The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1922-04-18
CAPTAIN cox

though he does not know he was lick
ed In 1920"
The darkey who made that COM
ment on a recent speech delivered by
James M. Cox to the South Carolina
general assembly could not have
spoken more to the point Mr.. Cox
was not licked in 1920. He was not
licked because the great ideal for
which he stood-the Wilson ideal of
world peace-was not licked, and is
not going to be licked.
Mr.. Cox showed incontrovertibly in
his speech before the Woodrow Will
son club here Wednesday night that
the much Wanted 100000 majority
for Harding in the 1920 election was
no mandate against the League of Ma
tions. That 100000 majority was
united on nothing except a desire
for Change" 1t was made up of
all the hyphenates; all the racial ele-
ments which were dissatisfied with
straight Americanism; all the super
fetal elements which had a grievance
against the war administration; OF
the masses who were rebellious
against high prices and high taxes;
of the masses who were tired of war
tension and war conditions; of the
masses who always attribute the
cause of their discomfort to the party
in power; Of the rank and file of the
Republicans bent on getting the "ins'
out in order to get the "outs" in; to
whom must be added those other Re-
publicans who voted for Harding be-
cause they believed the assurances of
such Republican leaders as Hughes.
Hoover and Taft that to elect Hard
ing was the only way to get the
United States into the League of Ma
lions.
No one issue could have been made
the dominating issue in that hetero-
geneous campaign. Certainly no such
question as the League OF Nations,
whose appeal must be- to informed in
telligence and nuprejudiced thought,
could have been made dominating
issue. Mr.. Wilson's great mistake,
as the Courier-Journal has often re-
GREETED, was in submitting the ques-
ton to a popular referendum which
could not be disassociated from the
passions and cross-currents of such
political campaign as that of 1920
was bound to be.
The League of Nations is not de
ceased" as Mr.. Harding boasted 1t
was Immediately after his election;
nor will it's ideal ever be deceased in
this country as long as there are in
either of the great political parties
leaders possessing Mr.. Cox's vision,
ldelity and courage,
It was a resonant rallying call he
sounded to all Americans who are
faithful to the ideals they were glad
to acclaim when they were heralded
by Woodrow Wilson as the voice OF
embattled and then victorious democ-
racy against Imperialism and militar-
ism. It is natural that in the reaction
from the long light made on those
ideals in the senate and the tempest
uous chaos of the 1920 political cam
paign there should be calm and that
other question of more local con-
Germ, presented by the abortive per-
formances of a new national admin
istration, should occupy chiefly the
public mind. But the Wilson ideals
are not deceased" It is inevitable
that at the proper time they VIII
be revived, more vital than ever, I'M
der the leadership of some such
champion as Cox. who will stand for
them as he stands for them now and
stood for them two years ago.
Mr.. Coxs statement regarding the
work which the League OF Natiohs
has done and is doing will be a reye-
lation TO many who are not familiar
with its unblazoned record. 1t was
a plain, authoritative statement OF
facts, undistorted by bias and uncol-
oredb rhetoric. Indeed, that was
the character of his whole speech.
Their was in it no fiamboyant tiubdub
of the political spellbinder. It was
arshaling OF truths
by man who knew what he was
talking about. whether he was talk
ing about the League OF Nations; the
administration pitiably petty prac-
tice in dealing with the league; the
hypocrisy and cowardice of its course
with reference to the international