New-York tribune., 1920-05-28
The Case for Hoouer
His Special and General AbiI-
ties for the Nomination


To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: 1 would appreciate an oppor-
tunlty to say word in defense of the
much abused machine" politician. Un-
der a democratic form Of government
the trained political mechanic Is an
absolute necessity. Without him the
ordinary processes of government
could not be maintained. The amateur
politicians with great ideals and de-
sires for reforms may throw a monkey
wrench into the political machinery,
but the machine" politician has to re-
pair the damage in order that the gov
ernment may continue to function prop
erly.
For these reasons it is only fair that
the utmost consideration should be
given to the views of those who do all
the hard work for the party in times of
defeat az we'll as success, without
whose aid party success is practically
impossible. 1t is entirely natural that
in seeking for available candidates
preference should be had for those who
understand the machinery of politics
and who can talk the language of "ma-
chine" politicians. Otherwise, govern
ment may be carried on with great diff
Guilty and at cross purposes fatal to the
best interests of the nation.
Nor is it fair to assume that the INA
chine" politician is incapable Of gen
erous vision, or Of thinking in terms
Of national service. With all his de-
fects, he has his own ideals and Is gen
orally quite as good a patriot as the
amateur politician.
There is no good reason to infer that
the old regular" Republican leaders
do not desire to see the best man NOM
mated for the Presidency this year.
They are naturally greatly concerned
as to who is the most available, from
every point of view. Availability seems
to involve, first, the ability of a candi-
date to work with his own party lead
ers; second, to get votes; third, to
lead the party, not merely in one ehc-
ton, but to win for it permanent conf
dence, and, fourth, his ability to
serve the best interests Of the country
at this particular crisis.
The millions of friends of Herbert
Hoover throughout the country believe
that he can fully meet these tests of
availability. AS a Republican in good
standing in regular Republican organ
ization in New York City for ten years.
and by his determination to play the
game as loyal party man within the
Republican party, he is entitled to the
utmost respect. Nor would any Ameri-
can hold against Hoover the fact that
during the war, like many other Re-
publicans, he absolutely sunk all ques-
tions of partisanship. Nor can it be
said that he is any less a Republican
by reason Of the fact that for years he
was holding up the highest standards
OF Americanism in great commercial
and philanthropic enterprises abroad.
Nor can it be contended that Herbert
Hoover is unable to understand party
machinery Or to talk the language Of
machine" politicians. His phenome-
nal success in all his undertakings
since his early days of struggle against
great odds testifies to his genius for
working with other men and talking
the language they understand. Con-
gress has had repeated opportunities
to size up Hoover and to appreciate his
special ability to work with other men
and his intimate grasp of the problems
of American politics.
Nor can there be much doubt con-
corning Hoover's ability to win votes
IN all sections of the country, irrespec-
two Of party affiliations. The popular
manifestation Of confidence in the man
Is conclusively shown by the poll taken
by Tho Literary Digest" indicating