The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-12-17
REPUBLICANS
FEAR FARM
BLOC Effect
Unit Large Enough to Unite
With Democrats at Any
Time and Dominate Legis-
lation-Members Laugh.
TINCHER- WEEKS ISSUE
by MARK SULLIVAN

NlSlldHL scrutiny or the WORK or the /
armament conference, or of President
Harding, he is not speaking for the
farmer bloc. He speaks for himself
and for such as choose to follow him
Borah's following is a bloc in itself
There are few senators who follow
him willingly and number of others
who are frequently compelled by their
own political situation to follow him
with varying degrees of unwillingnesa
Borah's following outside the SEN
ate, considered in its size and in its
quality, is as powerful as the personal |
following that any other public man
In the United States has, but there
is no identity between Borah and the
farmer bloc.
Borah doesn't train with blocs of /
any kind. AS many persons as care to
follow him can do so, but Borah never
merges his views with those of any .
other senators. He goes his own gait, !
takes what position he chooses, and !
those who want to can follow him, and !
take whatever praise or blame may |
attach thereto from their constitu-I /
ents
The schism between Borah and the !
Republican administration is one
thing; the scism between the farmer
bloc and the administration is anoth- !
er thing.
Watch Borah Stand.
The truth is, Borah comes close to |
being what the Democratic party
ought to be. In an intellectual sense, |
Borah fulfills the functions of an op-
position party.
Every time the conference takes
any step, the instant reaction OF the
newspaper reporters is to find out
After the conference adopts a
treaty. it isn't Underwood or Harrison
or any of the other Democratic SEN
ators whose telephone bells begin to
ring II is Borah who is called to the
telephone 10 times an hour after every
conference decision by newspaper
men who want to inform the country
whether Borah approves or not. Borah
alone and in himself is a kind OF
fourth estate" He is in a sense a
force outside the administration, and
outside any party.
OF course, it is in foreign affairs
that Borahs position is most promin-
emit Aside from foreign affairs, and
aside from the armament conference,
it is the schism with the farmer bloc
that gives most worry to the admins
tration and to the Republican party
leaders.
To Meet Challenge.
Everybody has known that sooner
or later the challenge of the farmer
bloc to the Republican leaders must
be met, and within the present month
the administration leaders have be-
gun to take steps to meet the chal-
lenge.
When Harding, in his message at
the opening of the recent session,
spoke in his Enthusiastically mild
way of the necessity and desirability
of maintaining party government, he
was taking rather belatedly and after
the exercise of much patience, the ad-
vice of the party leaders who have
been urging him that his administra-
tion would be wrecked by the faction
alism in congress, unless he took steps
to cure It.
Harding's words were comparatively
mild He merely said, among other
things, that there is vastly greater
security immensely more of the ma
tional viewpoint, much larger and
prompter accomplishment where our
differences are along party lines in the
broader and litter sense, than to di-
vide geographically, or according 10
PURSUITS, or personal following "
Manner Persuasive
Both Hardings manner, as well as
his words. were ingratiating and per-
suasive rather than truculent. What
Harding said did not excite the farm
er bloc very much. They took notice
of il. They knew very we'll that he
was talking about them, but they said
nothing.
A few days later. however, Secre-
\ tary Weeks. in a speech delivered at
New York, took up the same subject.
His complaint of the farmer bloc was
much more direct and specific. Not
only did he criticize the same thing
of which Harding had complained. He
went farther He said that the pres
ent organization of the lower house
of congress, insofar as it takes power
away from the leaders and diffuses it
among committees, is mistake. He
criticized specific items of legislation,
and he left little doubt of his unfav-
orable opinion of legislation promoted
by special groups. Among other
things, he said
Hits Congress
The changing of the rules of the
house of representatives has weak
ened party government, has encour'
aged the organization of special
groups, and has resulted and will con
tinue TO result in special Legislation
not representing the action of the ma
iority but forcibly enacted, by com
hinations OF divergent interests. The
immediate result of this situation has
been violent criticism of congress"
This criticism of congress by a mem
Der of the cabinet brought instant re
action. The first gun was fired by
Congressman Tincher of Kansas
While he talked back to Secretary
Weeks, he was careful to say that he
does not belong to the farmer bloc
There were some pungent sentences
in Congressman Tincher's reply to
Weeks. Among other things he said
II may some day be called upon to
y apologize for my Republicanism | be
long to no bloc. ] have never used
and adjectives to describe my Repub
licanism. If occasion ever requires
that I make apologies for my party
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