Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-10-28
ADVERTISEMENT
The Issue Before the Voters
An Editorial in The Chicago Daily News
v An Independent Newspaper
Published October rs, 1920

In peoples as in individuals self-reliance
is strength, dependence is weakness, anu
to be weak Is to be at once unworthy ana
ineffective. These elementary truths long
have pervaded the very souls Of the Amer
lean people, serving to guide them in great
crises. Righteousness exalteth nation.
Freedom to act at the appropriate moment
for righteous purposes is more than hall
the battle. If we Americans have faith IN
our own idealism as that excellent at
tribute has been demonstrated consistently
in the many years that have passed since
this nations rebirth in the agony OF civil
war, we should guard most zealously the
springs of action fed by that idealism,
since they have produced food of honor
able achievement.
Ours is forceful, sinewy democracy.
It has had to toll continually with brain
and arm to erect, Stone by stone, the i'm
mense structure that has become the most
powerful nation on earth. If at the building
there frequently arose babel Of voices,
at least there was at all times great In
spiration to sweeten the labor, and there
were leaders strong with the strength Of
an honest, self-sacrificing purpose. And
the work was truly cooperative, repre-
sentative, vital with popular impulse. Even
flaws in plan or in workmanship were 80
much the peoples own that these were
taken to heart and made Of permanent
value thereafter as examples of demon
strated error. Of late years, however, our
tugging, sweating, hard muscled democ-
racy has been subjected to occult inspira-
tional treatment. In these years it has
tugged and sweated on faith. For it has
been continually admonished to get it's de-
cisions ready made from the White House,
to substitute for the sum Of countless in
dividual judgments specially fabricated
judgment guarded from analysis or revi-
sion by mystic faith in the President"
But this, manifestly, was patriarchism, not
democracy; patriarchism that merged
into autocracy, since it was applied
through the driving force of the national
administration. .--:
The patriarchal manner has a compell-
ing emotional appeal when well put on. 1t
carried the President through the war
period with extraordinary facility in spite
of such appalling developments as national
unpreparedness for war, unpreparedness
projected through many long and anxious
months of imminent peril of war; mon
strously burdensome war taxation devised
and imposed by the party Of which the
President was in full control, and colossal
waste of war funds by the war-making
branches of the Presidents administra-
tion. Patriarchism failed him, however,
when two years ago the President called
upon the American people to elect Demo
cratic Congress in order that the executive
might 20 on working his will in legislative
as in administrative affairs. Fortunately
for the nation his autocratic rule was not
permitted by the voters to continue that
enormous spread Of power over the
nations destinies.
In spite of the adverse verdict returned
by Americans at the polls in November,
1918, the President few weeks later made
himself the sole authority in negotiating
peace for the nation, the sole authority in
deciding for the nation the terms on which
it should agree to join with other powers
in guaranteeing world peace. Having made
in Paris, on his individual judgment, de-
cisions for the whole American people
bearing upon innumerable grave ques-
tions; having done there everything in his
power to commit the American nation ir-
revocably to tremendous obligations in
volving both foreign and domestic policy
he returned to Washington to insist that
the Senate ratify his decisions without
modification.
The Daily News has held throughout the
long controversy over the covenant of the
League of Nations that it would be a
calamity to bind the United States to the
unqualified terms of that formidable in
strument. 1t has held that the interests of
the nation and the world must be safe
guarded by considerable numbe' of care
fully framed reservations modifying the
terms of the covenant. The reservations
that it deems essential are included in the
so-called Lodge program. In view, how
ever, of the unbending attitude of the Pres
ident, which he has succeeded in forcing