Evening star., 1920-11-26
TALK Of ONE TERM
!. F0RMR. HARDING

Question Has Vital Bearing
/ on President-EIect's Cab
met Selections.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
The age old question of whether
Presidents of the United States shoulu
have q single term is up again. just
eight years ago 1t was raised IN Con-
Presidert-elect, and he wrote a letter
to A. Mitchell Palmer. then chairman
Of the democratic caucus in the HOUSE
Of Representatives. saying four years
was often too short a time to COM
plete an administration program Aud
that often 1t was too long a period to
keep an Incompetent executive, ana
that the people themselves were the
best judges.
Now however. the question. has
ton of, cabinet by President-elect
Harding. There seems to be two den
mite lines of thought-one that Mr:
Harding ought to select men who Wili
be of benefit to him in case he has
made record @ emitting 1sn nun 70 9hs. see Se
ought to select no men for his cabi- :
net whose own ambitions would give
birth to political intrigue or an IN
ordinate desire for the limelight on
the part Of the wouid-be candidates
for the 1924 nomination.
Senator Hiram Johnson may raise
the question when he reviews the
whole subject OF choosing Presidents
by preference primaries. He Is deter
mined to get legislation that will put
rrh inh n
political conventions Of beth parties
operated in 1890.
Lovaen and Cox "0ne.TeFmefs.o
incidentally Gov. Lowden Of Illinois
pledged himself to be q single-term
President in the event that he were
nominated at Chicago. and the idea
gained considerable support because
Of his advocacy of it. Also 1t can now
be told that Gov. Cox was in COM
plete sympathy with the proposal, and
was ready to put 1t into his speech
of acceptance, but was dissuaded at
the last moment by democratic lead
ers, who argued that such a declara-
should be embodied in a constitu-
tional amendment, and would come
with better grace after election than
before. - 60 p
This proposal, by which Gov. Cox
planned to limit himself to a single
term in the event Of election, consti-
tuted the mysterious insert which
was to have been telegraphed to
newspapers throughout the country
as an addition to the copies Of the
had been printed and mailed. In sup
port of the proposal there were others
in the democratic fold who believed
an announcement OF q stngle-term
pledge would bring enthusiastic CO.
operation from democrats who were
\ m
the presidency.
The theory was that the would-be
candidate had nothing to gain from
Cox's victory. because he would natu-
rally be the nominee for second
term, whereas in the event of . Hard
ing victory there would be an open
contest for the democratic nomination
in 1924. Nevertheless the plan was
abandoned. and was never referred to
again during the campaign.
Harding Absorbsa IN First TeeA.
AS for Senator Harding, the ques-
ton Of second term enters into
the next administration. Nobody is
attributing to the President-elect q
desire for a second term. for anybody
who knows Warrens Harding MeA
would never characterize him as an
.cernej with making good In the term
for which he has been elected and let
tir;g the future take care. Of itself.
Nevertheless, the politicians who
think they are going to have q good
deal to say about the next admins
the retention Of control after the Nrst
terms shall have been ended. One man
who is close to Senator Harding, said
he felt sure there would be Harding
organization. and that 1t would: be
folly to ignore political tradition or
IN. hvl fakinD anv nfkep
course after the republican party had
been cooling its heels outside the
White House for eight long years.
Delegates to national conventions rs
nomination Of William Howard Taft
in 1908 was accomplished because the
federal office holders under President
were advised to choose
Taft. The denomination OF Mr.. Taft
in 1912 was possible because federal
office holders and the existent repub-
lfean organization were dominant In
the regular convention.
Easy for Mr.. Wilson 10 1916.
President Wilson had no dificulty
getting 8 denomination in 1916, ana If
he had said the word he could have
selected the democratic nominee this
year. The McAdoo ana Palmer forces
two-thirds OF the demo-
cratic OeAcS0tSS, Weto lar8ely IeQeT8J
office holders or their friends.
Warren Harding can easily get y
In 1924 il he makes even
a fair record In the presidency, as the
Office holding machinery is all-power-
full at national convention. Senator
Hiram johnson intends to put q stop
to this influence in, national politics. /!
But it would not be surprising to find
Senator Harding himself eltminatfng
tho porsonal issue from constellation
by making y single term pledge.
similar to that which Gov. Lowden
Of Illinois gave to republican leaders
at Chicago. 81.
There are those who think Senator
would get along much better |
with Hiram Johnson and have much
less trouble IL the question Of single
term Tor the presidency were disposed |
Of. 50 that the California senator |
would feel that he had an equal op-
portunity to win the nomination in !
1924. This is one phase Of cabinet |
aud Organisation planning |
which Mr.. Harding will find It neccs-
sary to settle when he gets back to
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