New-York tribune., 1920-10-31

taxes could be reduced If the govern
ment would only prune its expendi-
lures. Two young men left n little
hamlet in Ohio to go to Dayton for
work in the aircraft plants during the
war. That hamlet, when they left.
happened to be solidly Democratic. No
Republicans lived there. A recent poll
showing the hamlet was now almost
unanimously for Harding, aroused
curiosity,~ and investigation showed
that the two young meD, returning with
almost unbelievable tales of the ex-
travagance and waste at Dayton. had
simply turned the village upside down
politically.
Foreign Policies ALLEVIATE Many
This is small incident, involving
change of not more than thirty or
forty votes, but it Is typical. In the
North and West the farmers are suffer
ing right now from low price Of wheat,
due, they think to the efforts cf the Fed
eral Reserve Board to prevent loans
Dy banks on commodities as security,
This is merely an aggravation, how
ever, for these farmers feel that they
were robbed by deliberate government
action in the price-fxing Of wheat dur
ing the war, while the Southern farm
ers were allowed to profiteer on their
cotton.
In all cities with big foreign popula-
tons there have be"n heavy defections
from the Democratic party because
OF President Wilson's rorergn pol
cles. fiumc has turned a very large
percentage of the Italian vote to the
Republicans, and the Italian vote was
almost solidly Democratic in most of
the industrial centers. The German
vote, while mostly Republican since
the days when the German immigrants
embraced the Union side during the
civil War, was heavily Democratic in
some states, notably Indiana and in
parts OF Ohio and in Nebraska. The
German vote tied up with the Demo-
cratic party in the old days wherever
ter than the Republican. The Hitch
cock-Mullan machine in Nebraska, for
example, was generally able to beat
the Bryan wing OF the party because
the Germans voted solidly for their
beer.
Germans Almost Solid for Harding
This year the German vote Is almost
solidly for Harding This is not be-
because Of any friendship for Hard
ing. Harding was alternating the Ger
man voters of Ohio by voting in the
Senate to protect American rights,
while Cox was winning the friendship
OF the Germans by editorials in his
newspapers just before this country
got into the war. But the Germans
have ignored this in their anger at
the Democratic party. Aside from the
kept us out of war" cry, which is
concededly the motive actuating tho
Germans this time, the average Ger
man is taxpayer, and he does not
like the way the Democratic party
has been running the government.
antagonized by the President is the
Poles, who. like the Italians, have
been mostly Democrats. They have
not gone over bodily to the Repub-
hcans as have the Italians and Ger
mans, but the dcfections evident in
such Polish centers 8 Buffalo, Cleve-
land and Chicago are very heavy.
Wilson Alone Responsible
All these are elements for which
President Wilson and not Governor
have been the effect had Cox not
taken his place so quickly under the
Presidents wing is hard to conj lecture
No one had time to make canvass
after Cox was nominated before he
had rushed down to Washington and
declared himself "at one" with the
Presidents
1t is interesting now to recall. how
ever, that among the hundreds of
newspaper men who covered both the
Chicago and San Francisco conven-
ton the day after Co& &was nominated
that the Democrats had nominated
their strongest man and the Repub-
licans about their weakest. and, further,
that Cox had an extremely good chance
of being elected
The movements Of barometer
showing accurately the real hopes Of
the Democratic leaders would be very
interesting from that time on. The
chart Of its movements would show
that the peak was reached the day
following the nomination at San Fran
cisco. Then q sharp break down would
be shown as result Of Cox's visit to
the White House. A slight recovery
probably would be shown about the
time he began his attacks on the Sen
ate "oligarchy" and the sush fund.