Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-06-02
SENATOR HI JOHNSON'S
STAINED GLASS SPEECH
How He Colored the Truth to Suit
the Purposes Of His
Ambition

1
the Academy Of Music will be inclined
to agree with a remark in Life for this
week
The remark is the concluding one in
an imaginary conversation over the tele-
| phone between the Senator and Life.
The Senator is represented as saying
"lOu are afraid to support me for fear
I will be elected. Who can prevent
me?' Here is what follows:
My dear Senator. there's Hoover"
Not a chance in the world"
And Wood"
What / haven't done to him" =
And Lowden and Harding and"
"Pigmcs l dare you 10 name any
one else"
MY dear Senator, never take a
| dare"
We'll. them"
Possibly the people. Hiram
Mr.. johnson, with all his admirable
traits. demonstrated at the Academy of
Music that he is not the type of man
! the people have been in the habit of
| electing to the presidency.
We have elected men who have dealt
! in platitudes and have delighted in stat
| ing the obvious, an occupation which
the senator, after indulging in it for
some time, said he had no stomach
for" And we have elected men who
professed their loyalty to American
ideals as fervently as the senator pro
fcsscs it, Indeed, we have never had
President who was not a loyal AmCri
can. and we never will have.
The senator rang the changes on the
old Roosevelt doctrine that the rich
criminal should be punished just as
severely as the poor criminal. Even
when Roosevelt was preaching this sort
of thing il was a platitude, but events
gave it some pertnence, for the reason
that there were predatory rich men who
then thought that a different rule gov
erncd their conduct from that which
governed the conduct of those less well
equipped with this worlds goods. But
the thing has been said so often in the
intervening years that it means today
nothing more than that the law
breakers should be punished. The SEN
ator shouts il out. however, with all
the force at his command, and declares
that what the nation needs is red
bloodpd men who will face the issues
souarply and punish every maIcfactor
after it has been proved that he is what
he has been called.
Stewart Chaplin twenty years ago
wrote burleSQue political platform
/ nrinted in n story in the Century Maya
zine which was so much like many
things the senator said that We cannot
resist the temptation to quote a part
! RI u bn nj NJ
form. One of them read the second
plank: 1--WE reatfirm our unwavering
faith in popular government and our
devotion to the flag of freedom. and de-
nounce as dangerous and wicked
His friend interrupted with: Danger
Gus, wicked and un American. Yes,
agreed the other. 'denounc. as danger
Gus. wicked and un American all efforts
to deprive the people of the control of
their own affairs"
The senator. with fine fervor, de-
clared that THE Republican party must
NOT be dehumanizcd. We must frown
with equal severity upon those who
would make it a party of class or who
would Vnake it a party of few. II
must and shall be maintained the party
of all the people.
Splendid. isn't il: But what does il
mean: The document in the magazine
story was called stained glass plat
! form" bcrause when you look through
I one pane YOU see purple dog anC
when You look through another the dog
i green. Each person doing the look
ing gets n different impression Of thG
color ur III" dog. The senator COlOreC
the truth to suit his purposes.
Then in a burst of declamatory clo,
uurncr the senator exclaimed: "lf il
he radical to demand 100 per cent scrv
Irc from publ" officials and to insis
upon Justice and decPnCy and right
rousness in government" if it be radiCa
to insist on this. that and the other
and If it be radical to condemn tn,
other, that and this, and If finally
it be radical to he just American, theI
| admit the charge and accept the Chal
, lcnge,
This sort Of talk is harmless. Al
] politicians indulge in it more or less
! And they know that they are merel,
i stallng. They do not fool themselves
p Neither do they deceive any one else
u It is the loose change of political debate
I II Senator johnson were guilty of moth
2 ing more serious he might have hopes
r 1t has been supposed that he wa
sincere and that his attitude on tn
a treaty was due to his parochal mind
I to use the phrase coined by Norma
o Ilapgood to characterize him. But n
y informed person who heard his Acad
envy of Music speech can credit hir
y with intellectual honesty.
;. His description of the position of tn
# United States in the League Of Ma
n tions was so misleading and elaborate
e in such detail that it could not hav
y been due to inadvertence. He produce
the impression that this country
asked to go into the league, TO con
tribute all OF it's wealth to its success
and permit the other eight members q
It the league council to decide whethe
% the $40, 900, 900, 900 debt Of the Allie
n TO ms should be paid. He said it woul
he eight TO one against us.
Now, the senator knows that no de
i. cisions of the league council are 10 b
made except by unanimous agreemen,