Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-12
MORE FARRACUTlSM is
NEEDED IN MAYORS OFFICE
" Mr.. Moore VIII Damn the Tor.
pedoes and Go Ahead He VIII
Serve the People and Get
His Reward

MO MAN who has pursued policy oI
~ inaction because he was afraid o
the consequences II he acted has cveI
got very far In politics. business or war
When Admiral Farragut in Mobile
bay said. Damn the torpedoes! &c
ahead" he laid down the rule Of sue
cess. His objective was the enemy
He knew he could not reach that ob
jective without risking the destruction
of his whole feet. 1t would be risked
anyway when II met the enemy. and he
did not hesitate to face every danger
that confronted him.
Farragut is n national hero because
he went straight toward the goal and
won.
Admiral Dewey showed the same
daring when he steamed into Manila
bay, which he knew ought to have been
sown with torpedoes by the Spanish
Ills au,iacity thrilled the world and put
him at the head Of the American navy
for his natural life. lie reasoned that
IL ono ship was blown up he would fight
with what was left: but. torpedocs or
no torpedocs. he was going to take
Manila.
No timid man has ever achieved great
business success. The captains of in =
dustry-a title suggestive of the meas
uripg of skill and resources with an
antagonist--have been men of daring.
| They were willing to risk large sums Of
money in n venture. confident that IL
they lost they would find some other
way to achieve their ends. Obstacles
have been tho spur with which they
| prickcd tho SllrS of their intent. aud
: their great achievements have proved
that damning the torpedocs works as
we'll in business as in war.
A casual survey of the career Of
Roosevelt will convince every one that
/ he was guided by the Farragut motto.
IIe went ahead pcrsistcntly doing things.
He got away with moro blunders than
any other man of his generation because
he always discounted the chances Of
failure and was prepared When he
failed. instead of making explanations
and indulging in vain regrets and re-
solving to be moro cautious in the fu-
| turc. he started something else so
quickly that attention was diverted from
the disaster to the new enterprise. lie
achieved results and went his own way
in spite of the attempts of the political
bosses to prevent him. The thrcat Of
senator Platt. of New York. to block
his legislative plans when governor un-
less he agreed to what Platt asked him
is historic. and 50 is his reply, that il
Platt did as he three ;ened he (Roose-
velt) would make their conversation
public and appeal to the people. The
big boss had to pack down. The little
bosses never troubled him.
Grover Cleveland became governor Of
New York and then President because
nc did things as mayor of Buffalo. He
did not try to play factional politics
He did his best to protect the interests
of the people Of tho city against the
unscrupulous politicians of all parties
and factions who had been robbing it in
the past. II thing needed to be done
he did it. and let the consequences take
care uf themselves. Timidty was a
word that he did not know, and he did
not waste his time or the time of his
friends explaining the difficulties which
because that in his opinion was what he
was elected to do.
4 more recent instance of Farragut-
ism is seen in the conduct of Governor
Coolidge. Of Massachusetts. in the Bos-
ton uo,ice strike. A timid man would
have seen iInumerable torpedoes in his
way. but Coolidge saw only HIS duty as
the governor of all the people of the
commonwealth. He let consequences
take care Of themselves and crushed the
strike and laid down the principle that
the first duty Of the peace officers is to
the public. and he insisted that it
should not bc weakened by obligation to
any organization, labor or otherwise.
As a result Coolidge is the candidate of
the Republican party for the vice pres
idency. If he had hesitated or paltcred
in the crisis he would not have been
considered for any national Office.
We respect the public officer who
makes it his business to serve the
public.
IL is a platitude worn threadbare that
serves his country best. but the little
men in politics have never grasped its
meaning. They act as If there were
nothing but party to serve. They lay
wires and pull strings in the hope that
they can bring about promotion for
themselves through the good graces Of
other politicians.
As q matter OF fact, the politicians
are pOwerless before a strong man who
has served the public. No boss and no
cabal Of bosses can in the long run pre-.
vent such a man from being summoned
to high Office provided he Is willing to
be promoted.
Our own Mayor. Mr.. Moore, Is aware
Of all this. Few men are better in
formed on the political history of the
country than he. lie was elected by
| the people in the confident belief that
he would be- a Mayor with the same
kind of loyalty to all the people which
Cleveland showed in Buffalo.
The great task ahead of him was to
destroy that alliance between political
contractors and the city government
which has disgraccd the city for years.
1t was a task which required con
structivc business genius for its organi-
cation and executive ability of the first
class for it's fulhllment.
Nothing has yet happened to destroy
the popular confidence In Mr.. Moore
which accompanied him into office. He