The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-28
COX'S ATTITUDE IN B|G STRIKES MAY BE
 CAMPAIGN FACTOR
Has Won Friendship of La boring Men, But Has Not Alienated Capital In
 Doing So
By CLINTON ". GILBERT

Columbus, Ohio, July 27.-. Especial. )-Governor Cox will base his claim to the progress sive vote on his record as gov ernor of Ohio.
 He has been what is known as progressive governor.
 This country has had many progress sive governors. LaFollette probably started the fashion in Wisconsin. and being a pioneer was of the erudest and most violent type. Iowa had progress sive governors and Kansas and Nebras- ka- Then eastern states began to have progressive governors, Hughes in New York and Wilson in New Jersey. Ohio a little later had it's progressive gov ernor in Governor Cox.
 These governors all ran true to type. In their administrations much social leg islation went on the statute books, workmen's compensation laws. school reform laws, laws for the regulation of corporations. laws limiting the hours Of labor, especially of women and chil- dren.
 SENSATION IN ITS DAY
 Their work was a sensation in it's day. Wilson's work made him President. Hughes work almost made him Presi- dent Cox came a little too late to oo- tain the advertising out of his work that the earlier progressive governors did But his work has been similar to theirs. If public attention were focused upon state reform, as it was in the days when Wilson was governor of New Jersey or Hughes governor of New York, Cox would today be much better known to the people at large than he is. His cam paign literature issued when he was seeking the nomination for President lists fifty-two- reforms which were ac- complished during his administration as governor. Of these the most outstand- ing are the worknen's compensation act, the consolidation of the country schools and the creation of an indus trial commission. Most of the better governed states have workmen's com pensation acts, have consolidated school districts and some of them have indus trial commissions. New York, under Hughes, a. dozen years or so ago, adopt- ed a workmens compensation act which was indeed the basis of the Ohio act. This is not said with intent to dispar. age the progressive legislation put on the statute books under Governor Cox. W
 It is merely said to give some idea of the difficulty of selling Governor Cox. to the voters of the nation as pro gressive governor. Progressive legisla- tion in most states is an old story. It is not front page news any longer, Give the list of Governor Cox's fifty-two re- forms to most voters and the voters will read them over. approve them but fail to be stirred by them. Governor Cox's record as governor is excellent foundation for an appeal to the public, but it is not an appeal to the public. It will dispose voters favorably toward him, but it will not move them if their minds are fixed on other issues. There is nothing arresting about list of re- form legislation, not now
 There is nothing arresting about effi- ciency in the governorship and Govern or Cox. besides keeping social ends in view, seems to have been a more then usually efficient governor. Good gov. ernors are an old story. The country generally takes them more or less for granted.
 ONE SIDE OF DIFFICULTY
 This is one side of the difficulty which he faces as he attempts to draw the picture of progress against reaction and to shift the issue away from the League of Nations and Wilson to one which will improve his chances of election Another side of it is that the country's attention has for several years been di- rected away from state to national problems. In the days of Hughes and Wilson it was otherwise. State govern ment had largely broken down. Elihu Root, then secretary of state had at +he instigaton of President Roosevelt made a speech warming the states that they would gradually lose their powers to the federal government if they did not mend their ways It was easy then for an efficient or reform government to gain national attention.
 It is not so today. The mind of the people is occupied with international re- lations, with the conflict between Con gross and the executive with the rela- tive capacity of the democratic and re- publican parties to govern the nation, with the industrial problem as it affects the whole country, with the record of the Wilson administration.
 Of his record as governor only two things stand out which are nationally interesting, one his record in the last year in handling labor difficulties in Ohio and the other is his liberal attitude toward free speech. not only in labor disputes. but in general His handling of strikes makes him strong with or ganized labor. One of the Gompers nea at San Francisco said that Cox was more agreeable to union men In general thar McAdoo would have been, though McAdoo of course. was stronger with the railroad brotherhoods
 ATTITUDE DURING STRIKES
 The Ohio governors attitude during the steel and coal strikes last year was that ordinary police protection was suf- sicient to keep order. He declined to call out the troops and when the demo- cratic mayor of Canton kept demand ing the militia he removed him from of- flee and left the republican vice mayor in his place He declined 10 place po- lice in vehicles carrying strike-breakers to work, but enforced the law strictly against all violators of order.
 There were some dramatic events during the strikes. As. for example when some Pennsylvania miners. say ing they were denied the right or free speech in Pennsylvania, came over into Ohio to hold mass meeting They came 5000 strong. and Cox was be- sieged with requests to call out the militia against the invaders. He held that the Pennsylvanians. as Americans,