Evening star., 1922-11-06
BALLOT|NG MOOD
MARKS NEW EPOCH
American Voters Showing
Least Difference to Bosses
in Party History.
PROTEST SPIRIT STRONG
Democratic and G. O. P. Future
Policies to Be Effected by Elec-
tion of Fresh Leaders.
PROTEST SPIRIT STRONG
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

tomorrow, Is the StfanSeSt IN
generation.
Unbossed-there never was a time
when the political machine meant so
little-unemotional, uninf1uenced by
the feeble notes of campaign oratory,
the election of 1922 is a turning point.
mark of transition from the old to
the new in American politics, the be-
ginning of an era or cycle, whose true
meaning is not yet apparent, but
whose direction Is none the less away
from the methods and maneuvers of
yesteryears
tomorrow with no common denomina-
tor of thought. The critics will say
on Wednesday that the administra-
tlon has been upheld or repudiated
as the case may be. Any one who
made such a trip as did the writer
kind. Study the local state and city
situations, observe the personal equa-
t1ons here. there and everywhere,
listen to the admissions of republicans
and democrats that the state legisla-
tive ticket will carry the congress
Slonal candidates in," or note care
Iuiiy the greater interest and appar-
ent Importance to the electorate of
thelr state controversies and the
conclusion is inescapable that an or
year election is a hit-or-miss election
one In which combination of cir
curhsiances entirely unrelated to ma
tlonal issues determines the result.
No NaffnuoI r-.oa
Ihere Is nothing of the spirit of
national crusade in the nations mood.
nothing of the urge of party or ma
tlonal principle-its not a national
election at all except in the sense that
the states are voting on the same dav.
There are some exceptions, of course
senator Lodge is the whole campaign
in Massachusetts. Senator Poindexter
Is the outstanding figure in Wash
ington, and so is Beveridge In
Indiana. but not one of these
men will be elected or defeated
because of their sins of omission or
commission on national questions
personal impression. popularity, po-
lltlcal vogue will have more bearing
on the outcome
And yet 1929 is not like any off-year
since 1910. Think back and recall
the active campaign waged at that
time against schedule X. and the
Payne-Aldrich tariff, and the nation-
wide protest against the "coSt of liv-
ing-a new term then in political
phraseology. Cannonism, an arbitrary
rulership in Congress on the part Of
the republican party, swept the demo-
Gratis with Champ Clark and Oscar
Underwood into power.
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 svs-
tenn. had passed a number of i'm
portant pieces of legislation and the
European war helped divert the ma
tion's attention and began to rally
the people behind the President.
Period of Protest.
Nineteen hundred and sixteen saw
war issues foremost and Congress re-
manned democratic, as did the presi-
dency. The Inflated election of 1918
saw the beginning, however, of the
present mood. Resentment. negative
take the place of the affirmative
mandate. There was not SO much of
a desire for a particular program as
the expression of an emphatic wish
to dispose of the old program. The
battle cry was. I'VE want a change
Nineteen hundred and twenty saw
this even more accentuated.
The overthrow of the democratic
party was merely one way of express
ing the craving for change. And the
pendulum swung then to the ex-
treme. 1t has not yet developed any
thing 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. such as whether
America shall cooperate with Europe
by league of nations or by economic
partnership. are vital and play a large
part in discussions Of thoughtful
leaders in most communities. but it
is nevertheless true that the nation
is not bestirred. 1t can as easily be
led into one formula as another
provided, of course. that every en-
tanglement even remotely involving
the use of force, is tabooed. The
American people could be reused on
an anti-war program more easily to-
day than in 1916. The burdens of
reconstruction have cut deeply into
the tissue of American life. This is
partly the reason for the Indifference
toward foreign policy.
Voters Are Bewildered.
But, IL the people are not exercised
over European matters, they are be-
wildered by the mass Of domestic
problems left by the war, the damage
done by strikes. the fluctuating
scales of living and wages and the
economic upheavals caused by the
large surpluses gathered at a time
when America supplied the world at
high prices.
This is truly an oR-year, a negative
year in politics, but just as 1910 in
fuenced what happened in 1912, SO can
1t be unhesitatingly said that 1922 will
dictate the outcome Of 1924. Tomor-
parties-the placing in power Of new
leaders in the republican and demo-
cratic party. new faces in the Senate
and House, new personalities who know
not the old kings of Israel. men who
will assist in putting the finishing
touches on the so-called "old guard"
in both the republican and demo-
cratic parties, men who will either
make two new parties or break them
Tomorrow's election is another expert
ment in personnel-another search for
leaders to guide this country out of
what Lloyd George, in a more or less
similar situation. has aptly described
as ''the wilderness"
Copyright, 1927