The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-10-05
1|sI WILL
THROW Vote
\, 70 HARDING
ff,uet,nued from Page ons.)


fcussinusd from Pase Oral
-. ssTious Tor Republican vic-
- heeause Of domestic issues
~ ~ tsration, the tariff, and other
st,ses closer home, the nswspa-
- friendly even to the Wilson
.sue arc submerging the con-
secysrsy over the kind Of league
A.arics d to enter and convincing
~ readers that Senator Harding
I'M DO the right thing at the right
80 whatever 1t IL, but that the
;mncftant task Is to put the Rs
ss6iican party back In power and
fo1tore normally.
Lack Of Enthusiasm.
ne most striking thing about the
mole western campaign is the.uA
- lack Of enthusiasm by Demo-
erats or Republicans Of the rank
~ die for either Cox or Harding.
plenty Of applause and cheers were
stven Governor Cox ON his trip but
he mass Of the people are not I'M
creased with the personality Of
sither nominee as reflected In the
sress. Both men were unknown.
Is BE- sure, before the two conven-
Hons. But the real reason in my
evn Judgment why neither Cox nor
Harding have captured the popular
IMAGINATION is that they have fail
"a to point out clearly a reconstruc-
fiou policy. They have both been
more interested in the politics of
their campaigns than economics Of
The country. The one has carried
on a destructive campaign Of crit!-
cism and the other has expressed
himself in such generalities as to
evoke no particular hostility from
any group or. class. But the truth
Is, more than one editor complained
that neither candidate Is produc-
ing front page stuff"
Cox Has Riyhtful Case.
Perhaps Governor Cox's criticism
Of the western press is partly due
to the foregoing thought. For it
is true that even the dispatches
from Marion have not been con-
spicuously displayed all the time.
On the other hand, Governor Cox
has . rightful case when he COM
plains that in some western cities
his speeches were not even printed
or that trivial portions were given
prominence and a decidedly preju-
diced twist carried in the headlines.
II Is true that Governor Cox had
10 be caught in q railroad wreck to
get on the first page of one San
francisco newspaper. which all but
ignored his visit to that city.
The Democratic nominee has
made . plucky fight. He has made
votes in the west and stimulated
Democratic organization every
where. 1t was a splendid thing for
him to go west in September but
lacking funds and friendly press
the Democrats Of the west face an
almost hopeless task.
Want q Change.
Most people are so irritated over
the high cost Of living, the high
railroad rates, the congestion Of
freight and the whole after-the-wal
mess that they want a change
They think the Republican party
win bring it. They say matters
can't be any worse than they have
been and perhaps they will get bet
ter. That's about as far as the BIZ
mass Of the voters have gone II
analynng the issues Of the cam
pdgn Except in q few states
1 President Wilson's plea for a sol
emn referendum on the election hal
signally failed.
The mandate Of the election viii
not be reputation of the cove
aant or any other part Of the peace
treaty. Groups here and there will
vote on foreign subjects such a.
Irish freedom or Italian war aspira'
tons. but generally speaking, Re
publican victory will mean q de-
sire to change from one set Of po
lidcal leaders to another. Repub
!ican newspapers friendly to thu
league are already preparing theil
readers for that verdict and trying
10 prevent Senator Harding from
mhconstruing the verdict by decid
ING to stay out Of the league. TIL,
republican press in the west out
numbers the Democratic at leas
Two to one and in some states foul
and i've to one.
Inc pro-league press Is abou'
evenly divided among the Repub'
.i0a press but you can count OF
me fingers Of your hand the Re.