The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1920-12-01
Editorial
of the Day
A POLICY OF REACTION

(From New York Journal Of Com
merce)
According 10 fragmentary accounts
of an address made by senator IL.
G. Lodge at a dinner given in his
honor in Boston n policy of extreme
reaction is being planned by the
incoming administration Republican
newspaper organs, in describing the
dinner, assert that Mr.. Lodge
pledged" Senator Harding, the pres
ident-elect to undertake certain types
OF legislation. Whether the Massa.
chusetts senator can in fact pledge"
the chief executive in this way Is
a topic Of profound interest. II was
asserted during the campaign that
Mr.. Harding was wholly his own
IA Be this as it maybe the sem
atorial ring" or cable" strong or
weak-the remarks of Mr.. Lodge at
least make it evident that the close
advisers Of Mr.. Harding will call for
legislation that will revive certain
federal policies heretofore treated with
distrust if not actually discredited.
Foremost among the remarks of Mr..
Lodge, as reported by the newspa-
pers of his own political faith, is
the statement the league Of nations
is dead This remark, when made In
so many words long ago by Mr.. Hard
ing himself, was explained away by
party advocates as indicating only
that the Wilson league OF nations
had passed from the scene. Mr..
Lodge makes the assertion more spe,
cific by asserting that the league Dues.
ton will not be heard from during
the short session OF congress. 1--WE
sent The treaty to the White House,
remarks the senator, land there 1t
remains II will remain" This IL
about as extreme a statement as had
been expected by the most pessimis-
tic and if it has any significance at
all, its meaning is that the treaty
question will be deferred for a good
many months pending the time that
an entirely new plan can be pre-
pared. OF much the same tenor is
the assertion made by Mr.. Lodge
that strong immigration laws, ap-
plying not only to Asiatics, but also
to Europeon immigrants and that
higher tariff duties will be devised
and put into effect. The speech as
a whole Is a strongly nationalistic
utterance and points the way to a
policy that, if complied with. will
mean the almost absolute withdraw
al Of the United States both from
world politics and from world trade
in any except a purely selfish sense.
This indeed is the consummatlon
toward which the whole old line"
group in the Republican party has
for a long time been working. The
controlling note in the campaign
was from the first seen TO be that of
fractional treatment Of national
issues. 1t was not so clearly heard
during the latter part OF the contes.
as II was at the start. but in some
way the public was led TO believe
that the incoming party would deal
with conditions and problems in a
fashion that would take account of
all that had been done heretofore
and that would give full weight TO
all desirable features of it. Many
voters undoubtedly are still Of the
opinion that the plan for the league
OF nations is not dead, but that il
VIII be revived in some way, such
that all the best clements in IL will
be availed Of. The statements of
Senator Lodge and OF many other
party leaders do not, however, point
in that direction, but they suggest a
return to the older methods and
ideas of the Republican party, with
isolation in politics. isolation in
and nationalistic measures of
many kinds carried as far as on,
position in the world at large will
'n any way permit.
VIII this sort Of policy commend
to the great body OF voters
who cast Republican ballots at the
election? Certainly there will
be many who will refuse to view the
situation in any such light as that
which is indicated by Mr.. Lodge.
They will call tor a broader attitude
the part OF the United States and
they will demand OF their represen,
tatives that it be put into effect.
This may result In an immediate
split in the clumsy majority which
been rolled up in congress-
indeed, the establishment Of several
sub-groups or party otfshoots is by
no means unlikely. The logic OF
the situation will, at all events,
1t impossible for the extreme
policy OF reaction TO go very far.
Time has gone by when the nation
hide its head in the sand ana
like an ostrich. content itself with
the belief that 1t was out OF any view
Of the conditions by which II was sur
But a realizing sense OF
true political situation may be
costly and hard 10 obtain.