The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-07-21
TOPEKA STATE JoURNAL>
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKrN. Director.
washington, D. G.
THE ocCUPATIoNAI, VOTE.

chauffeur vote all over the country be-
cause he drives his own car with great
skill, and because he is an honorary
member of the Professional Chauf-
feurs' association of the District of
/ Columbia 1t is understood that
all cities 10 support him.
| This fact certainly ought to contain
/ q suggestion for those gentlemen of
political power who manage presiden-
/ tial campaigns. Tt is evident that the
ichauffeurs are not going to support
| Harding because of his record as an
! executive, nor yet because of the plat
/ form on which he stands. but primar-
lily because of his record as chauf-
! feHr. It would seem that if capdi-
| date could be found who had devoted
himself to enough different occupa-
/ lions at one time and another, and If
/ these occupational sympathies could
/ be properly worked upon, he would
sweep the country
| This tendency to play up facts about
| candidate which have nothing to do
with his fitness for the presidency, and
which is noticeable in every presiden-
| tial campaign, is evidence of a weak
ness in the democratic system of gov
/ eminent which has been pointed out
/ by every critic of it. This weakness is
| that the average man feels more
/ strongly than he thinks, and is there
/ fore apt to vote for the man who can
most strongly arouse his sympathies,
rather than the one who is logically fit
/ to serve in office. The man who
arouses his -syrppathies is the one who
| is most like him. But this. average
man is not a genius, he is a mediocrity.
| Hence it is argued, the tendency is al
ways to choose mediocrities for office
and exclude really gifted men.
Presidential Requirements.
| You can easily think Of many facts
| in support of this idea. In presi-
dental campaign, or any other kind of
political campaign, there is always a
great effort on the part of each can
/ didate's supporters to bring out all the
homely facts about him, which make
him seem similar TO the average man.
| If he is fond Of babies, or buttermilk
or funny stories. il he shaves himself,
/ or plays pinochle-any of these things
is strongly in his favor. altho having
| little or nothing to do with his ca
pacity for running a nation In this
1 country il is almost necessary that he
should be of humble origin, prefera-
IDLY on a farm, and that he should
/ be of humble origin. preferably on
farm, and that he should have had
poor education and a hard time in his
youth. These early privations are at
/ best of doubtful value in fitting him
! for the presidency, but they indicate
that he is fust like most of the rest of
US. We are afraid of the superior
critics of democracy. We want to
feel that the man in the White House
| is one of us. altho obviously what we
need there is someone a good deal
different from most of us.
/ A symptom of the same spirit is
the tendency of the opposition to dig
up all facts about the candidate which
! indicate that he differs from the con-
ventional type of man. Especially if
he can be shown to have done any
thing scandalous or unconventional in
/ his relations with women, this can be
| used powerfully against him. 1t may
be said that this is because we want
a man for president who is a model
lof the domestic virtues. We are
1 shocked and appalled, to learn from
1.-The new science of psychoanalysis,
/ however, that in reality our instructive
/ is due to envy. Most of us. they say,
| are consciously or subconseiously,
somewhat chafed by the bonds of con-
lventionality. We would really like TO
be free. We envy the man who is
free And therefore we vote against
| him.
Here again. a mans personal or
domestic life has little to do with his
capacity as statesman. In fact,
many greatly gifted men in all lines
virtue, as anyone may learn by read
| ing the biographies of those who have
| been dead long enough so that their
biographies dare to be frank about
them.
/ Are the Critics Right?
So the critics of democracy seem
| to make out a strong case to the eff
feet that democracy is merely a
method of choosing mediocrities for
! high office and keeping really great
men out. But little reflection shows
that there is another side to the ques-
IL ~
fear and envy the superior man, but
he also has a need for leadership
which he feels very strongly. Hence
his great capacity for hero-worship.
which Carlyle points out. 1t is evil
dent that once the superior man is
gotten into the limeight and demon
strated conclusively that he has pow
ers which the average man lacks, then
| the average man tends to follow him
lIoyally and even bhndly. This ten
times If there were space here. Thus
the medicine. men or shamans OF ali
primitive tribes are superior men who
! have demonstrated their abilities ana
have obtained greater power. But the
/ witches and sorcerers, who are Killed.
are individuals of the same type WHO
are overcome by envy and antagohisnn
before they attain power.
! It takes only a glance at.shistory TO
see that many really great and su-
fsperior men have attained leadership
land that people have followed them
iblindly Christ. Mahomet, Caesar and
I Napoleon were great men, each OF
whom was a law unto himself Each
( of them encountered envy and antag-
onism at first, but later rose 10
lpower.
- People VIII Follow Leaders.
I You can see in any demo cracy the
same tendency toward a blind follow
ling of the man who seems to have
demonstrated that he has inspiration
land personality. And If you will study
i the careers of such men you will gen
/ orally find that it is their peers
their fellow ders=who have kept
them from power, and not the people.
The people se1dorn have a really ef-
i fectNe power in the matter
The two recent conventions might be