The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-08-12
PRESIDENT
WON'T USE
BIG STICK
Adheres to Policy of For:
bearance in Handling
Strikes.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Copyright, 1922, by The Argus.)
Washington, d. c., Aug. 12.-The
big stick or the calm voice of rea-
SON.? President Harding has let it
be known that despite the criticism
of his forbearance in the two strike
controversies he will not use
threats or coercive tactics.
AS members of congress drift in
for the reconvening of the house
on Tuesday, this very phase of Mr..
Harding's temperament is discuss
ed almost above everything else.
The last few weeks have admitted
ly been a crisis in Mr.. Harding s
public career. Neither strike is as
yet ended but the friends of the
president expect results to carry
more weight than the processes by
which these results are achieved.
All Of which is another way OF
saying that the politicians hope
the critics will forgive and forget
Mr.. Harding's slow-to-action poll
cies in the industrial crisis and
agree with him ultimately that pa
tience was it's own reward.
Deplores Dictatf0n.
Mr.. Harding has unbosomed him
self to the extent of deploring
threats and dictatorial language
with either strikers or employers
He has shown throughout his. con-
ferences with all parties a dispo'
sition not to offend anybody or ag-
gravate a painful situation. His
whole personality rebels at the idea
OF strife in anything and it is al
open secret that the responsible
ties Of the presidency have weigh
ed more heavily on Mr.. Harding il
the last month than at any tint
since he took office. ..s....-- -..sss.s...,,
Torn on one side by desire tt
satisfy those big business element.
in the Republican party who d.
not want the president to do any
thing which might be remotely con
strued as trucking to labor" AM
faced on the other by knowledg,
that strikes cannot be ended quick
Iy unless compromises and conces
sions are made by both parties to
dispute, Mr. Harding has tried on,
expedient and then another, only t
find his critics arguing that he ism
firm enough, that he doesn't threat
en- and bluster and get results, "lik,
T. R. did,.
Compared With ct. r"
1t is one of those odd phases o
political psychology that Mr.. Hard
ing finds himself contrasted, just a
Mr.. Wilson was, with the Roosevelt
ian type of president. When MI
Wilson was slow to action, cain
and deliberate in some of the criti
cal moments before the Unite
/ States entered the war, the or
went up that a president like Roose
welt would not have hesitated t
act.
Somewhat the same tenor of crit
icism runs through the undercur
rents Of talk at the capitol when
ever the strike situation is infor
mally discussed. 1t was more Q
less in response to that kind of gos
ip that President Harding wa
prompted to answer that he woul
not be stampeded into big site
tactics.
! Demand Federal Control.
In a nutshell the demand thu
has been coming from governor
of states as we'll as from trad
bodies and business men general
is that the president take over tt
mines and the railroads and opel
ate for the public benefit witho,
dallying further with any of tt
disputants. Feeling outside Wasl
ington and to some extent insiG
the national capitol is that SOM
how the chief executive of IL