The Washington times., 1922-06-11
E<VYY HERE IL the woman in
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y =" Isne Soo' -
w That ancient quest
ton reputed 'to have been asked
By an old-time judge. has as much
Eignificance now a. when II was
first propounded. No clue had
been obtained for the crime. the
motive was undisclosed. and the
old Judge believing that nothing
was possible unless . woman w,,s
behind It, asked where 10 the
woman in the oasef"
There have been some recent sur
prisss In elections In most parts Of
the country. In several Congress
sional elections najoritiss mount
ing into the Thousands have been
cut down to hundreds. In New
York city . plurality Of <4o.s46 for
Harding was changed to . plural
ity Of <1s.sse for Hyian. All over
the country there have been sfrni.
lar overturns In municipal cleo
lions. There were not usually par
tisan and campaigns were not gen
orally conducted upon the issues
that have heretofore divided
parties. Nobody could say exact
ly what issue or issues caused the
big turnover In the vote. Perhaps
It was no issue at all just dissatis-
faction which voted for . change
In the belief that no change would
be for the worse.
POLITICIANS NEED x-RAY.
II the politicians could only find
. plan by which they could utilize
the xray and sec why people vote
this way or that, what q God-send
Il would be to them. Now they
frame up issues which look very
taking to them. and they dress up
some stick Of q man in fine cos
tune Of giitterins promises. put
him In . show-w1ndow. and tell the
people Look what Q beautiful bar
gain We are giving you at such .
small price" And when election
day comes. they are utterly bewil-
dered to account for the fact that
the people 60 right by their beau
tiful show-window with its dressed
up policies and candidates and 90
TO q grocery store and take q candi-
date In his shirt-sleeves who prom
ises nothing except to be against
whatever IL. II you will read the
election returns carefully you viii
Be surprised to Sc how many
voters are out for . change. When
TAFT was In. they were against
what he was for. and in 1890.
though Wilson was not . candi-
date. the politicians conjured by
opposing the Wilson poiiciss."
NO WEATHER vANE.
Last month gave US several
surprises in politics that stunned,
startled and alarmed Washing
ton. This Capital City II q
strange place to study tho drift
Of politics. You would think in.
asmuch as much Of its popula-
ton In made UP Of people In office
who como from every district in
the United States, the sentiment
that drifts into Washington
would convey tho true situation
In all parts Of the country. The
opposite In the fact. President
Wilson was wont to remark that
when he wished to know what
- the country was thinking about
he requested . friend to visit
the clubs and hotel Hobbies and
ether places where people gather
to talk. and to report to him ths
drift Of sentiment. And when he
got the drift Of Washington
opinion he always knew what the
country outside Of Washington
was thinking about. How? 1t 10
always opposite to the prevailing
opinion IN official Washington.
The hotel corridors and dining
rooms are Whispering galleries.
You can hear anything that IL
not %. Sometimes you actually
hear something that IL true.
But that II another story!
CAPITAL WAS STUNNED.
The two political surprises that
struck Washington dumb were
the Republican primaries in
Indiana and Pennsylvania. In tho
weeks that preceded them I had
occasion to talk with Congress-
men and newspaper correspond
ents who affect to be able to
prognosticate. They laughed at
the candidacy of Beveridge and
Pinchot Until ten days before
the election they regarded their
candidates. as moro or less of
Joke. They said that in 1912
they both got hold Of the coat.
tails Of Roosevelt and thought he
would pull them up to flowery
beds Of ease, and that they were
foolish enough to think there was
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