The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-11-07

against the cost of living'-a new term
then in political phraseology. Cannon
ism. an arbitrary rulership in congress
on the part of the Republican party,
swept the Democrats with Champ Clark
and Oscar Underwood into power.
Beginning of Insurgency.
The beginnings of insurgency came
then and the split of 1912 completed the
revolt. The autumn of 1914 saw the
Democrats on the defensive but they
had reformed the currency system, had
passed n number of important pieces of
legislation and the European war helped
divert the nations attention and began
TO rally the people behind the President.
Nineteen hundred and sixteen saw
war issues foremost and congress re-
manned Democratic as did the presi-
dency The Inflated election of 1913
saw the beginning, however. of the pres
ent mood. Resentment, negative voting.
irritation, protest, seemed to take the
place of the affirmative mandate. There
was not so much of desire for par
ticular program as the expression of an
emphatic wish to dispose of the old
program-the battle cry was, I'VE want
change" Nineteen twenty saw this
even more accumulated. The overthrow
Of the Democratic party was merely one
way of expressing the craving for
change. And the pendulum swung then
to the extreme. 1t has not yet developed
anything so explicit or understandable
as the wave of progressivism, which
gave birth to the Bull Moose party or
the tides of conservatism which have
spoken the nations command in times
of economic disturbance and panic.
Foreign questions, whether America
shall cooperate with Europe by a league
of nations or by economic partnership,
is vital and plays a large part in the dis
cussions of thoughtful leaders in most
communities, but it is nevertheless true
that the nation is not bestirred. 1t can
rs easily be led into one formula as an
Other-proyided, of course, that every
ENHANCEMENT even remotely involving
the use of force Is tabOoed. The Ameri
can pople could be reused on an anti
war program more easily today than in
1916. The burdens of reconstruction
have cut deeply into the tissue of Amer
lean life. This is partly the reason for
the Indifference toward foreign policy.
Domestic Problems BewiIder.
But if the people are not exercised
over European matters. they are bewil-
dered by the mass of domestic problems
left by the war, the damage done by
strikes. the huctuating scales of living
and wages and the economic upheayalS
caused by the large SURPRISES gathered
at time when America supplies the
world mt high prices.
This is truly an off-year, a negative
year in politics. but just as 1910 infiu-
enced what happened in 1912, so can it
be unhesitatingly said that 1922 will
dictate the outcome of 1924. Today will
witness the rebirth of the old parties
the placing IN power of new leaders in
the Republican and Democratic parties.
new faces in the senate and house, new
personalities who know not the old
kings Of Israel, men who viii assist in
putting the finishing touches on the so
called "old guard" i'm both the Republi-
can and Democratic ranks. men who will
either make two new parties or break
them. Todays election is another ex-
pertinent in persOnnel-anOther search
for leaders to guide this country out of
what Lloyd George in a more or less
similar situation has apparently de-
scribed as the wilderness"