The Washington times., 1922-11-14

radicals who .#N<cl.g<1l k.M
presently will be
entering Con. WILLIAM HARD
gress are for the
most part utterly without the
slightest intention OF performing
any major operations on the Vitals
of the Republic; and the conserVa'
tivcs who an, yelping about the
ficndlsh intentions OF the radicals
are for the most part just talking
pure moonshinc in order to save
themselves from losing few so't
snaps which they naturally enjoy
possessing but which have absolute
" nothing to do with saving or
running the United States or the
Star-Spangled Banner.
The radicals will want TO know
why Harry Sinclair seems to be on
his way toward making so much
money out OF the contract which Mr..
Secretary Fall gave him for draining
oil out Of the crevices OF the earth In
the Teapot Dome naval oil reserve
II Wyoming. They may try to shake
,ome OF that money back out Of him
a case he has il. This will be sad
for Mr.. Sinclair. but 1t Is difficult TO
see why it will be necessarily sad for
he Republic.
The utmost that the radicals
would do in that direction would be
TO Introduce a certain amount OF pub
ic operation of oil well; and OF water
powers on the natiora. public land
'omain. 1t takes an expert in hys.
erics to see any national collapse I'm
hat prospect. Washington Is full of
1xperts in Mysteries.
They know very well that the
Canadian province Of Ontario has
done an enormous amount of public
operation of water power without any
disastrous effects whatsoever on
prosperity or morality; but they talk
as il any such thing south OF tn"
Canadian line would throw society
into a bottomless pit. A few years
ago IL used to be the radicals who
were crazy with the heat and talked
like wild men. Now IL Is the con-
servatives. The readers of news from
Washington should not be deiuded by
their spas SINS of language. The cold
facts underneath all these hot
phrases like "radicalism" are ex-
tremely cold. l will mention the
most important OF them as they are
likely to come up in Congress when
its "radicalism" gets really going.
The radicals" will want TO amend
the Esch-Cummins Transportation
law in order to secure a lower valu-
alton of railroads and thereby secure
lower freight rates.
They will want to amend the Fed
eral Reserve law In order to ch eek
the power Of the Federal Reserve
Board to make sudden and drastic
contractions of the volume of bank
ing credit available to borrowers in
agricultural districts.
Those are their two chief purposes:
Neither purpose can possibly shake
the foundations Of either our political
or economic system.
No radical" proposes to reduce
the valuation of railroads below the
level of their actual value. No rad
ical' proposes to oblige anybody to
lend any money to a farmer against
his will. Nor in any case does he
propose that the farmer shall be per-
mitted to avoid re.paying the money.
Nobody's property Is going to be
confiscated. Nothing Is going to hap
pen that has not happened in other
countries and left them sturdily
standing.
The essential delusion Of the con.
servatives-or else their essential
trick for trying to delude others
Is the idea that IL a thing has
never before happened in this coun.
try 1t must be terrible. The "radi.
calls will want to open trade rela-
tions with Russia. The radicals"
will want to make II impossible for
any court permanently to overthrow
the will Of the legislature. Great
Britain has both those things. Lord
Balfour and Lord Curzon live under
them perfectly securely.
Our conservatives will try never.
theless In the next Congress to try
to make out that those things have
something to do somehow or other
with being an extremist" and a
Revolutionary" One of our princi.
pal Washington products today is
dust-storms and smoke-screens. Most
OF them are provided by the con-
by the radicals
The radicals pull long faces and
look as II they were going to re-
wise society clear through down to
the bottom. The conservatives cast
a frightened glance at the fierce
countenances OF the radicals and
hurst into screams. The public,
when II is over, will find that these
two sides have been pulling and
hauling from a distance about six
inches apart. The radicals are not
proposing revolutions; and the
conservatives, while they are enjoy
ing all the pleasure Of thinking
that they are resisting revolu.
ton, are, In fact, resisting only a
few efforts which, after they are
accomplished. will still leave Palm
Beach inhabited every winter by a