Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-06-26
DEMOCRATS SHOULD PROFIT
FROM THE GENTLE AMOEBA
When He (She III Disagrees Whhin There's Split
Healthy and Benefciel-Partys Best Brains Lack
ing at San Francisco
BY CLINTON w. GILBERT
,uri0ht 1920, bv Public Ledger Co.


San Francisco, June 26.-You may
believe in party government, but po-
litical parties seen at close range are
mighty ineffective things.
For one thing they haven't the sense
of the amoeba, the simplest form of
animal life, the monocellular organism
The amoeba, when it finds it can no
longer comfortably remain one body,
pitts into two, each going its sep
rate way. 1t is one of the bad things
about parties that they do not know
how to split comfortably. If they would
only pursue the habits of the amoeba
and multiply by division political life
would be vastly more interesting, vari-
Gus and amusing than it is.
Also we suspect that the amoeba was
highly courageous animal. compared
to a political party. 1t takes courage,
vast courage to split into two. Con-
slider facing life without half of your
self and perhaps the very half that you
have always loved best. The amoeba
aces this checrfully over and over
again. Time after time in the inter
csts of the census of amocbas, he, or
shah we say she, splits into two. And
the Los Angeles of amOebadom only
beat its San Francisco by the superior
splitting ability of its inhabitants.
Certainly Misfit
But political parties cannot bear to
face life without half of themselves.
The Democratic vets cannot face life
without the Democratic drys. They
make compact body together. but
neither will 60 it alone. The Demo
cratic conservatives will not split off,
amoeba fashion, from the Democratic
radicals. Their union is unhappy, but
neither can bring themselves to face
life separately. Thus they hang to e
gether, futile and ineffective, timid
and incapable of action, each part drag
ging through life burdencd each with
another part out of harmony with it.
self.
Some Freudian ought to analyze n
party platform and seek in it for the
party's suppressed desires. Every word
in it is sign Of repression and inhi
bition. The sensible amoeba never had
any suppressed desires. When conflict
arose in his mind he split in two and
the two antagonistic elements went their
several ways. II it were so with Earties,
a convention would be joy to behold.
Everybody would be freely expressing
the highest degree of intelligence, i'm =
agination, energy and enthusiasm. The
utmost freedom would prevail.
AS it is, political courage is the
rarest thing TO be found at party con
vention. Everybody is afraid. If you
say anything but lot of weasel words
if you do anything but pussyfoot, yor
may lose a lot Of votes. Therefore bt
seated and don't move. Dodge, duck
equiyocate. 1t seemed bad enough a
Chicago for while, but the Republi
cans acted boldly on the whole. Th,
Kissing of the La Toilette voters ther,
was delightful exhibition of the sheer
JOY of one section of the amoeba at tn,
expected departure of another section
The Republicans became bold in tn,
end. They elected to be the cOnserya
tive party and to let the liberal o.
radical, whichever you wish to call it
depart if it wished, That was a singu
lar act of courage on the part of tn,
IRepublicans. 1t is a perfectly honest
courageous and intelligent thing to b,
a conservative. You may not like con
seryatives, but they are terribly cieal
thinking lot.
Want To Eat Their Cake
Bad as it looked at Chicago befor
they made their decision, II is worse q
San Francisco. The Democrats want /,
BE- conservative. But their rival hse