The labor world., 1922-06-17
HARDING's STRANGE WISHES.

There are times that 1 wish for a
little while that I were not president
of the United States President
Harding to the Women s Republican
Club Of New Jersey.
Recent events in President Hard
ing's administration make it possible
to specify some of the times when
the president would logically, at least,
have such a wish For instances:
When he reflects upon the exposure
Of his personal appointce, political
sponsor and former campaign manager,
Attorney General Daugherty, in cor
ncction with the pardon of Charles
W. Morse, reads the demands in the
Republican press for Daughcrty's res
irnation, and Hthe resolutions by Re-
publican congressman for an investi-
CATION, noting, as any intelligent man
must, the loss of public confluence in
Mr.. Daughcrtv as the head Of the
great department of justice.
When he reflects that the seating
Of his personal friend and associate,
Senator NcWbcrry, in a purchased seat
has been condemned from one end Of
the country to the other and recalls
the exclamation Of the then Senator
Kenyon, now Judge Kenyon, "Mv
GoI! YOU can never lower the dignity
Of the senate after this day.
When he recalls the general public
condemnation of his appointment of
the notorious Nat Goldstein, who adj
mitted taking $500 Of the Lowdca
campaign slush fund when a candi-
date for delegate to the Republican
National convention.
When he reflects upon the general
protest against the leasing Of the last
of the naval oil reserves to the sub
salaries Of the Standard Oil Trust
aftcr they had been set aside by his
predecessors for use Of the oil-burn-
ing ships in the navy in national de-
fcnso am the Gil burning ships of the
merchant marine in the carrying of
American commerce, and that he as
sumcd personal responsibility therefor.
When he reflects upon the sorrow
and shame he has cast upon the lives
Of old and faithful employees Of the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
whom he summarily discharged with
out warning and to whose pleas for a
hearing he refused to listen.
When he recalls his partv's promise
to reduce taxes and then notes the
fact that the only persons who have
had their taxes reduced arc multi
millonaircs and war-profiteers.
When he recalls the promise Of his
party to revive industry and trade and
then sees a Republican congress pass
ing tariff bill which will inevitably
destroy foreign trade and work fur
thcr disaster to American industry
the high protective tariff bill which
he himself advocated.
When he reflects upon the returns
of the primary elections in Indiana
and Pennsylvania containing a repu-
diation Of a Do Nothing Congress and
his own administration by members
of his own party.
When he reviews the fifteen months
Of the Harding administration and
finds a minimum Of accomplishment
almost buried out of sight under a
maximum of failure, with his party
breaking up into factions, and scan
dals multiplying in his administration
and the influential papers Of his own
party press arraigncd against the prin1
cipa] economic policy Of his admins
tration.
But what s the use. When President
Harding declares that there are times
he wishes for a little while that he
were not prcsidnt of the United States
he simply shares a wish that is com
mon to an ever-increasing number of
his fcllowcitizens, and which, unless
there is great Improvement in his ad.
ministration, Of which there are nc
present signs, threatens to become