The Sun and the New York herald., 1920-08-31
The ouIetus Of the Drive.

We all owe n tremendous debt OF
gratitude to Governor Cox for MS
death thrust at the drive The Re-
publican campaign boom department
gave Governor Cox the opening ana
he came back in way that has Ut
terly annihilated the whole horrible
business.
The drive came in like the Jazz
In the early days Of the war, when
patriotism was at red heat. 1t first
showed itself in connection with the
sale Of the initial Liberty Loan
Then 1t was an apologetic symptom
Of .hysteria with dash Of impudencc
and gall thrown in. But by the time
Of the second Liberty bond issue 1t
had come to be menace, an over
bearing, tyrannlcal thing that would
take the shirt Off a mans back If he
didn't give up"
Indeed, before the last of these
Liberty Loan drives was completed
the great irresponsible number or
drive artists had the country so fright
ened, so cowed, so hOpelessly buncoed
that it was all ones life was worth
10 appear in a theatre or in any
other public place where he could be
shamed into buying or browbeaten into
subscribing.
Some men there we're, brave souls,
thank heaven who stood their ground
and "handed 1t back" to the impudent
holdup drive artist. But such men
were few. From sheer intimidation
most Wen would dig up the coin at the
point of the bayOnet or would make
subscription for bonds far beyond
their financial capacity to carry
Government bonds at a hundred cents
on the dollar that are now worth
eighty cents and trifle more.
This drive business was wonder
ftil opening for roughnecks and the
men of loud voice and adamantine
cheek. They gloried in the chance 1t
gave them for notoriety, and as drive
succeeded drive they waxed powerful
IN their audaclty and immeasurable
impudence.
But the Liberty Loan drives We're
not all. We had the Red Cross, the
YIN. C. A., the Knights Of Columbus,
the Jewish relief societies, the In
terchurch World Movement, the Ii
brary Association, well nigh every
college In the land and millions Of
other institutions. In a word, the
intolerable drive man has covered
the country, intimidating and lash
ing the people into giving until the
drive has become a thing Of national
shame and national horror to all
American citizens>
Finally 1t paused IN Its career. We
hoped It was dead, when lol It burst
into activity again with a political
appeal. The same old lingo that had
been used 30 tellinSly IN all the drives
and drivelets for four awful years
was retained.
Yes, the boom section Of the Repub-
Mcan committee "fell for II" The
lurid verbiage of the drive world
called aloud again to all America to
@come across" with the "dough" and
do 1t big. True to form, the country
was zoned Off and by way Of empha-
sis big figures were affixed to each
zone as the expected quota when
the drive men themselves had no
thought of realizing any such sums.
But this is the way Of the drive men.
They know they must ask big even
to get little; know that to ask little
would mean to get nothing.
Well, 1t is finished. Governor Cox has
turned the trick. He has made the
drive man thing Of ridicule. The drive
man has been an intimidating bully
but, thanks be to the boom section
OF the Republican campaign commit
tee and to Governor Cox, he is to-day
a. thing Of history. Not even a drive
man could survive the public plllory
fng Governor Cox has given him.