Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1920-11-16
HARDING'S ELECTION.

change, and they have voted for Il
change.
They did not know what kind Of
change they wanted. and they do not
know today what kind Of change
they have voted for. All of the rest
lessness and discomfort bred of the
war has finally found expression at
the ballot box, and the result is War
rem G. Harding.
Mr.. Harding is well-meaning
amiable man, who has shown during
the campaign no understanding
whatever of any of the real problems
of peace and reconstruction. His po-
lit.cal career has been without dis
tinction 81 any kind whatsoever. He
has been simply a republican politl-
clan of answering regularity who
has taken up any policy agreed to by
the party leaders and supported it
with fidelity and such ability as he
could command. Whenever therb
has been a division in the party
councils he has followed the line of
least resistance, with a marked pref
erence for extreme conservatism.
The day he was nominated for pres
ident he was the choice of the repuh-
licans Of no state in the Union. Even
in Ohio the perublican voters had
divided at the primaries and he was
unable to obtain a united delegation
from his own state. Had the Ques-
ton of his nomination been submit
ted to the rank and file of the party
throughout the country it may be
doubted if he would have received
800, 900 votes of the 100000. Yet
in spite of this pitiful lack of pOpu-
lar support, he was named for presi-
dent by the republican bosses and he
has been elected president because he
was the republican candidate.
Nominally, therefore, Mr.. Harding
is to be president of the United
States. Who the actual president is
to be and what the policies Of the
new administrator are to be nobody
knows. Mr.. Harding himself does
not know, nor does he pretend to
know. He will do what the strong
est faction Of the republican party
tells him to do. II Mr.. Root and Mr..
Taft and their friends gain the
ascendancy, they will control the for
eign policy of the administration. II
Senator johnson and Senator Borah
and the Battalion of Death gain con
troll, they will dominate the foreign
policy. A similar game of chance
will determine the domestic policies
as we'll.
What is certain Is that the country
has returned for time to reaction,
in the naive belief that republican
policies can cure all the economic
evils that we're produced by a war In
which 100000 lives have been
lost and $3O0,000,O00,000 in prop
erty destroyed.
No president of the United States
at the time of his election ever
showed fewer qualifications for the
task that confronted him than Mr..
Harding has displayed In this cam
paign. Apparently his mind has
solidified and retains no political Inn
pressions that were made since the
days of Mckinley and Hanna. He has
shown NO capacity for leadership
since his nomination. Whether he
will show any capacity for leadership
after his inauguration remains to he
seen. 4e ~ .ss
The American people have dis
played the same kind Of political In
telligence that the people of New
York displayed In 1917 when vthoy
threw out the Mitchell adminfstra-
ton and made John F. Hylan mayor.
Those exploits in political prejudice
are always expensive, and four years
from now the country will be In a
better position to estimate the cost
of this latest manifestation OF Its
worst qualities.
AS to Mr.. Harding himself, the
World can only wish him well. He Is
confronted at best with task that Is
impossible n its entirety, since NO
president that ever lived could re-
deem the campaign pledges that have
been made In his behalf, some OF
them by himself. It is easy to abuse
Woodrow Wilson, but to succeed
Woodrow Wi son In the White House
is q mans Job, and Mr.. Harding will
not have the aid either of q united
party or Of those dominant qua titles
that can batter down opposition. He
will have to 60 with tide that runs
erratically and treacherously, and
the very voters that have put him
luJO Su0 QIObA0OANy W Nv InO sAAAF~S
sible will be ready to destroy him at
the first sign of failure.
The World. quite apart from any
issue Of political principle, cannot re-
gard Mr.. Harding as the type of man
who ought to be president at this
time. But, recognizing the serious
ness Of his task, we shall try to help
him rather than hinder him. and In
no case shall we ever subject him to
the kind Of malicious obstruction
that republican newspapers and re-
publican senator's have thrown In the
pathway of President Wilson.
The World would much rather
have Mr.. Harding succeed than fall.
1t is willing to do what it can to aid
him If the policies of his administra-
ton permit such assistance, and the
first advice it would give him Is to
forget all the nonsense he uttered IN
the campaign-to wipe on the slate
to start clean-to realize that the
very safety of civilization may de-
pend upon the prudence and intelli-
gence Of his administration, and to
trample all petty partisan considers
lions under foot while he faces the
facts Ct most serious
.l%vo<ion To hngin otherwise f0 to