New-York tribune., 1921-03-04
Harding Lacks
Punch as Actor,
Broull Believes
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he played in any one Of the murder
mystery plays no one would think Of
guessing him as the man VIII stshbed
the Colc~,el at midnight in the library
with Japanese paper cutter. No more
could he be the man who throws off the
German uniform in the last act and
stands revealed as Captain Jack Mas
ters, American Secret Service, and hero
If the play. Most of all he suggests q
type popular few years ago in Eng
lish domestic comedies, the friend of
IKE family who pats the husband on
the back in the third act and says
Take her out and buy her a good din
ner and you'll find that everything will
work out all right"
"Give him full dinner pail" is Har-
ding's version of the line. He is, every
inch of him, fxer. To him kind
words are more than constitutional
amendments.
He was kind to the newspaper men.
Indeed, he pointed out, ~ am myself
Judged from his remarks. is to be black
lacked on the steps OF the White House
and tt rown out into Pennsylvania Ave-
nue.. Mr.. Harding hopes that the press
will like him. He wants the reporters
to come and ask him questions. and
those which are not disturbing he will
answer Some day he hopes to know
ell the reporters by name, so that he
viii not be obliged to point and say,
You over there in the gray suit" A
few with partisan pens and no trace Of
the faith which inspires Mr.. Harding
are likely in time not to agree with
him. and these Mr.. Harding said he
hoped "to defy becomingly." Of his
success in this field we are doubtful
He does not look like a good defer.
But everything else he does-becom-
ingly. None of it is yer. vital with
persuasive truth. Of course, it is a
little difficult to suggest any concrete,
soul-stirring thing which a President
elect. might say to the newspaper men
IN his first meeting. II think" said
Lee Shubert to Augustus Thomas dur
ing the rehearsal of play, there
ought to be funny line here"
Great!!" said Thomas. what, for
instance 2"
But, after all, it is not our job, and
Harding ought to be able to think up
his master strokes.
Too Bland for Broun
Perhaps our eyes are jaundiced, but
Harding does not strike us as psr-
ticularly sincere. He is much too bland
nor Is 1T the blandness OF perfect eas
10 US 1t suggests much more Dwirht
Deacon, Of Zona Gales "Miss Lulu
Bett"
ms appearance IS rather striking
After Ohio was safely carried he was
induce" to desert the tailors of Marion
Ohio, and he wears good clothes be-
comingly. His big head is we'll Sc: on
broad shoulders and rather fine eyes
are appropriately far apart. They are
klndly and dull. There is just cne
sinister note in his face which lifts
him up a bit as a person This lies
IN a certain pufiiness under the eyes
which narrows them enough to gi.e a
HINT o. shrewdness. He is just the scrt
of person anybody would love to in
rust with small commissions. "Go
down to the box Office, Warren" you
would like to say, and get two tickets
sor next Monday night. They musf be
back Of the sixth row." Having Said
that, you could sit back in comfort
Warren G. Harding would have just
the tact and just the firmness to do
he Job right.
Of course, all this is conjecture On a
rather slim foundation. We are will
ing to say with more assurance that
Warren G.. HARDING is not strkingly
perceptlve as newspaper man.
He emphasized his desire to be kind
to the newspaper men, but he gave rs
no story. Then at the end he remarked
quite casually that he and Mrs Har-
ding were going around to call on
President and Mrs. Wilson just before
dinner.
But the Subject Ended There
He did not say, "Ring me up later
and I'll tell you whether they asked
us to stay" In fact, he offered no way
to any of the reporters by which they
portant event of the day. The popular
notion that all important things get
into the newspapers is quite erroneous.
Nobody will know whether or not Mr..
Wilson said. Nov that you know the
way, come again" Confirmation is not
possible Of F. p. AS shrewd guess trat
Mrs. Wilson went to the foot of the
stairs and shouted up, Company, pa."
We don't believe there can be anything
IN the inaugural speech half so inter
esting as what these two men said to
each other this afternoon. Did they,
for instance, talk about the League Of
Nations or the furnace?
And what are we to suppose went
on between Mrs. Harding and Mrs.
Wilson? Are we to assume that Mrs
Harding knows now which is cooks
night off and whether or not it is safe
to leave the sideboard unlocked?
Since Harding supplied none # this
news information we left the Willard
to go to the Capitol to see what might
be stirring there. A group of sailors
in charge of petty officer was work
ing on tine decorations bver the stand
from which Harding will speak. They
were raising a string of American flags,
and the little ,ed- haired, snub-nosed
boswain shouted in his own language
encouraging them to pull on the hal
yards. "At'li plum 'em, all right" he
said. But it didn't plum 'em," and,
without giving any additional orders,
the boswain went up a higher ladder,
step by step, and took hold himself
and staightened out the flags.
Tomorrow, we assume, that Harding
is going to call upon The country to
take hold of the halyards and pull so
that all our distresses may plum" at
last. Maybe they won't Then the test
viii come. We wonder whether Warren
G. Harding can climb the ladder
E.1 GO 600 ~