is cold no more. There is plenty of heat in
it now. And. oddly enough, there is even
less light than there used to be for those
who still have faith in that ancient and un-
fashionable aid to good Judgment
The battle is one of parties. not of men.
Defeat represents the only mode of discipline
that can keep any party in order after long
continued power has made IL vain, lazy.
cocksure, reckless and inefficient. That is
why Mr. Harding should and in all proba
biity will be elected.
That is the simple truth But campaign
managers and their aides are seldom content
to utter it. The minor leaders in both camps
are engaging in an orgy of personalities and
wretChed innuCndo. This with the efforts of
innumcrable gentlemen in high hats to ap-
pear as If they were about to sprout the
white wings of grace. is altogether lamenta-
bic in land that must depend in every crisis
on collective judgments founded presumably
on truth and understanding.
Able and sincere men in both parties are
being subjected to the sort of attack that
must be almost intolcrablc to any sensitive
mind. Are we to suppose that emotional
reactions rather than the processes of rea-
son are always to be depended upon to de-
eide elections in the United States?
The Harding of the enemy propagandists
is made to appear like a treacherous and
cvasive man. His name is linked with the
atrocious and dull. wittcd performance of
cartoonist who. with Colonel Harveys as
sistance. offended the whole country Lodge,
Taft. Wickersham. Hoover on one side.
President Wilson and Mr.. Cox and their
associates on the other, are systematically
abused by name. And yet you might search
the world without finding other men so in
earnest. so willing to make sacrifices. so
passlonately eager to serve a people rs those
who. by the force of common opinion, are
chosen regularly to speak and act for the
United States in and out Of the high offices.
Mr.. Iumulty did very good thing very
badly when. in his unique address the other
night, he sought to show how thoroughly and
cruelty Mr.. Wilson has been misunderstood.
Certainly the President has been misrcpre-
sentcd. But Mr.. Tumulty neglected to say
that he Is nowhere thoroughly misrppre-
sented as in his own party. and that if the
men who now rule in that party had had
their way he never would have achieved his
present Office. In the back of Mr.. Tumulty's
'hiihu q 'ph'flu lbI luf party ONpTSnduOWpQ
the concern of Mr.. Wilson. That was clear.
The Presidents note of Endorsement for
Mr.. Cox was expected. The party mana
gers worked nightly to obtain it, And Mr.
Wilson's lack of skill in the technique of
practical pOlitics-a lack which has often
been observed and ono that is responsible
for more than one great failure Of the last
eight years-waS never more apparent than
il was in the letter to Mr.. Cox II repre-
scnts aid extended by a man TO those who
have been readiest to knife him in the dark.
\ note from Mr.. Bryan may be expected be-
fore the polls open.
In this way personalities are made to OBJ
scure the central issue. For it is neither
Mr.. Wilson nor Mr.. Bryan who is seeking
votes. The lax Democratic machine has
become a spendthrift. 1t proSpcred cnor-
mously by the activities and abilities of one
man. Eight years of endless money has
destroyed IT'S initiative for the time being
and disturbed its mental balance. 1t is
stale. 1t is griovously in need of the tonic
effects of the outer air.
One may suspect that Mr.. Tumulty grievps
far more than the President because of the
state Of affairs at the White House and in
the country at largo. The lack OF applause
and understanding and sympathy about
which he complained cannot matter greatly
10 any one who knows history and ancient
prcCcdents as Mr.. Wilson does. A really
great man needs only TO know that he has
done right to feel that he is completely vic
torious. To do without the popular acclaim
is easy to any one gifted with a tempered
mind. The virtues which Mr. Tumulty
perceves in his chief are their own reward.
Considerations Of this sort and those
raised in the attacks directed from both
camps have no place in national cam
paign. Is it too much to expect even In
the heat of days like these. that all men
who face the blasts and storms Of presi-
dental campaign should be recognized as
great Americans together, moved by a COM
mon Inheritance Of pride and idcaigm and
faith, and that voters should be taught to
understand that the differences between them
are not of aims but of method?
The din Of presidential year. the futile
digressionS, the pretenses that are so trans
par"ntly false are not only injurious to the
dignity Of the country. They cannot but
hay" disastrous effect on the thought and
spirit OF the nation. What can be said Of
a man who, crying america First" shows
by his every act that he is thinking only of
himself and his party?
The simple fact is that many campaigners
do small credit to the American people when
they ignore the common desire for truth and
fair play and appeal instead to bigotry,
prejudice and blind passion. While that
method is repeated every four years we shall
continue 10 fall short of democratic ideals
IN government, and while great and sensitive
men are made to understand that they must
60 through torment to high public Offices the
| affairs Of tn" country will continue in the
hands Of thick skinned third raters
Before our government and every other
| government in the world there is one duty
| and one task that oy"rshadows all others.
| 4 way must be found by which the people
| everywhere, tho patient. faithful, hard !
working, reasonable pcopl" in all countries.
can be free from the invisible tyranny OF
secret diplomacy. Society must devise a
method of dealing with the organized law
lcssness of militant Imperialism. Nothing
.