Hickory daily record., 1922-11-14
REORGANIZE THE
ADMINISTRATION

lTRA AsSHNOAAN~As
There is no one more anxious than
President Harding to discover the
meaning of the elections. His admins
vided that he makes the best possible
use of his opportunities in the next two
years to recover lost prestige. One
thing is sure-the political capital he
accumulated in the election of 1920 is
gone and his administration must here
after "earn its keep" as it goes along.
Probably there was never such tre-
mendous shrinkage in political capi-
tai in so short time as in the first
half of Mr.. Harding's present term,
but that is not saying that his sit
uation is hopeless.
With the wiping out of the political
capital accumulated in 1920 should
now go all the prepossessions and OBJ
sessions which that stunning triumph
poured into the minds of the victors.
Let there be CLAIM sweep of the pre-
judices which the heads Of this admin
istration have hitherto entertained.
The election returns of 1920 are now
blanketed by the election returns Of
1922, and these tell a different story
1t is high time for this administra-
tion to stop shaping it's foreign policy
on the anti Wilson theory-the old as
sumption being that the country would
stand for nothing identified with the
Wilson name. There are significant
passages in the Presidents Armis-.
tice-day statement, printed this MORN
ing, on the impossibility of maintain
ing national isolation when the rest of
the world is in sore need of Americas
aid, which suggest that the President
and his advisers are already revising
the administrations program. If these
passages can be so interpreted, the
fact will tend to justify faith in the
administrations ability to reshape its
course on various directions. So far as
foreign policy is concerned, Secretary
Hughes should now be given freer
hand in doing what he is naturally
disposed to do. Let us have that "asso-
citation of nations" we were promised
in 1920; let us join the permanent court
of international justice and let En-
bassador George Harvey be recalled
to emphasize the new direction and the
new vision in the administrators
:outlook.
Midterm reverses are embarrassing
and they engrave lost opportunities
on the tablets of time. But Presidents
thus handicapped must still bend their
backs to the tasks confronting them.
It is futile for Mr.. Harding to go on
in his old manner. He should, if pos
sible to a man of his temperament,
after determining what the people
want in the light of the elections, risk
everything on the judgment Of HIM
self and those trusted counselors who
plainly have not lost the confidence
of the country. A reorganization of
the cabinet may be necessary. Several
members should retire, notably Mr..
Daugherty, the attoraey-general, and
also the secretary of the interior, Mr..
Fall, who has just been repudiated
on an issue of government oil land
leases by the voters of Wyoming. If
President Wilson had got rid of Bur-
Lesson two years before he left office,
there would have been less reaction
against the Democratic party. Daugh-
erty is now heavy liability to Presi-
dent Harding, much as Burleson was,
and no personal friendship should pre-
vent severing of this political tie.
Having demonstrated in ocular fash
ion the reality of new deal, the
administrations domestic policies
could be reshaped to advantage. A
good beginning could be made with the
tariff by the tariff commission in the
elastic clauses of the new law.
The President can force his party
to renominate him, just as Harrison
forced it in 1892 and Taft forced it
in 1912. If he fails completely in the
coming two years no one else will want
the nomination, only to be whipped
on Harding's record. If he still makes
good, no one else should be nominated
in 1924. Just what political capacity
the President has must soon be tested
by the way he meets this emergency.
1t is possible that so severe a reverse
may develop qualities hitherto unus-
pected in his makeup.